<p>One of the stalwarts of the US postwar transport effort, the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was built in substantial numbers. During the early development of the type from C-82 Packet, several configurations were studied with detachable fuselage pods, including the unbuilt YC-119D and YC-119E (to have taken up the C-128 designation if proceeded with). However, the XC-120 Packplane was built, one example (48-330) first flying on 11 August 1950.
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<p>The XC-120 utilized the C-119's inverted gull wing and twin boom arrangement to the full. Standard C-119B wings and tail surfaces were mated to a new fuselage which consisted of an upper deck joined to the wings and accommodating the flight deck. The bottom of this upper deck was flat so that a detachable fuselage lower deck pod could be attached underneath. The XC-120 could be flown with or without the pod, and dispensed with the standard nosewheel in favor of two units which deployed from the engine nacelles in front of the standard mainwheels. Wheels could be added to the pod on the ground to move it from under the aircraft, and Fairchild envisioned a range of different pods to meet differing tactical requirements. Despite full military evaluation, the novel XC-120 was not proceeded with.
