Two C-119 Flying Boxcars sit on the old fire tanker ramp at Palmer Airport, and are slowing being restored to airworthy condition by John Reffett and Dave Ciocchi.

They is hoping to get the first aircraft airworthy by next year and to start hauling building materials into the Alaskan interior.

John used to be the flight engineer on N1394N when it was originally operated by Stebbins-Ambler Air Transport to keep the communities of Stebbins and Ambler in Alaska supplied with essentials from the outside world from 1985.

In 1989 N1394N performed a successful forced landing at Port Lions, AK (off airport) due to engine trouble, and as the company could not afford to buy a new engine the aircraft become stranded there for 13 years. During this time the aircraft was vandalized and parts were robbed but the new owner, John, managed to recover this aircraft after around 13 years of hard work which included and taking parts including an engine from N8501W parked at Anchorage.

The final stage in the process was to refuel the aircraft. As she was not at an airport, they used a Cessna 185 and ferried fuel from Kodiak Airport and hand pumped the fuel from the Cessna into the C-119. They performed this flight many times and managed to feat in a single day. In 2002 N1394N came home to Palmer, following N8501W that made the flight from Anchorage in 2001 after 6 years of work.

Three DC-3s also sit stored at Palmer either awaiting buyers or work.