A piece of American history preserved by Germans

American Thinker ^ | November 27, 2008 | Thomas Lifson

[xcamel]

Sorry... but the LSC is to beautiful not to post in its full glory....

[Southern Partisan]

neverdem:

Thank you for posting. Sure would like to ride a Connie again someday.

Welcome to Ralph M. Pettersen’s Constellation Survivors Website

http://www.conniesurvivors.com/

[xcamel]

Oh, and the original...

[Liberty Valance]

No doubt the Constellation was a giant step forward for commercial aviation but I've always been in love with the Lockheed Electra. Hats off to the Germans involved with the restoration of that Constellation. ;o)



I couldn't resist posting a pic of an Electra.

[arthurus]

Why on earth would anyone want to preserve the “Lead Sled?”

[A. Morgan]

My uncle used to fly one of these for TWA, he loved flying it.

[Fiji Hill]

My mother, who was the president of her local American Association of University Women chapter, took her first airplane flight in a TWA Connie from Los Angeles to Kansas City to attend the AAUW’s national conference in June, 1959. Two years later, I flew to Germany aboard a DC-6. I’ve also flown in a DC-3.

[BwanaNdege]

Thanks for the great post!

The first time I flew was on a Supper Connie, DC to Atlanta in 1957.

During a midshipman summer cruise in 1966, I was stationed with VP-24 flying in P2V’s. One night on guard duty I was assigned a hangar containing a Super Connie with both dorsal & belly radomes. The aircraft was painted flat battleship gray, with half of each radome painted black. It had the US aviation insignia in black and a small number 7 in black. That was all the markings it had.

I always wondered what it was. Early AWACS?

[frog in a pot]

It is a beautiful airplane.
(Beware, sad horse story.)

Last saw one in the middle 60’s while it was on final at SFO perhaps @ 300’. It was moving slowly and dramatically nose way down, nose wayup. I was northbound on the freeway in traffic and could not move over but fully expected a catastrophe.

It seems Bing Crosby had shipped an Arabian thoroughbred by air and due to delays the tranquilizers had worn off. The panicked horse had broken loose from his restraints and was racing from one end of the cargo bay to the other. Crewman had to destroy the horse with a fire axe in order to save the ship.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wife and I flew a Air Liberdat DC 3 from Huatulco to Oaxaca, Mexico some years back. The airplane was spotlessly clean and flown by two pilots wearing what appeared to be blue Nomex jumpsuits.
I could look out the window and observe the engine on the right wing which produced a tiny drip of oil every few minutes. I thought, as long as the oil continues, there must be oil in that big motor...

[rockinqsranch]

John W. Cook Sr., A close friend of mine, and my family was one whom piloted these lovely aircraft in the 1950’s in the employ of TWA. He and a friend set a World Record in 1958 for the longest uninterrupted flight in history in Las Vegas, Nevada. The record still holds. There was once upon a time a small mention of the feat at the AOPA website, and within the past 10 years IIRC the modified Cessna 172 he and his friend flew into the record books was placed in a Museum on display at McCarron Airport in Las Vegas.

Special plane, special people.

John passed away in 1997 IIRC, and his lovely wife Gwendolyn passed on two years later. They were wonderful people my wife and myself miss very much.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Besides TWA, which airlines flew the Connie ?
I know United preferred the DC-6, which we flew several times in the 1950s. Northwest had some odd double decker airplanes, I think. Never flew NW to Asia because PAA was the dominant carrier then.

[yarddog]

I remember around 1952, my Daddy drove us out to the airport in Panama City, FL just to look at the airplanes. There was a Constellation parked on the runway. I was only five but I can still recall seeing those three tail sections like it was yesterday.

Now that I think about it, a Constellation at that fairly small airport may have been unusual and just might have been the reason he drove us out there.

Anyway a real classic and very distinctive looking plane.

[Army Air Corps]

Civilian airlines that operated the Constellation included:

Argentina
Aerolineas Carreras
Aerolineas Entre Rios
Trans Atlantica Argentina
Transcontinental

Australia
Qantas

Austria
Aero Transport

Belgium
Sabena (leased from Western Airlines)

Brazil
Panair do Brasil
REAL
VARIG

Canada
Nordair
Trans Canada Airlines

Ceylon
Air Ceylon

Chile
Transportes Aereos Squella

Republic of China
China Airlines

Colombia
Avianca

Cuba
Cubana de Aviación

Dominican Republic
Aerotours Dominicana
Aerovias Quisqueyana

France
Air France

Germany
Lufthansa

Haiti
Air Haiti International

India
Air India

Ireland
Aer Lingus

Israel
El Al

Korea
Korean National Airlines

Luxembourg
Luxair

Mexico
Aeronaves de Mexico
Aerovias Guest

Morroco
Royal Air Maroc

Netherlands
KLM

Pakistan
Pakistan International Airlines

Panama
Lineas Aerea de Panama

Paraguay
Lloyd Aereo Paraguayo

Peru
LANSA
Perú Internacional - COPISA
Trans-Peruana

Portugal
Transportes Aereos Portugueses

Senegal
Government of Senegal

South Africa
South African Airways
Trek Airways

Spain
Iberia

Tunisia
Air Afrique

United Kingdom
ACE Freighters
British Overseas Airways Corporation
Britannia Airways
Euravia
Falcon Airways
Trans European Aviation
Universal Sky Tours

United States
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
American Overseas Airlines
Braniff International Airways
Capital Airlines
Chicago and Southern Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Eastern Air Lines
Federal Aviation Administration
Flying Tiger Line
Great Lakes Airlines
Imperial Airlines
Intercontinent Airways
Miami Airlines
Modern Air Transport
NASA
Northwest Orient Airlines
Pacific Northern Airlines
Pan American World Airways
Regina Cargo Airlines
Seaboard & Western Airlines
Seaboard World Airlines
Slick Airways
South Pacific Airlines
Trans World Airlines
United Airlines
United States Airways
Western Airlines
Wien Air Alaska

Uruguay
Aerolineas Uruguayas

Venezuela
Linea Aeropostal Venezolana

[Army Air Corps]

Connies, both military and civil, were beautiful ships.

[rockinqsranch]

Sorry, I don’t know whom else other than Lufthansa as stated in the article.

[GreyFriar]

Connie ping

[QBFimi2]

Too bad they didn’t restore an -049 (I think that’s what you see in Lufthansa livery in post #4 (from xcamel).

The -1649s had turbocompound engines (with PRTs - power recovery turbines - in the exhaust streams) that were a maintenance nightmare. The progression of engines in the models was summed up by mechanics and flight engineers as:

-049 = Overpowered
-1049 = Underpowered
-1649 = F**ked-up powered

[zebra 2]

I used to ride Southern’s DC-3 from Valdosta to Atlanta in the morning and back again that night. Out the window just behind the wing you could see oil caught in the the air stream, running back over the engine cover, and watch the sheet metal screws dancing back and forth. At night, especially on take-off, the engine exhaust looked like it might set the whole thing on fire. In fact, it looked like it had already done so.