Lockheed Constellation

[john e. holliday]

Today 9-18-2013, Plane-A-Day has a video of a variant of the Constellation in Air Force livery.   No matter what they hang on it, it is still one of the more graceful planes that I love.   Remember as a kid laying in the yard watching the civilian versions flying over head from the ole Down Town KCMo Airport.  If the picture attaches, this is a Navy Weather plane.

[Douglas Ames]

Yup, That's a C-121 or more specifically, a WC-121N as stated on the link.
When I first started my Career as an Aircraft Mechanic at Eastern in MIA in 1980, there was a Super-Connie that flew in once a week from S. America, bringing in flowers for the local floral distributor. We all put our wrenches down and watched it land / take-off. What a sight! Even if it was a cargo plane. One of the prettiest Airliners ever!

[Steve Helmick]

Oddly enough, I always thought they were very ugly. Beat me severely, if you wish.  Steve

[Will Hinton]

While I was based at NAS Quonset Point in Rhode Island there was a Super Connie with the huge radome for AEW service and we knew spring was getting close when all we could see of that thing was the radome showing above the snow piled up between the runways and taxi strips!  THAT was deep piles of snow for that airplane is wonderfully tall.  I love them because they remind me of those teenage days when I was falling in love with flying things!  Talk about nostalgia!

[rustler]

Wasn't the Connie the plane that Bob Palmer made some contribution to, to do with drag, that eventually pulled it ahead of the competition?

[Dan McEntee]

Wasn't the Connie the plane that Bob Palmer made some contribution to, to do with drag, that eventually pulled it ahead of the competition?

    I heard Mr. Palmer speak at a VSC banquet years ago, and I think he said he worked on the wind tunnel models for everything beginning with the P-38 through the F-117 Stealth Fighter. That's quite a body of work! He was there at the time the Connie was in developement so it's possible. Anybody else remember it that way?
   Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Jack Pitcher]

When I was up at Eielson AFB in Fairbanks, AK in the late 60's we were visited a couple of times by a mysterious Navy Connie that came in for some sort of parts or supplies, I don't remember what. It was painted an overall flat gray, kind of a dark shade. It did not have the hump radome. It had some nose art and lettering that said "Arctic Fox" if I remember correctly. I don't know what they were doing but when we brought out the stuff they needed we were not allowed to go anywhere near the airplane. I've always wondered what they were up to.

I was assigned to a WC-135-B aircrew. The publically announced mission was weather recon and we did that. My job aboard was operating nuclear recon equipment. We flew daily missions over the Pole and along the Western Pacific monitoring the air masses drifting off from Russia and China looking for any airborne nuclear debris. All hush-hush in those days but common knowledge now.

Frank McMillan was also stationed at EIE at that time and I spent many an hour in the basement of his quarters watching him build stunt ships. There were also EC and RC-135's up there at that time and I think Frank flew on one of those. Again I don't know what they were doing. We've never discussed it, then or now.

Jack

[mike londke]

I was lucky enough to get a ride in and skydive from a Connie in 1997. The "Save A Connie" Foundation brought one to the World Freefall Convention and was selling jump tickets for $59, to raise money to help support their efforts. We got a nice 45 minute ride up to 10,000ft then got out. It was beautifully restored and the crew let us walk around the cabin and hang out up front with the pilots on the climb to altitude. Magnificent airplane! The SAC Foundation is doing great work.  Mike

[billbyles]

Today 9-18-2013, Plane-A-Day has a video of a variant of the Constellation in Air Force livery.   No matter what they hang on it, it is still one of the more graceful planes that I love.   Remember as a kid laying in the yard watching the civilian versions flying over head from the ole Down Town KCMo Airport.  If the picture attaches, this is a Navy Weather plane.

There is a C-121 sitting on the west ramp at Chino, CA airport by Yank's Air Museum.  It flew in a couple of years ago.  This one does not have the top "bump" antenna but does have the huge belly antenna.  It is in its original Air Force markings - flat gray all over with stars & bars.  The tip tanks hold 700 gallons of avgas each and the airplane needs all of that & more with its Wright R-3350 turbo compound engines.  I have walked all around the C-121 several times & it is really a pretty big airplane.  This airplane has all of its avionics, electronic "snooping" gizmos, etc., and the interior is just as it was when it was in service.  Pretty obsolete by the time the Air Force parted with it.

[James_Mynes]

There are a couple of Constellations at the airport in Auburn, Maine. They've been there for years and years. I think at least one of them is being restored, the other may be being cannibalized for the cause, I don't know. I have no factual knowledge of their history, but I was told they were evidence in a drug smuggling operation, perhaps they've crossed paths with the South American 'flower transporter' Doug Ames mentioned above. In recent years a large hangar was built and they were moved to the other side of the runway. The better one is inside, and the one outside loses a piece now and then, leading me to the cannibalization theory.
I drove past them one day with a co-worker and casually remarked about the planes. He said one of them had been "Hitler's Air Force One". Seeing the puzzled look on my face, he said one of them had been his transport plane when he needed to fly somewhere in the Reich. For the record, I think he's FOS.
As I recall, they were bright silver, not in a military paint scheme.
A few years back I had a chance to tour the other Constitution, as in USS. Although it's a small one compared to the newer aircraft carriers it was still might impressive!

[Wayne J. Buran]

Today 9-18-2013, Plane-A-Day has a video of a variant of the Constellation in Air Force livery.   No matter what they hang on it, it is still one of the more graceful planes that I love.   Remember as a kid laying in the yard watching the civilian versions flying over head from the ole Down Town KCMo Airport.  If the picture attaches, this is a Navy Weather plane.

What was even more interesting was the video. I would have loved to have been there for the start up of those radials. I was at United Airlines in 66-67 when they were still flying DC-6's on short routes. Still remember the radials on startup.
Thanks
Wayne

[Frank Imbriaco]

As a kid growing up in the town neighboring Newark (NJ) Airport, I recall seeing many of them climbing to cruise altitude and being able to read TRANS WORLD AIRLINES (TWA) on the fuse.
What a sound- distinctive coming and going away.
 And of course, the tri-tail.
 There  currently is one perched atop the Greenwood Lake , NY Airport office . Yes, it's mounted on top a building at this small airport !
 Always wonder whether they flew that one in or brought it in  pieces. Anyone know ?
Just saw it  back a few weeks ago  at  the  Greenwood Lake Airshow -which is slowly trying to grow into a Sussex Airshow.
 Kirby Chambliss was the headline act this year.

[Dave_Trible]

I was lucky enough to get a ride in and skydive from a Connie in 1997. The "Save A Connie" Foundation brought one to the World Freefall Convention and was selling jump tickets for $59, to raise money to help support their efforts. We got a nice 45 minute ride up to 10,000ft then got out. It was beautifully restored and the crew let us walk around the cabin and hang out up front with the pilots on the climb to altitude. Magnificent airplane! The SAC Foundation is doing great work.  Mike

The Save A Connie- Connie was restored by retired TWA employees here in KC at the old TWA overhaul base, now taken over by other airlines.  The ship is still here at downtown airport last I knew but hasn't flown in several years.  An engine caught fire and caused some damage.  The foundation hasn't been able to raise the money to fix it so it sits going downhill once again.  I also think most of the knowledgable workers on the plane are now gone or too old to keep up the effort.
I remember up tooling around with a friend in a Piper two seater one day and seeing the Connie blowing past us a few miles out.  Very pretty from the air with gear up and cruising along. My uncle was a mechanic at TWA and i just remember him talking about how bad they vibrated.

[Jim Kraft]

Great memories for me. Back in the 40's my dad was a sales manager for a company in KC, and use to fly Constellations a lot. My brother and I would go to the observation tower to watch them take off. They were usually just about level with us on takeoff to where we could see the fire from the exhausts and see the passengers in the plane windows.

There is one sitting on the ramp at Salina Ks. at the airport that has been there for years. It flew out one time but had to return as they had engine trouble.

During the Eisenhower centennial here in Abilene Ks. they flew in the Eisenhower presidential plane which was a Connie named the Columbine. They flew it daily over Abilene and did take offs and landings at night. It was beautiful to watch and listen to those old radials. They did not have the exhaust collectors on two of the engines with just stub pipes on each cylinder which made it all the more fun to watch as the fire from those engines was so neat.

They had restored the plane from one that was from a fleet of them used in Canada for spraying crops. The story was that the owner was looking through a paper from the Smithsonian where they had all of the Connies listed with their serial numbers and he realized he had that plane.

[Jack Pitcher]

Before going up to Alaska I was at McClellan AFB in Sacramento, CA. There was a whole squadron of EC-121's there. The 552nd Airborne Early Warning & Control Squadron (AEW&C). We saw and heard them coming and going every day. A high school buddy of mine was in that squadron and flew as a crew member on them. It was not uncommon to see one coming in with an engine shut down and feathered. My buddy said that an inside joke in the squadron was that landing with four engines running was found in the Emergency Procedures section of the flight manual.

There was an unfortunate incident when one threw a propeller blade on landing roll-out. The blade went through the fuselage and killed at least one of the crew inside.

Jack

[Bill Johnson]

There was a Super Connie at the airport in Salinas, Kansas. I was there taking a class on radial engine overhaul. The story was that some guy owned it and was in the middle of a restoration. At some point, his wife said either the plane goes or she goes. About 6 months later, in comes 4 freshly overhauled Wright 3350s! So, I guess we know how that story ended. I heard later the Save a Connie foundation had bought it.

[Tim Wescott]

Oddly enough, I always thought they were very ugly. Beat me severely, if you wish.  Steve

So would your suggested point scheme be yellow with ends going from brown to black, maybe with a "Chiquita" label on it somewhere?

[Jim Kraft]

It's still there Bill. It is sitting on the north end of the field now. It has been moved a couple of times.

[Dan McEntee]

   The house I grew up in was right under the glide path for runway 24 into Lambert Field, and about a mile or so from the threshhold of the run way. Airplanes were pretty low when they went over my house! At that point in time, that runway was the only instrument runway they had at Lambert, and in bad weather, all inbound or outbound airplanes went over in bad weather, or at night. If they were landing, the landing lights would shine in the big picture window of our living room, and light up the whole room. When we were kids we thought that was SO cool we would open the curtains wide and turn out all the other lights, but only if Mom wasn't home! There is nothing like the sound of a Connie or DC-7 taking off or landing when everything was at full rich and pitch! It made the windows rattle, and the radiation comming off the ignitions would mess up TV reception while they were right over the house.
   Many years later, October of 1993 I think it was, there was an Unlimited Air Race at the old Olathe, Kansas Naval Air Station. Chris McMillin and I went up there for that, and that trip alone has a lot of stories to go with it, but relating to the subject, The Save-A-Connie Super Constellation flew over from Kansas City and really beat up the filed before he landed. Each pass was lower and faster ! After aboput 6 or 8 passes, it landed and was on display for the day. That was early on in it's restoration history, but was still pretty cool to go through, and I have toured the airplane many times since then. Would sure like to see it fly one more time, and I would probably buy a ride in it if possible.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[YakNine]

I remember seeing the Save a Connie plane at Sun N Fun around 1999 or so, I paid the 2 bucks to walk through it , I was with my uncle a retired Navy Seal. He said he was involved in quite a few missions with the CIA over Laos with them durIng Vietnam.T.J.

[Steve Thomas]

There's an airworthy one of these based about 20 minutes away from my place. It was originally a C-121, but is now painted to resemble a Qantas Super Connie, and is a regular on the airshow scene here. They've done a great job restoring it, and it looks fantastic in the air. Seeing those engines start up is quite something as well.

Steve

[afml]

Check this out!



My experience with a 'Super G' is a little different than most of you.
'Once upon a time', the Pittsburgh, PA Airport, before it became a BIG International Airport, had an outdoor observation deck. ONE of my favorite plane watching spots! Running from side to side to locate which plane was about to fire up the engines & depart the terminal. The Family was going to visit my Aunt & Uncle in LA. Yep! The mode of transportation was a TWA Super G. Made a short layover in Chicago. We sat by the wing so I could watch the engines fire up and the exhaust glow at night. What a trip for a youngster! The next day, Dad located a Friend and we flew over Disneyland in his small plane. The following day was filled with visits of Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland.
Tomorrow Land still had the rocket standing tall & ready and we spent a lot of time at 'the cage' where C/L flying was still active.
Sorry to ramble on.....
"Tight Lines!"
Wes

[Tom Niebuhr]

I am surprised to hear Frank I. say that the Connie at Greenwood Lake airport is on top of the building.  

Two TWA pilots flew it into the airport when the airport was semi connected to the old Jungle Safari animal park. I was told that they braked hard, taxied to the ramp, never saying a word to anyone and left. The short runway made it doubtfull if it could have ever taken off.

The airplane sat NEXT TO the building and they cut a hole in the side for access from the building. I have been inside the Connie and took many pictures that will take a while to search for. There are still glasses hanging from a rack above the the bar. The cockpit is also complete.

Living in the Bronx in earlier years, Connies were always flying out of LaGuardia and over our house. . When I attended the Academy of Aeronautics at LaGuardia, we watched  the Connies all the time, in the end they were used on the Eastern Airlines Shuttle, and later replaced by Lockheed Electra IIs

The Connies had a unique landing gear retraction. Both mains would start up, the one would drop a little then continue retraction.  And... the noise of those engines!!!!

There was another Connie that was on top of a restaurant on route 1 in Pennsylvania. The restaurant was "Jim Flannery's Constellation Lounge". I have been to QB meetings there with the late Nick D'Appuzzo. My first view of the airplanes was at night. It was well lit up and looked like  it going to land on the road.

I have been inside that one too.
The engines were gone, so it was not a complete airplane.  The restaurant is now gone. In my mind the Connie was the prettiest and most majestic airplane ever built.

[Tom Niebuhr]

I just found this on Flanery's Constellation:

Diane and Murray Miller of Philadelphia recently visited a significant piece of Bucks County memorabilia now on display in Delaware. It’s a Lockheed Super Constellation open to visitors at the Dover Air Force Base Air Mobility Command Museum.

The aircraft was withdrawn from service in 1967 and served as a fixture of Penndel’s skyline for 30 years sitting atop Flannery’s Restaurant on Lincoln Highway (Old Route 1). Customers of the restaurant were invited to enter the plane, which became a dining lounge.

Owner Jim Flannery was an Air Force pilot who thought the addition of a real airplane would set his restaurant apart.

When the restaurant closed and was sold to Amoco, the new owner donated the aircraft to the museum in 1997 after it was dismantled and removed from the restaurant. The building was later torn down and replaced by a gas station and convenience store. Amoco erected a small pedestal on the site with a replica of the plane as a memorial.

The aircraft museum’s operations manager John Taylor said that he often encounters Pennsylvania residents visiting the museum that ask to see the plane.

“It’s a piece that creates a lot of unique conversations,” Taylor added.

[Randy Ryan]

I think the Connie is one of the most beautiful aircraft ever. Nothing else to say.

[John Kelly]

  ...

[john e. holliday]

What was really exciting for me many years ago before the engine let go in the Connie here in KC was driving home from Topeka KS and looked over to see the Connie flying home.  It was not that high and just kind of lumbering along.   Such a beautiful airplane.   And yes the sound of those big radials is something to be heard. 

[YakNine]

I bitch about buying a bunch of glow plugs but one of the factoids in the Save A Connie was the astronomical figure to perform a plug change all I remember was it was a lot of money and a lot of plugs!

[Michael Boucher]

Just 144 plugs. 

[Jack Pitcher]

Thanks, John Kelly. I'm sure that's the airplane that visited us at Eielson. I didn't remember that it had orange paint on it but it must have. That memory is over 40 years old. It's amazing to see it again after all these years. I see that it has a belly dome. I did a search on VXN-8 and found the following:

BuNo 141325 “Arctic Fox” also flew with the VXN-8 Squadron. It was used to provide accurate polar ice, and environmental data in the Arctic.

That would explain what it was doing in the north country. I found another photo. I'll try to attach it.

Jack

[Garf]

Like the big stuff?

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[Garf]

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[Garf]

Russian cargo plane startup, electrally driven inertia starter.

[Garf]

Hawker Sea Fury/Bristol Centarus sleeve valve engine.

[Garf]

FW-190

[Garf]

Polikarpow/16 Rata

[Garf]

Connie 4 engine startup.

[Garf]

Spartan/R-985

[Garf]

B-17, B-24, B-25