Jesse Brinson visits Battle Mountain's deserted Air Museum


Photos © Jesse Brinson

Jesse Brinson, from High Point, NC, visited this remote location in 2005, at the Battle Mountain Airport in Nevada.
"An inquiry was made at the airport, about this graveyard of aeroplanes and I asked permission to view them. They said: "feel free to look around!".
Battle Mountain is the farthest point of the fire fighting bases in the southwest. We were told that a gentleman tried to start a museum here years ago, but received no help from the local citizens. So what you see is a fine collection of aircraft waiting to be saved...
We got up close and personal with all the aircraft and even went inside the C-119. What a beauty she must have been!"

C-119 N5216R This is Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar, of former aerial fire fighting company Hawkins & Powers Aviation Inc.
The C-119G is registered N5216R, at one time airtanker 136 but has here a jetpod installed with number 137 on it. It has construction number 10956 and did service with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), serialled 22131.

There is also an 'N5216R' on display at Greybull,WY (as airtanker 136) but this actually is N3935. More can be read at my Greybull webpage.

Look at that beautiful desert backdrop!
N5216R
Tanker 137, Fairchild Packet
Twin boom tail
N5216R C-119 Tanker
Tail of N5216R
Prop
C-119G N5216R in the Nevada desert
The explorer and the C-119
Cargo bay
The cockpit that remains
The cockpit, closer look
Looking forward
Looking backward
The 'crew'
Smoky reading air attack
Hawkins & Powers badge
Fluid Lines instructions

Not much to go on for identification here: no jetpod, the twinbooms on which the tailnumber sat has been removed... Where did all these parts go to? Still, it would make a nice gardenshed...
I did extensive research in the identity of the C-119s here at Battle Mountain; this is former C-119 airtanker T134 (N8832, c/n 10907, ex/ RCAF 22123), which crashed at Battle Mountain in August 1985...
More can be read on my Battle Mountain webpage.
At one time the identification of these C-119s proved to be a problem, due to the fact that N5216R had been parked here with a jetpod of another C-119. And then there were misunderstandings about one or two C-119s here...
These photos clearly show 2 C-119 airframes.
Because Hawkins and Powers shifted parts, tailnumbers and airtanker identifications around like there was no tomorrow, there are still C-119s awaiting identification. See my report on Greybull,WY log reports.

See also my C-119 Index page

What it once was...
Cartoon on a door

Trailer, abandoned too

 

The remainder of aircraft on 'display'

North American F-86K Sabre
McDonnel-Douglas F-4 Phanton
F-4Phantom
Lockheed T-33
general Dynamics F-111
General Dynamics F-111
McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom
Lockheed T-33

 


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