State Partnership Program

Video by Master Sgt. Eric Johnson

End of an Era manned Flying NDANG

119th Wing, North Dakota Air National Guard

Aug. 27, 2013 | 2:06

The NDANGs last C-21 aircraft has left the base. The plane, the last of eight that the unit known as the Happy Hooligans has been maintaining and flying since 2007, took off just after 11:30 a.m. today following a press conference that included recollections from throughout 66 years of flying history. U.S. Air Force C-21 pilots Col. Brad Derrig, the 119th Wing vice commander, and Col. Kent Olson, the 119th Wing commander, make one final pass in C-21 aircraft number 84-0064 during its final flight from the North Dakota Air National Guard base in Fargo, N.D., Aug. 27, 2013. The aircraft is the last to depart the unit during a mission conversion, leaving the unit without a manned flying mission for the first time since it began in 1947. North Dakota is now the only state in the United States without a manned flying mission. The unit has an outstanding flying record with more than 175,000 hours without a Class A mishap in a manned aircraft. The 119th Wing is one of only two Air National Guard units to be selected for the U.S. Air Force Hughes Trophy, awarded to flying units, and the only Air National Guard unit to win the award twice. The unit also won the William Tell World-Wide Meet fighter competition three times while flying fighters. Available in high definition.