Vintage Transports, photos by Friends & Guests (69)

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On a regular basis people sent me photos, to share their enthusiasm for vintage airliners or to illustrate a question. These photos may have been lingering in a scrapbook or a discarded box somewhere or show travelled the same trails as I did.
To prevent them from getting lost, with permission (or special request) of the sender, I like to share them on this page.
Photos already online (personal websites, airliners.net, jetphotos.net, etc) are not meant to be included here.

With the ever growing popularity of Social Media (Flickr, Facebook, Instagram) the barrier has become much lower for people to share their photographs or scans of slides online; imperfection to post aviation images is no longer an issue.
I noticed a decline in requests for publication on my website on my 'Guest Pages', so now some of these images shared below will be copied from Facebook & Flickr by me if I find it has some use for me. For preservation of their historic value as I see it; always preferably with proper credit to the photographer, of course!

Btw, while I am on social media, picking up on aviation news, I use it mainly for other interests while my website remains my main focus to share my interest in vintage aviation and various non-aviation subjects.

 

Dan Deloria wrote me in Jan.2026: "I appreciate all the information on the Kaiser-Frazer page – it has helped me out considerably. To assist in some small way, here is a photo of a data plate taken in a Vietnamese museum in the 1990’s."
C-119 KF serial plate (Dan Deloria)
The details I (RL) find impossible to interpret..
C-119 KF serial plate (Dan Deloria)
C-119F KF18x (smudged). Date accepted seems 1954

From Simon D. Beck's 'Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar - the complete service histories':
C-119 KF serials (Simon D. Beck)

Dan: "I sent this dataplate photo after reading that there was a Kaiser-Frazer Mystery on a sub page of your website. I did not know that the KF serial numbers were not a mystery.
I think we have narrowed this specific dataplate to 53-8077, as we found a picture of KF-183/53-8080 flying with the VPAF post war...
This particular dataplate was found in a Vietnamese Military Museum in the mid 1990’s and was claimed to be a
F-105 shot down in 1967.
We have been reviewing photos of the VN museum holdings and have found that in a majority of exhibits, the date and type of aircraft do not correlate – there is no record of a C-119 loss in 1967 that could be the C-119 dataplate. The photo of the museum exhibit does support that the aircraft suffered major damage, it is not just an isolated dataplate."

Joseph Mortati and I have been working on this item. We have been reviewing photos of VN museum artifacts to deteremine if any can be used to clarify Missing In Action (MIA) cases."
Check out: Healing Through History - Vietnam Veterans Support

Simon Beck's information does indeed list KF-183 / 53-8080 (see below) including 'VPAF 918 TS Reg 75', with disposition date 08Sep71.

C-119 KF serials (Simon D. Beck)
C-119 53-8080

The above finding (conclusion?) on 53-8080 led to >>>
C-119 53-8080 USAF
From: https://captured-wings.fandom.com/wiki/53-8080 "Built under licence by Kaiser-Fraser, the aircraft was passed to South Vietnam. Captured in VietNam, it was subsequently operated by the VPAF."
And "8080 (msn 183) to South Vietnam. Captured in VietNam and operated by VPAF 918th Transport Regiment. http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/cgi-bin/gzUsafSearch.pl?target=&content=Captured

See the start of 4 C-119 'dossier webpages' on my website HERE..

On my 2008 US SW trip starting in California I had hoped to meet Bill Larkens, we had exchanged emails, but
it didn't happen. Going SW instead of NW due to the weather I also missed out on meeting our friend Jean, she
passed shortly after (I did not know she had cancer). The things we get to regret..
William 'Bill' T. Larkins RIP
In 2026 read of his passing: "William T. Larkins passed away in 2021, at the age of 99."
Regret we did not come to meet but my travel plans 2008 had changed and could not contact him in time.
William T. Larkins - RIP 2021


Derek Lepper shared with me his memories of his 1960s plane spotting days in (a.o.) Holland and the UK.
Derek Lepper's plane spotting memories

Derek: "In the late 1950s and '60s I grew up in Hertfordshire. At that time aviation was growing all around. Particularly since there was a new race for military aircraft and that time was the start of jet engines in civil aircraft.
As you know the area where I lived was surrounded with airfields, aerodromes and airports.
Handley Page was building the Victor and de Havilland the Comet; both Hatfield and Radlett were just a short bike ride away. My closest was Elstree, less than 10 km. London Airport was 30 km, so I rode my bike there many times, as well as taking the bus, many times too.
I collected maps and dreamed of travel all over the world..."

For more go to my page ->
REMEMBER Brian Stainer's 'Aviation Photo News' & Alan W Hall's 'Aviation News' magazine

 

 

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Created: 11-Dec-2025 | Updated: 25-Jan-2026