Fairchild C-123 Provider

what is it?

The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard, it served in the U.S. Coast Guard and air forces in Southeast Asia. During the War in Vietnam, the C-123 was used to deliver supplies, to evacuate the wounded, for agent insertions behind enemy lines, and was used to spray Agent Orange.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · shoulder wing · retractable tricycle gear · 33.5 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 367 km/htop speed
• seats 60passengers
• size 27.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 307made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 77 years ago, in 1949.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 33.5 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1949-10-14

introduced

1955

retired

1980

status

retired

number built

307

role

military transport aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Chase Aircraft, Fairchild

engines

4× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-99W Double Wasp / General Electric J85-GE-17

crew

4

passengers

60

length

23.2 m

wingspan

33.5 m

height

10.4 m

max take-off weight

27.2 t

top speed

367 km/h

cruise speed

278 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,431 m

wings

shoulder wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.