If you want to take a ride in a Connie

[Clancy Arnold]

If you want to take a ride in a Connie (Lockheed Constellation) go to the Scale forum.

Clancy

[Ted Fancher]

If you want to take a ride in a Connie (Lockheed Constellation) go to the Scale forum.

Clancy

HI Clancy,

Boy, that brings back memories from many decades ago.

When I was a youngster my dad owned a flight school and FBO (Fixed Base Operation--a light plane facility), which was also a Cessna dealership.  One of his close friends was a guy named Dave Kellogg who was a pilot for (IIRC) Pacific Northern Airlines that was eventually merged with Western Airlines and on and on ad nauseum as the industry ebbed and flowed.  Dave was a Connie Captain at the time and had been called while at my dad's operation (Renton Aviation, in Renton, WA at the South end of Lake Washington) by the crew schedulers to ferry a Connie from Boeing Field to Seattle Tacoma airport--a very short trip of only a few miles but because of sequencing out of and into the two airports took about 45 minutes or so. .

Well, this being several decades before hijacking and 9/11, Dave as Captain of the ship simply asked if we'd like to ride along on the flight  IN THE COCKPIT!  Run don't walk was my response.  It was after sunset when we took off and I'll never forget the glow of all the lights in the "pre jet era" cockpit.  The flight engineer panel alone was chockablock with more lights and clocks and dials than any jet transport I ever flew afterward.  It was mesmerizing mechanical, incomprehensible maze.

After we took off I remember Dave had the flight engineer take us back into the passenger cabin to check out the Superchargers on the Curtis Wright R3350s's spitting blue flame out of their exhaust. I was captivated from the first second number three started to tick over and over, belched smoke and roared into life. Never did I think at the time that not too many years hence I would start to spend tens of thousands of hours in cockpits similar to that.  DC-6s and 7s, Convair 340s, Boeing 720s, Douglas DC-8s, B727s, 757s, 767s, 747s (rope starts) and 747-400s (plus one amazing flight in a Boeing 247).  That Connie was a window into my future.

Sort of hard to believe that by the start of 2003 one almost 60 year old man had managed to fly aircraft that spanned over  50% of the entire existence of heavier than air flight.  What an amazing era we've lived in.

Ted Fancher

Ted

[john e. holliday]

Ted, I am jealous of you guys/gals that got to fly.  Of course I know you probably flew in some conditions you wished you were not in.  I can remember the Connies flying overhead and thought that was and to me still the worlds most beatiful aircraft.  Having fun,  DOC Holliday

[Jim Kraft]

We had the Eisenhower centenial here in Abilene Ks. a few years ago. Eisenhower's presidential plane, the Columbine, was brought in for the festivities. It was a beautiful Connie that had been restored just prior to this event. They flew it in and out of the Abilene airport many times, at night, and during the day. The sights and sounds brought back memories to me of the times when my father had flown out of KC in one, on his many flights to Georga. He was sales manager for Clipper Saw Co. at the time. I really loved the night flights, where the "blue flames" were very visible.

I got a tour of the plane by the crew, and learned that this particular Connie had belonged to a crop duster in Canada, along with many others. The owner was looking through some history of the Connie in I believe the Smithsonian, where they had all of the serial numbers of all the Connies that had been built. He came accross the Eisenhower plane, and realized that he owned it, and they had been cabaging parts off of it to keep some of the rest of the fleet going. To make a long story short, they restored it to its original glory, and flew it to Abilene.

There is also a Connie sitting on the tarmac at Salina Ks., about 25 miles from Abilene, that has been there for years. There have been many stories about that one, and I heard it was flown out once, but had to return has it had some problems.

One other thing on the Eisenhower plane, was that they did not have the exhaust collector rings on two of the engines, and instead, just had the little stub pipes on each cyl.. Made for a beautiful display of "blue flame" at night.

[frank williams]

During my time in SE Asia (’69), I got a ride on a Connie out of Korat.  They were designated EC-121R I think.  The AirForce took a couple dozen from the Navy and used them for airborne relay stations during the Vietnam era.  They were used to relay signals from gound sensors on the Ho Chi Minh trail back to our ground bases for analysis.  The coverage was 24/7. There were EC-121’s in the air, flying several racetrack patterns over the trail, for years on end.  The flight, as I remember was 10 or 12 hours duration.  A couple hours into the flight the exhaust stacks were glowing cherry red, quite a sight, quite a ride.

[Michael Brooks]

When I was a kid in KCK, my grandmother worked for TWA. At some point, her office was transfered from downtown to the overhaul base (now KCI). She'd work an occasional Saturday and I'd often ride out with my grandfather to get her in the afternoon. In the mid to late 60's as jets replaced the Connies, TWA would send the Connies to KC. They would be lined up, wing tip to wing tip. I thought they were absolutely the prettiest things I'd ever seen. One Saturday, we went to get my grandmother and I discovered that TWA had started breaking up the Connies. These beautiful planes were now just so much scrap metal. Made me want to cry when I saw what was happening. They were way to pretty too destroy as far as I was concerned.


Mike

[Mike strawn]

 I WOULD LOVE TO FLY IN ONE!!!!! That is one beautiful plane!!! Wish they still made them to look like that!!!

[Bill Heher]

Yep- better than a Playboy centerfold. One sexy airplane! It looks fast sitting on the ground.

[Tom Niebuhr]

When I attended the Academy of Aeronautics at LaGuadia, Eastern was still flying Connies for the Shuttle. Several took off or laned every hour. They were noisy and beautiful. By the time I graduated from Parks College of St Louis University, the Connies were replaced by Electras on the shuttle.

I still get goose bumps when I see a Connie on display, or see one on an airport deteriorating.

Unlike today, when most aircraft look alike from a distance, the Connie stood out. In my book it was and is the most majestic and beautiful airplane  ever to grace the skies.

[Glen Wearden]

I'll agree that the Super Connie is a beautiful plane, but I don't care to take another ride in one.  My first tour in Viet Nam, we flew World Airways out of Travis AFB.  The MATS contract planes were modified to haul as many bodies as possible, six rows across, as I recall.  IIRC, there were 165 aboard, to include military and dependents.  It took 8 hours to Honolulu.  Then, we were supposed to land at Midway, but it had been severely damaged by a typhoon, so we flew to Guam on a 14 hour leg; plugged up toilets, babies screaming, flight attendants working their rear ends off----much fun!  Then into Manila where the last of the dependents deplaned.  The leg into Saigon was quite pleasant, with the plane half-full.  Guess my experience with the Connie just soured me.

Glen

[Clancy Arnold]

Ted
Glad you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

You said "747 (rope start)."  There has got to be a story to go with that title.

I see 4 BIG mechanics pulling ropes like on a lawn mower to start the engines???

Clancy