The final pieces of a C-119 “Flying Boxcar” aircraft that the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum purchased last year have been stuck for several days on the South Dakota-Iowa border waiting for Iowa officials to issue a permit to allow the parts to be driven across the state.
The 40,000-pound plane, which is not airworthy, was taken apart several months ago at an airport in Greybull, Wyoming, where the aircraft’s parts – including tail booms, engines and the fuselage – have been loaded onto trucks and driven 1,460 miles to Columbus Municipal Airport.
The final remaining parts of the disassembled aircraft departed Wyoming on Saturday include the plane’s propeller systems and the wing box, a centralized part of the plane that connects to several key parts of the aircraft, including the wings, fuselage, among others.
The hold up in Iowa involves the width of the wing box, said Skip Taylor, a museum member who is leading the C-119 project.
As loaded on the trailer, the wing box is 38 feet long and 19 feet, 10 inches wide, taking up more than one lane of road, Taylor said. The width of a standard freeway lane in the United States is 12 feet, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
Currently, it is unclear when the parts will make it to Columbus Municipal Airport. The parts have been stuck on the Iowa border since at least Monday.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
