Fairchild C-123K Provider USAF
The Fairchild C-123K Provider of the USAF Museum (s/n 56-4362) on display saw extensive service during the Southeast Asia War as a sprayer, and Ranch Hand personnel developed a strong symbolic attachment to this aircraft. The aircraft took almost 600 hits in combat, and it was named Patches for the damage repairs that covered it. Moreover, seven of its crew received the Purple Heart for wounds received in battle. It is painted in South Vietnamese colours, as were used when the aircraft flew "Ranch Hand"-missions. Patches was accepted by the USAF in 1957 as a C-123B, and it went to Vietnam in 1961 to fly as a low-level defoliant sprayer. In 1965, it was redesignated to UC-123B. In 1967, Patches became a dedicated insecticide sprayer to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and in 1968, Fairchild converted it to a UC-123K.
Patches came back to the U.S. in 1972, and served in the Air Force Reserve as a C-123K until it was retired to the museum in 1980.
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