The last flying Lockheed Super Constellation: engine start, flaming takeoff and landing. [4K]
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- Опубліковано 17 тра 2024
- Lockheed C-121C Super Constellation operated by the HARS Aviation Museum Shellharbour in Australia.
HARS aviation museum website: hars.org.au
More details about Connie: hars.org.au/lockheed-c-121c-s...
All footage is © Copyright 2021 Paul Stewart
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#superconstellation #connie
0:00 engine start
1:56 taxiing
3:00 full throttle engine runs
4:30 takeoff
5:16 fly past
5:30 landing
This aircraft is owned and operated by the HARS Aviation Museum at Albion Park just south of Sydney. It's open to the public and they do fantastic tours. You can turn up and join the tours although if you do the platinum 747 tour, make sure you call and book ahead. They're run on donations to you visiting the museum allows them to keep these aircraft in the air. Their website is: hars.org.au/
Oh I wish they would fly to St. Petersburg, FL!
Wonder if you were a military dependent. We lived in Karlsruhe for 3 years before heading home on the Connie. I would pay to ride on one again. What’s strange we went from NY to Southampton England on the SS United States.
Are those engines fairly modern?
@@thebeaz1 no, the opposite to modern. In fact when they started them, they threw oil onto a commercial Saab 340 a hundred meters behind it. The other guys were not too happy haha.
@@N4bpp1 --if you are asking me, yes. Dad was a USAF fighter pilot, who was stationed at Clark. As usual, we were along for 'the ride'!
If you weren't asking me, now you know.
My Dad, now 94 was a senior pilot in command of this model when Capital Airlines was flying before he returned to the Air Force flying fighters, that man has hours in more than 131 different aircraft, was an ATP instructor pilot with Instruments, private pilot instructor from single piston all the way to multi engine commercial jets. He often commented on the Super Connie as one of the most beautiful flying aircraft he piloted. He retired a decorated fighter pilot after 31 years flying from WWII, Korea & 3 tours in Vietnam.
Great note you wrote.Thank your father for serving. I served as well.1 of my favorite planes ever. Howard Hughes had a hand in designing this aircraft. I saw 1 years ago @ THE VAN NUYS AIRSHOW in 1984.Have pic's? Hope they put 1 in the LOS ANGELES AIR MUSEUM.
My mom worked for Capital. Washington National when they flew Vicounts.
Did he think about writing a biography ?
Wow your dad is quite a guy! I met a few like him in Vietnam. I was a crew chief on a a Huey Gunship.
Thanx for this wonderful testimonial. You have reason to be a proud son of him. 👍👍
I flew out of Frankfort, Germany in 1959 at 14 years old. I loved every minute of it. Served three meals in those days. We landed at Shannon Ireland to refuel, then to NY. The plane was loud and and packed. I loved it then and wish I could do it all again. At 76 I still get chills watching these beautiful aircraft.
Same route. Opposite direction. 1955, age 6... took forever. Sleep most of the time...shanon Ireland. Ate at some sort of Buffett. Then another 8?? Hours
Yeah, me too! From NYC to Frankfurt on TWA at age 9 in 1956. Stopped in Labrador for fuel and then Shannon, Ireland for breakfast and fuel. Eighteen hour flight with drop down berths to sleep in. Quite an adventure for me! Also stopped in London for a couple hours with mechanical problems.
I flew with my family to Rhein-Main via the Azores and Shannon in 1956. 17 hours. I was 14. Three years at FAHS. Go Eagles.
They still serve three meals if you are on a flight that covers a three meal tim span.
@@rondavis2050 slept
Everything about the Constellation says grace and style. Still the most beautiful airliner ever built.
I agree, she's a beauty.
Undoubtedly a beautiful and graceful aircraft but I personally rate Concorde as the most beautiful.
Agree plus Concorde.
Undoubtedly an elegant aeroplane, but its shape reminds me of a cigar. I prefer the Queen of the skies, Boeing 747.
Someone (an uncle who was a commercial pilot with Air New Zealand and QANTAS) once told me that the Constellation was the last commercial aircraft to be "shaped" without any computer-aided input. The lines all came from the eye of the designer(s) in conjunction with the mathematical calculations required for aerofoil, load, speed etc.
The original design had a rather large single tail-fin. Thank God they threw that out and opted for the triplex arrangement.
Oh! Do you know why it isn't doesn't have the word "QANTAS" on it?
The company did not want to take any chance that its unblemished safety record could be tarnished if anything disastrous happened because the media would show it as happening to a QANTAS aircraft.
There is not another aircraft in the world, that takes to the air more gracefully than a Connie!! Truly a stunningly beautiful piece of craftsmanship!! WOW..Awesome stuff!!
The most beautiful airliner ever made , and the most futuristic prop aircraft ever. In fact one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made.
without a doubt
A Connie makes a Cameo in The Godfather!!! Tom Hagen going to see Movie Mogul, Woltz. Later Woltz wakes up to blood all over his sheets and a horse head!!
ah: It must have been quite an experience to ride aboard one of these Connies!!!!!
I'm in love with her too.
@@spaceace1006 to coin a phrase.a prop per job.beautiful craft. Rog.
Has to be one of the prettiest aircraft ever built.
You may wish to look at the De Havilland Flamingo.
It has the profile of a dolphin.
Was prettier prior to the radar nose, though. I never liked the ant-eater profile the Connie got after that.
There are no ugly aircraft, they're all nice, but I think the Constellation is a bit ungainly looking. Much prefer say a DC-3.
@@QBRX Yes, very aerodynamic. More complex to build than a simple straight tube fuselage that is the norm today.
Born in 1955, one of my first memories that I can still remember is being in a stroller at the Philadelphia airport. I remember those tri-tailed airplanes in TWA red and white colors. This was in the days when you could get near where they parked the planes. We were there just to watch the planes takeoff and land, after going to the zoo, I'm 67 now. Those were the days.
Use to ride my bike down to PHL Cobbs Creek to Tinicum. You stirred great buried memories.
PHL in the 60’s had the greatest observation platform. Open and an incredible view.
Other great obs spot was Fort Miffin. Still open and the jets fly right over you. But No sounds like those TWA propellers.
Just everything: the curved fuselage, the triple rudders, the long landing gear, the pitched wings, and the big props. Beautiful!
I'm not an expert, but I feel that the Lockheed Super Constellation with it's so graceful lines is one of the most beautiful airliners ever !
I've been in love with that model plane since I first saw it when I was about 7.
By that age I'd ridden in about 3 each of different Douglas and Boeing models as well as the Caravelle, but I always wanted to get close to the Lockheed Super Constellation, something that didn't happen until I went to HARS just a few years ago.
I AGREE WITH YOU ALL THE WAY ON THAT! There will never be another airplane that even comes close to the Connie! It’s truly one of a kind airplane.
The first time that I flew was in a Constellation, I was 10 years old and it was a neat experience. The flight was from New York to Belem Brazil. I was taken up to the cockpit and was allowed to sit second seat, next to the pilot as he explained to me how things worked, it was quite an experience to say the least. We landed in San Juan Puerto Rico to refuel, of course I was not second seat for that but once aloft I was once more back to second seat, I was over the moon, I have never forgotten the experience, once in a lifetime.
Same here,safe and secure,gallons of fun barn storming with ww 2 bomber pilot thrill of a lifetime for 8 year old,could never do what we did over Edmonton Ab in 68 lol.
That was the good old days, when flying was fun, & people weren't all paranoid, & entitled!
The first airline flight I had was in 1952 in a Chicago & Southern DC-3 from St. Louis to Memphis. My return flight was in a Constellation, and just like you, Phil, I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat. The pilot actually let me fly the airplane for about 5 minutes. I was 14 years old, and holding the yoke of that Connie must have started the aviation blood flowing in my veins. I eventually got my commercial pilot's certificate in 1963 and paid my way through college flying a Stearman doing crop dusting in Southern Missouri and Arkansas.
As a 5-year-old in 1955 I was taken into the cockpit while at cruise over The Atlantic.
While refueling, were passengers allowed to remain onboard?
A wonderful plane!
My New York uncle came with it to Frankfurt when i was 10. ❤❤❤
In 1950s Connies began operating at Oklahoma City Will Rogers Airport, with regular low passes over our family home. As a teenager, my aesthetic feeling was the planes were certainly one of the most handsome of all aircraft , along with B-36s droning over at very high attitudes. A big thank you goes out to all craftsmen who made this Connie fly again!!!
Quite possibly the most beautiful aircraft ever designed and built. I had the pleasure of flying in the L1049 as a young boy when my Father worked for QANTAS in the 1950s.
Apparently it was the last airliner to be designed without any computer input. All totally by man.....and what a man he was who saw these lines in his mind's eye.
There are only 2 airliners that truly qualify as beautiful for me. Concorde and the Super Constellation. What a fabulous design.
Very cool
I must strongly disagree with you Koala. With respect. This is one of the most beautiful airplanes ever built. Kelley Johnson. Nuff said. Cheers my friend.
@@Rhino1277HotRails I am not sure what you are disagreeing about. We both seem to have the same opinion.
THE most beautiful plane ever built.
Lockheed just had a knack for building beautiful birds. The Constellation is, to my eye, easily the most beautiful airliner ever, but the L-1011 filled her shoes perfectly.
Proper thunderbirds style 60’s retro futuristic design. Beautiful
1957 Flew London to Sydney in the Connie, just watching her today, those beautiful lines loved by all pilots! Few months later, it was the 707’s.
What was the route? How many stops/layovers?
@@GenDischarges Would love to know too!
Where it's meant to be---in the AIR and not in some museum never to be flown again.
UPDATE: We now have a flying Constellation in the USA once again. I think the plane was once Douglas MacArthur's transport. It has now been fully restored and took to the air about two months ago.
In January of 1960, when I was 10 years old, my dad, mom, sister and I flew from Tachikawa AFB in Japan to Wake Island, then on to Hickam and finally to Travis AFB in California. I will never forget that experience. My dad was an instructor pilot in the USAF (actually earlier in the USAAC). What a beautiful bird.
After I finished my Air Force training in 12/60, I was assigned to the USAF station in Wakkanai, Japan. I spent 36 hours in a Lockheed Constellation from Travis AFB in California to Tachikawa AFB in Japan, with stops in Hawaii and Midway. From Tachi, it was a C-47 to Misawa AFB and then on to Wakkanai, as far north in Japan as you can go. Ah, the adventures of my youth and the great memories.
Flew as an AF Dependant from Travis to Anchorage to Itazuki AB in 1962. Was 5 years old. Remember seeing night time twice is my only real memory other than running up and down the aisles.
In 2-76 flew from Mtn Home Idaho to Alaska then to South Korea in a C141, not a bad flight,,,, however a month later because of structural problems couldn't carry a full fuel load plus had pressurization problem landed in Japan for fix on to Hawaii for fuel on to wake island for fuel (a beautiful place) on to Mtn Home,,,, 😥 36-38 hours damn glad to get off that sucker whew
WOW. The Connie is the most beautiful passenger aircraft ever.
No. That would be Hillary Clinton's 🧹
There will never be an airplane more graceful than the Connie. It is like a Mozart Sonata with wings...
In 1956, I flew from Charleston, SC to Miami on a Constellation. Wide seats. Smooth ride. Memorable trip. Wish we still had them flying.
I heard one explode over Staten Island in a collision during December 1960. Went out to see the detritus and will never forget it.
At 6yrs. old during a flight from Midway airport Chi to Lax 1955, I got to sit in the pilot seat. My first time on an airplane. Your first time you never forget. Thanks. I even got a deck of cards and plastic flight wings. TWA, seemed like a space ship ride.
I got plastic pilots wings from TWA in 1964 after flying on a B707. #Hooked. I was 8
My parents still have the wings from TWA. MISS THIS AIRLINE. Now they just hate you & make sure U keep the mask on properly & get U ARRESTED FOR THIS?
I think that it was the most beautiful airliner ever built, Lockheed achieved the conjunction of beauty and function in this plane.
Awesome aircraft! I often fly into Greenwood Lake Airport in New Jersey, USA. There's a Connie there and I often walk thru her. She was flown in many years ago and was converted into a restaurant. Sad, but the business end is still mostly intact. Engines are still there but seized up. She'll never fly again but I still get chills every time I see her. Keep her flying as long as you can!👨✈
Beyond any doubt, this is the most beautiful propeller-driven aircraft in aviation history. Congratulations on maintaining this long-legged beauty in superb flying condition - the love shines through!
I agree. I’d love to see this thing up close.
Apart from the Spitfire
@@joshjack6127 Different strokes ...
D'accord. When it comes to propellers, the Constellation is the most iconic and unique aircraft ever. Without a doubt.
They should be rebuilt as a new generation. Same shape, but new alloys, avionics, turboprops, etc. We need an eccentric romantic multimillionaire, totally insane about commercial aviation. A kind of Howard Hughes multiplied by 100.
@@isaurasofia5400 Now that's a great idea! Although I would miss the sound of a piston-pounding engine, a turboshaft version makes a lot of sense. Turboshafts deliver speeds approaching jets, but i lot less maintenance and a lot of efficiency. Yeah, really a great idea!
Most beautiful airliner ever.
This has got to be the most Beautiful airplane ever…!!!
That engine noise is amazing.
Those old airplanes are simply magnificent! And that pilot made about the smoothest landing I've ever seen.
a very well design without the assist of computer
"princess" Totally agree, that landing was pilot and not computer aided. It would even be a great aircraft as a turboprop conversion, to save money because of maintenance costs associated with the piston engines, but would loose a lot of the mystic an all of the nostalgia.
@@jamesglavich1426 HARS pilots are almost all Qantas or RAAF/RAN background; in some cases both. Most are retired but some with Qantas. Likewise with their technical/maintenance side.
I lived for a number of years only half an hours from HARS... Saw the Connie fly over our house a couple of times; took my various grandchildren to the HARS Museum on a number of occasions. The Super Constellation " Connie " has to be the most beautiful plane that ever flew, a big hand to the the people who restored it and keep it going. Thank You...
I flew this airplane
It was like hearing a symphony at full throat 😎
Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s, I saw a LOT of these Constellations. I have always loved the beautiful swoopy lines.
When flying was classy.
There is nothing that has the shape of that fuselage. Just beautiful!
5:06 best sound ever 😍
I remember seeing these at Brisbane Eagle Farm Airport in the early ‘60s. My late Dad flew from Sydney to London and San Francisco to Sydney in a Qantas Super Constellation in 1951. He was on a round the world business trip. London (Southampton) to New York was on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth and across the USA and Canada by train. I still have his ticket and passenger list (all First Class of course) and some wonderful letters to my Mum describing the journey, including stopovers in exotic (then) places like Singapore, Bombay and Cairo.
Why did your mom not go with him?
@@paulazemeckis7835 I would guess the company paying him would not cover the cost. And it would have been expensive!
Wow! What a trip that must have been!
@@paulazemeckis7835 it was a business trip, on top of which, she was pregnant, with me. He was an electrical engineer so spent lots of time visiting factories, often in not very attractive and out of the way places. My Mum also had my then three year old sister to look after. And, as Dennis noted above, overseas travel back then was horrendously expensive, especially by air. There was only First Class. And there was no night flying over remote regions, so there were numerous overnight stops in hotels, all first class of course. It was another world.
I've asked before. What is the difference between a Connie and a Super Connie?
When I was 4 and 5 years old, 1955-57, my parents and I lived in a suburb of Chicago. For entertainment my father would drive us to Idlewild Airport and park close to the end of the runway so we could watch the planes coming in for a landing. Now and then he would point one out; "That's a Connie." They were special. Seeing one fly and land brings back happy memories.
Idlewild is in New York, right?
@@TomHaneyArtwork Doh!!! You're right, I meant Midway.
@@TomHaneyArtwork Idlewild is no more - now JFK. Has been for decades.
@@fuzzyhorse Yes, I was pointing out that Idlewild was in NY and not Chicago.
@@fuzzyhorse It's still Idlewild for many! Kennedy never even lived in New York; he only cheated on his wife with Marilyn Monroe here.
At the least IDL should have been renamed, Marilyn Monroe Airport.
At least she lived here when she was married to Arthur Miller!
The sound of those radials. There's nothing like it.
Its always more fun to see older machines whether cars, boats, planes actually being used instead of just sitting pretty in a hangar
What a fantastic airplane. So glad they keep this piece of aviation history airworthy.
My first flight was in August 1955 on a KLM Connie, Idewild to Amsterdam via Shannon. Now retired after a lifetime in the airline business, it’s still my favorite airliner.
Two years later I was on the reverse flight. 10 years old and mesmerized by the wing tip tanks and the wing flexing in the moonlight.
I started work as a 17 year old at London Airport North (Heathrow) in 1959 where long haul flights departed. TWA, PAN-AM, Qantas were using these beautiful aircraft at that time. BOAC had just started to use the Bristol Britannia. I was mesmerised and enthralled by the starting procedure for these Connie’s shooting out long streaks of flame and smoke….. such happy memories.
Beautiful plane. Thanks to all the people who are keeping it flying. Didn't realize there was only one still air worthy.
we have one in Kansas City
@@Jahwobbly Is it at the TWA museum?
Wearing a suit and stepping out of one of these, you had to feel like a million bucks!
Especially if your name was Howard Hughes and the plane had the letters TWA on the side!
@@twinshark429 No doubt about that one.
That must have been so true. I had the great pleasure of flying on Lufthansa, first class, from Washington D.C. to Frankfurt in 2019. It cost me all of my frequent flier miles on Untied and then some. Was a B747-800. I wore a really cute skirt suit with hose and stiletto heel pumps. All the other 7 passengers with me in first class, with one exception (an older gentleman in a nice suit), looked like bums. The flight was beautiful though, and I was treated a bit better due to appearance.
@Galileo7of9 Yes, that I will very much agree with. I tend to treat everyone with respect. I have been rudely treated at times by FAs. But yes, saying "thank you" and "please" goes a long way. :)
....and first class was in the rear of the Cabin back then.
Her lines are so well design even standing still it looks like it's moving, what a beautiful aircraft.
In September of 1966, I rode one of the Connies from Anchorage to Fairbanks. The pilot was quite chatty and said that we would cruise at 12,000 feet going around the big mountain.
Nothing short of a work of art.
I can vividly remember my first flight as a 5-year-old on a Connie. The exhaust stack of the #3 engine glowed red hot as we made our way in the dark between New York and Shannon, North Star over the Captain’s left shoulder. We deplaned in Shannon for an Irish breakfast of very salty bacon and then continued our journey to Amsterdam. About 45-years later, while on a westbound delivery ferry flight for Airbus, I enjoyed a dinner in that same restaurant that is now decorated with photos of 1950s movie stars. Those were the days! The days of linen and china service.
That was the Golden Age of air travel. Back then they treated the customer special. When I was a youngster my parents took me to Idlewild airport (aka New York International and today known as Kennedy) to watch the planes arrive amd depart. At the TWA terminal they gave all us kids a mini TWA travel bag and a plastic model of a Constellation.
I'm too young for this plane but I'm a fan of old school piston engines from WW2 and up. I love how they have to burp and fart then spit out smoke on startup. But my first flight I remember was on a 747 in 1981. We were on the way from Florida to see my grandma in Dublin Ireland. A cool part being a kid and flying back in the 80's was thet would give us a tour of the cockpit. I didn't know what the he'll to say because I was in awe of all the gouges, dials, toggles, buttons, radar display, I remember thinking how the hell do u fly something so many buttons. I was like 9 and the only brilliant question was pointing at something and saying what's that lol. Back then 4 dudes flew 747. I'm sure u know all this I'm just reminiscing those days. But they had a captain, pilot, navigator, and an engineer. For some reason I think anything k flying over the Atlantic had to be 4 engined and I want to say a back up crew. I might be wrong with the crew. But I lived the takeoffs. I would be thinking I floor it!! Go faster! I know it can go faster! I loved it and every flight I asked if I could sit in the cockpit during flight over if I stayed in my seat and kept quiet. For some reason they would get a good laugh out of that. Long time ago now. Aging sucks
I've been to Shannon many times. My mom is from Dublin and I would spend summers between school years with my grandma in Dublin. I love Irish breakfast though. I grew up on Irish cuisine though some I'm biased. Looking back as a kid I was lucky to have my mom being from Ireland. It's good when kids see how people in other countries live and learn their culture. I fell in love with the middle ages because of Ireland. When I joined the army in 89 and after desert storm I got stationed near Weisbaden Germany for 3 years. Man my wife and I loved it. Saw a bunch of Europe. And at that time the wall just came down. It was an interesting time. The 80's and 90's were 2 good decades to grow up. With the 80's being a great decade. I never flew on this plane. I came here because I love old piston drive aircraft
@@WitchidWitchid u git that right, I was a kid in the 80's and flying was a good experience. Especially compared to the last 20 years. I remember being allowed in the cockpit while still boarding and talking to the aircrew. And there seemed to be way more hot ight attends. When I was 17 and left for the army and boot camp in 89 I was bouncing off walls and I think I fell in love with every flight attend on the plane that day
You likely would have stopped in Gander, Newfoundland on that trip. Back in those days, virtually all trans Atlantic flights, between North America and Europe would stop there. It was on the great circle route between NYC and London and the next stop, across the pond, was in Ireland or Scotland. The planes back then couldn't manage much further.
No doubt about it the Lockheed Constellation is the most beautiful airliner ever produced.
its great but my vote goes for the de Havilland Albatross
Right you are David
@@juliuspeploe2197 HAHA! Not even close!! The Albatross looks like a 4 engine DC-3. Not a bad design, but seriously?? The Connie was a much more beautiful plane. You must have had a personal experience with an Albatross to come to such a conclusion.... 🤫🤔🤨
The sound as it spools up and takes off... just awesome
when I was 5, 1960, I and my family flew to England in one of these,,,I will Never forget it...Thanks so much !
Which airline?
I made a model of this plane when I was 9 years, When we cleaned out the parent's house I found it, 55 years later. It's on the wall now.
@Roy B Friggin grownups! 😜
@Roy B same thing happened to me. I feel your pain, Roy!🤨
I wish I had any of my numerous models now. Other hobbies too.
I built one for my mom. Eastern airlines stewardess. Connie and Electra was her favorite
@Roy B Yeah. All my planes disappeared too, along with my train set and slot car stuff!
I have always been in awe of how people flew everywhere in these transports. when I flew first we already had the 707s and DC8's flying around and never experienced flying in one of these. this is a truly beautiful relic, and to know it is the only one still flying kind of makes it amazing and a bit sad to know that fact. I hope it flies on for a very long time.
Good to see the old Connie here. Nicely clean! I had over1900 hrs. logged on a WC-121N in the USN VW-1 Guam Typhoon Trackers. Great duty.
Thank you Navy for your sercice. USAF EC121 1964 to 67 at McClellan AFB Sacramento, Ca.
Such a beauty!
Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱.
STILL the prettiest large airplane to fly. Ever. Thanks again, Howard!!
Howard Hughes didn't design the Constellation.
@@PistonAvatarGuy Nope, but it was his order and design specifications that led to the design.
@@chad5711 That's like thanking the people who buy iPads for the design of the iPad.
@@PistonAvatarGuy no not quite. Back then the aircraft manufacturer needed a firm order to bank roll the manufacture of an airliner. Howard Hughes airline did so.
@@Paiadakine Again, the comment was about the appearance of the Connie, which HH was in no way responsible for. Being born into wealth is in no way a talent, or a skill.
What a beautiful airplane!! It is amazing to see this beautiful Connie come back to life again. She does smoke up quite a bit when those four start to turn, but the "real deal" here is just to see her alive and well. It is with really great joy to see her flying as well as she does here. People should take notice of how special this airplane really is. Very nicely restored she really is. Hopefully they can try to keep these beauties still flying like this, so the public has a chance to see what the true "Glory years" were. Nice work!!!!
I had a friend who joined the WV ANG, and that unit used to fly C-121s. He said he loved seeing those beasts fire up for takeoff.
From the time I was a kid, I always thought this was such a beautiful, elegant design. From conversations with folks who flew in this plane as commercial passengers, they all thought of it with affection. Pretty much the same for my old Air Force friends as the C-121.
B-29 engines, 3 verticals 'cause 2 bigger ones wouldn't fit in the hanger, first class in the back. That amazing nose gear. The best lines. Awesome!!
My Dad did some of the wiring in the fuselage of Constellations when he worked for Lockheed in Burbank, California during the late 1950s. It was a beautiful airplane. Great sound when the engines were fired up.
As a child, I LOVED watching the TWA Connies literally FIRING up at port Columbus (CMH). Always a thrill.
After sixty years I still get goosebumps from the sound of the engines, the flight and the landing of this plane. This airplane took me with my parents and brothers and sisters safely from the war zone of New Guinea (Irian Jaya) to Amsterdam in 3 days. It was 1961 and I was a 9 year old boy. Hearing the turboprops of the Super Constellation and the DC 3 always brings up certain emotions.
those are piston-engined planes
@@tommurphy4307 oh really important
@@novaestrella2571 actually, it is a big deal. Turboprop engines are turbines and run on Jet A. Radial aircraft piston engine run on AVGAS. You don't want to mix them up!
Super Connie's carry B-17 DNA. My father worked on them in the war and every time a SC flew over the house he stopped whatever he was doing and looked up to see if his mates had survived another sortie to Berlin.
Have a special place in my heart for the Connie. In the late 50’s our family flew on a TWA Connie from NYC-LAX. The stewardess asked my brother and I if we wanted to meet Mr. Disney who was on board. Much to the delight of this then 7 year old, I sat on his lap while he played with a toy airplane. He asked me if I was going to Disneyland and I said yes. Then he popped a second, quite unusual question. “How much money are you going to spend there?”
My answer was, “A hundred dollars!” (Probably the biggest number I knew at that time!)
Inviting a 7 year-old kid, who you have never met before, to sit on your lap sounds a bit dodgy in today's world? And then popping the question "how much money...." sounds just as bad! Mr. Disney presented himself to the world as an extreme moralist and as a strict defender of the highest ethical values! Hmmmm.... That was before Bob Dylan wrote "the times they are a'changin..."
Yes. In today’s world, a kid sitting on an unrelated adult’s lap would be positively frightening. But not back in the 50’s when God and morality were still a strong part of America’s social fabric. So glad you pointed that out!
This was one of the most beautiful planes ever designed. It's better looking than anything new flying today.
more than 200 hrs of flying in this aircraft in the Indian Air Force. Absolutely beautiful flying machine,
I was an aircraft mechanic in the late 1980s at Arlington, Washington. A Constellation was parked there unused for several years. Then one day it had been refurbished and was doing passes over the runway at 300 feet. It was absolutely one of the most exciting things I have ever witnessed. I was told it was going to carry fish from Alaska to Japan.
Alaska to Japan that's a haul! What's was her max flight distance?
Wow, I remember this plane and this was FLYING. We would board the TWA or Eastern Airlines version of this plane in Pittsburgh and off we would go to Miami, extremely elegant plane. My mom would always be dressed appropriately in the required MINK STOLE from AZENS in Pittsburgh and off to Miami Beach, every year for winter break...This plane was so elegant, noisy bouncing around in the air, up and down jumps but oh the elegance of it all. Stewardesses always in stockings and heels, this was living in the late 1950's in America. I will never forget this plane and all them memories, I am 70 now and i cherish those memories. I am grateful for living in America
Don't forget - no woman left home for shopping or a flight with out white gloves too! (I too am 70)
...yep, me too. I was just a little guy in the mid-fifties, maybe 7 or 8, 73 now, and flew to Cleveland from Pittsburgh on TWA the first time I ever flew, period. I knew about the Constellation, as I lived in the landing path of Greater Pittsburgh Airport and my dad used to point out the types of planes flying by. I was really excited when I saw it, but I was just excited just to fly and the plane could have been anything that flew that day. It was really cool, and about half way to Cleveland a stewardess asked me if I'd like to see the cockpit and took me up there. The captain gave me a little pin declaring me a junior pilot. It's a shame those times will never happen again, letting little kids experience things like that. But today is a different time, and 7 year old terrorists are everywhere!
My father now 85, while he was serving the Airforce, had been the flight engineer and later became an instructor on Super Constellation. He had served for 21 years of which major time was spent on Conni. He still admires this aircraft the way they flew sorties to UK and other places, long hours on sea. Woow seeing his enthusiasm even today when he speaks about Conni, the way she handles takeoff and landings specially is so inspiring. He had flown on this craft for 2 wars of those times as well as part of a mission.
He always says, given another chance for oldies to fly this craft, he would want to be part of the mission :).
Great craft of those times.
As a kid, I lived about one mile from LaGuardia airport in NYC and would see and hear the Connies as they took off....the sound of those engines was so beautiful
My dad flew Connies for TWA. I've taken many trips on Connie's. Still my favorite plane.
Best looking airliner in history.
No comparison to the 747.
The 747 is the greatest passenger aircraft ever made.
Especially with the wing fuel tanks.
Those just...complete the design.
@@thebeaz1 If the 747 didnt have it's teeny little hump, it wouldn't be much of any different from a 707.
The Constellation on the other hand...
It's wing design. It's stand-out fuselage upper curvature. It's signature tri-vstab tail.
And in this model's case, it's beautiful additional wingtip tanks.
The 747 is a good looking bird. Make no mistake.
But no airplane in history even remotely resembles the Constellation.
And that's why IT is the greatest airliner to sail the skies.
@@davecrupel2817 you're right. I was wrong.
Congratulations.
Beautiful specimen, right there!!
My first airplane flight was on the Super-G version of this plane. 1958, TWA, out of Chicago's Midway airport to go off to college. Gorgeous plane!
Congrats on getting out of the democRAT cesspool.
and you think people are interested in what was your first plane flight?
@@slowery43 And you think people are interested in your negativity and condescension?
Flew in it back in August 1957 on my way to San Antonio, Texas for basic training in the USAF. Like being on a cloud. Totally most pleasant. Loved it!
I flew on the USAF variant, the EC-121. We did radar picket runs out over the SOJ out of Kwangju, ROK. On night takeoffs, the flames would shoot about 4 feet out of the exhaust manifolds. I once went up on the flight deck while on a break from my duties. The co-pilot asked me if I wanted to fly her. Of course I did! I sat in the left seat and the FO cut out the auto pilot. There I was holding the yoke as steady as I could for about 5 minutes. What a thrill.
Looks like a "super G" with the extended radar nose cone and the wing-tip fuel tanks. Plus the spinners on the props. The most beautiful aircraft ever built. May you fly safely for many years.
The Lockheed Constellation is an iconic aircraft with such beautiful lines, the tail rudders were designed that way in order that it would fit into hangars and just would not have looked so elegant with one big rudder.
Possibly the most beautiful airliner ever, together with the Concorde IMHO.
I first saw a Connie in 1958 or 59. I was 5 or 6. I thought she was the most incredible sight I'd ever seen. To see a video clip of her flying really takes me back. Thanks for this clip of history. She is gorgeous.
Glad to hear that it bought back nice memories
Much the same for me. I think i was about 8 or 10 when I got to go aboard one of these which back then was on exhibition at the Munich airport. That's about 30 years ago at this point. Always beautiful to look at, and to see her flying is ...something else.
I saw one too. At about that age and time. I think it was in DC or New York. I was dumbfounded with the beauty of it.
Even at her age, she still outshines anything in the skies today.
The people that keep these plans flying are an amazing group. not only for this ol' gal but any historic aircraft. Thanks Paul and keep crushin' it!
I was onboard the USS CONSTELLATION CV64 an Aircraft Carrier and this was absolutely marvelous, seeing the SUPER CONSTELLATION in flight. Thank you.
The Constellation was a remarkably beautiful plane. Sleek with accents of power, but elegant. Love to see one fly overhead.
There's been a lot of great airplanes produced over the years but there was never done so beautiful as a Lockheed constellation.
Seeing this aircraft flying at dusk with flames coming out of the exhausts and the sound of 4 radials singing was just magic.
The squeal of the brakes sure did bring back memories of the EC-121s taxiing by at Korat AFB, Thailand back in 1972. Most beautiful 4-engined prop plane ever designed.
This is an absolutely beautiful plane. Reminds me of the old days when flying was elegant and special.
You mean not like now?
And NOISY
Feb 28th, 1958 I rode on a Connie to Basic training in San Antonio tx. That was a treat for me...
So nice to still have one flying. As a kid I flew on connies a few times, Stratocruisers, Argonauts etc and plenty of DC3's. Last plane journey I made was mid 1960's on a Comet 4B which pushed you back in your seat on take off, I remember being impressed. Not flown since, the whole 747 era past me by!!
As a middle school kid in the 60's, i loved this plane! Don't remember seeing it in use in LA....but family moved east for a few years, and we took several flights in the Constellation. Truly lovely inside and out! thanks so much for posting this!
This is one of those things that could make you cry. Beautiful plane, beautiful sounds, beautiful clip, heartbreaking that their numbers dwindled one by one . . Who would let such a masterpiece go extinct.
Who would let it go, you ask? It is called greed and money!!!
I remember my mom and brother walking out to climb the steps of this massive plane. They gave me wings to pin on my shirt, a deck of playing cards and my mom took us up to the cockpit to meet the pilot. What a great experience and what a great country we are blessed to live in.
My wife and I took our kids to see Connie and go on board in the late 90s in Hobart when it came for a flying visit, it was an unforgettable experience.
I have around 2500 hours on the USAF EC-121 with the 552nd (McClellan AFB) and the 79th (Homestead AFB), including the last tactical flight out of NAS Keflavik in 1978. I have some 30+ 3-engine landings, most of them an engine would have a double sorted secondary and you'd feather the motor, dump fuel, and RTB. The Connie flew as good on 3 as she did on 4, and the only inconvenience was she flew a little slower and you couldn't smoke on the flight back. I still talk to some of the guys and girls I flew with (we had the FIRST female "combat crew" flight crew members in the military), although every year there's fewer and fewer of us.
My dad was a navigator on an EC-121 out of McClellan that lost an engine on the way to Hawaii. As the engine fell off it damaged the second engine so they had to feather the props on it. They made it to Hawaii (barely) on two engines.
At the end of the day this aircraft was reported to the mail from store to another location on the fire department trucks and other hand service in Middle and the police 👮♀️ to take the park and then they had no problem finding them
My Dad. And my father in law were both EC 121 flight engineers at McClellan. I was, much later, an E 3 crew chief in the 552nd AWACS.
Homestead AFB is where I saw them flying out of. But I flew in one from England to France to Italy in a TWA Connie. A stretched 707 flew just as well on 2 engines as 4 if you caught the jetstream from Japan to LAX. And saved a whole lot of fuel. I miss Pan Am.
I remember the flights out of Keflavik . I was working in a fish factory in Innri Njarvik , a small village on the flight
path . We used to hear the noise of the engines as the Constellations took off . Am I right that they had some apparatus fitted topside on the aircraft.... possibly a radar dish ? . One of the Icelandic airlines were still using Douglas DC 6 B’s from the same locus , to Glasgow Scotland . I flew in one , back to Scotland ..... man that was slow flying too !
I flew to Japan on a US Air Force constellation in 1958, and after getting out of the Air Force i worked at TWA overhaul base in Kansas City, Mo. and work on several models of the constellation (connies).
By far the most beautiful aircraft ever built, I flew on one in 1966, the last years of there service.
I love this plane, my first trip from Germany to Iran, when I was 3 years old, and I was allowed into the cockpit. Unforgettable
Man what a beauty! That bird has been well taken care of. The pilot makes flying it look easy. Love the sound of those radial engines growling to life.
I love the curve of the fuselage most. Most commercial passenger aircraft are straight tubes with wings and a tail.
The Constellation has that beautiful double curve that sweeps up from the nose, down at mid-section by the wings, and then slightly up again to lead into the beautiful triple stabilizer tail.
The triple tail was used because most hangars in the 40's couldn't accommodate the very tall conventional tail the design required counteract the enormous torque those mighty Wright R3350 engines produced
@@ernesthill2681 Thanks for the history. It worked out well. A tall single verticle tail section would have altered the beautiful, graceful, harmony of the Consrellation's design.
@@ernesthill2681 I guess they didn't make those engines turn the other way; if the rotation direction was split, the torque would have cancelled out.