Great, big, beautiful Connie

HARS Constellation.kmz (1.14 KB)

Great, big, beautiful Connie

With her long legs and her shapely curves, Connie (the Lockheed Constellation) is one of the most beautiful and one of the most recognisable airliners ever built. The “long legs” were metaphorical as well as literal – she was the first Transatlantic airliner to be able to fly non-stop from New York to London. She was the first airliner to have a pressurised cabin and cruise at 250 knots, and she changed the face of commercial aviation forever.




There were 856 Connies built.  Queen of the Skies and hard-working skivvy, Amazon Warrior and mercenaries' moll, she undertook all sorts of roles – from Presidential Flyer to crop-duster; from Airborne Early Warning to gun-runner.

This thread is a tribute to Connie. If you come across her in your travels, drop me a placemark, either in this thread or as a standalone. I’ll do the research and find the images, you get the credit. Just click on the GE placemark to find the story.

Cheers

Frank



I am indebted to Mr Ralph M Pettersen, owner and compiler of the excellent Constellation website Constellation Survivors for his kind permission to quote his text and display images from his website.

I am equally indebted to Mr David Morrell of Avid Creations for his generous permission to use the above image of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society's Connie taxying at night, perhaps the most beautiful image of the most beautiful airliner in the world.

Hi Frank,

As it's a new start on a new board, I thought I would just post my entire Connie collection and let you pick through it at your leisure.
It has 50 place marks. A handful of those are for aircraft hidden in museums, but all the rest are for complete or partial aircraft.

It's been a few months since I checked all of them, but hopefully they are up to date and have accurate type and registration information.

Cheers,
Sean.

EDIT: Updated with my latest collection. Includes the finds noted by Willi1 in later posts. Now 47 aircraft in the collection

Attachments:

Lockheed_Constellations_04Jun2021.kmz (3.36 KB)

Thanks, Sean.

I had a fair few in the old collection, but haven't had time to bring them forward yet.  Busy, busy!  

I don't think I had as many as you, however!

Cheers,

Frank

Found another one that I had been hunting for a while.
Always knew there was one in Santo Domingo, but kept looking at San Isidro AB, not the De Las Americas International Airport 15 miles East of the city.
This is a VC-121A c/n 2603



Engines are missing and the lack of weight has caused her to sit down on her tail, but she's in better shape than some others.

Cheers,
Sean.

Attachments:

Connie in Santo Domingo.kmz (733 B)

Nice to see in SV the Connie F-BGNJ in Nantes (F). GE-Placemark in Lockheed_Constellations_07Apr2015.kmz contained.

Was never been a plane expert or fan of aircraft, but this first touch of visual experience combined with Frank's introduction have done the effect! Never happened before, I would felt right to speak about a plane as:
Really, she looks so good! (Anyhow it is dubbed Connie.)

Thanks dug this up willi1!

The CF-TGE at her new place in Tukwila. Now also in SV.

See in GM

The Connie at the Indian Naval Aviation Museum (AP Vasco da Gama Mormugao). The placemark are in the collection.

Visit in GM

The Connie N8083H has moved and is restored and painted in 1950's TWA colors for use as a cocktail lounge adjacent to the old TWA terminal at JFK Airport .

Attachments:

N8083H.kmz (722 B)

The Super Constellation "Star of Switzerland" was part of the Super Constellation Flyer Association (SCFA) until 2019.
Under the aircraft registration HB-RSC, the club operated the Lockheed Super-Constellation L-1049, which was handed over to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in 1956 as a military cargo version, C-121C. In 1972 the machine was taken out of service and bought by Aviation Specialties with the intention of converting the machine into a fire-fighting aircraft. However, this was never implemented and the L-1049, meanwhile with the civilian registration number N73544, was seen with interruptions afterwards at air shows in the USA. In December 2003 the board of directors of SCFA and the owner of the aircraft signed a lease / purchase agreement. In April / May 2004 the aircraft, now named "Star of Switzerland", was flown over several stages from Camarillo to Basel and registered with the Federal Office of Civil Aviation as a historic aircraft in Switzerland. After that, the HB-RSC flew regularly as the only still airworthy Super Constellation in Europe.
Severe corrosion was found in the wing spars and a landing gear fire occurred during a brake test, the HB-RSC was mothballed in 2017. The association was unable to bring the cost of over 20 million Swiss francs for the repair.
In July 2019 the aircraft was sold to a new owner in Germany. The aircraft was dismantled and transported to Bremgarten in November 2019, where the necessary repairs should be made so that the aircraft could fly again in the future.
This plan has now apparently suffered a damper, because the Bernese Federal Office for Civil Aviation (Bazl) is considering deleting the Super Connie from the Swiss aviation register.
The constellation “German owner, German owner, Swiss registration” is not permitted.
Now the German Federal Aviation Office in Braunschweig could theoretically take over the Super Connie and allow it to be used in German. But it's not that simple: in Germany, registering the HB-RSC would be very difficult, if not impossible, as the Connie had a special license as a club aircraft in Switzerland.
New certification procedures would have to be run through for German approval, which are extremely time-consuming and expensive, and it would also be uncertain whether the elderly Connie would pass them.
Since November 2019, the HB-RSC has been dismantled in a hangar at the southern Baden airfield Eschbach-Bremgarten near Freiburg, waiting for better times.
In GE she can be seen at the Zurich-Kloten airport in preparing for dismantling.

A video of Connie's road transport - click here.

 

Attachments:

HB-RSC.kmz (697 B)

Gosh - haven't seen this post in a while.  Looks like it needs a bit of TLC with all the broken links...

Thanks for bringing it back, Willi!

Hi willi1

Please have look at this post and add the details in this thread!

Connie at Longreach, Australia is not yet in GSV but can be seen in Google Maps

CNN Story

Yes, it was already on my further agenda. The two Connies (Swiss and these) once had a common past, I will shed light on it when the opportunity arises. Thank you CuriousJM for the reminder.

I've updated my collection in the 2nd post based on my latest findings and the posts from Willi1 and CuriousJM

Cheers,
Sean.

No sooner had I posted my previous update, I found another one.

Well, not really another one, but N4257L now appears in both Helena in 2014 and at Castle AFB in 2018 onwards.

So still 47 aircraft in my collection, but now 49 placemarks.

KMZ updated in 2nd post.

Cheers,
Sean.

Hi, Sean - first time I've seen Connie for while!  I see the image link in the OP was broken, so I've taken the liberty of repairing it.

Thanks for looking after her!

Cheers,

Frank

Apr 5, 2021 18:25:13 GMT frankmcvey (Angel) said:

Hi, Sean - first time I've seen Connie for while!  I see the image link in the OP was broken, so I've taken the liberty of repairing it.

Thanks for looking after her!

Cheers,

Frank

It's a beautiful picture of a beautiful aircraft Frank. I doubt if there will ever be a better one.

Cheers,
Sean.

Just had one of those "What the heck!" moments while updating one of my other collections.

Looking at an airfield in Switzerland and suddenly realised I was staring at a Connie.

Given the location and date, I assume it is HB-RSC.

Cheers,
Sean.

Attachments:

Connie Stopover In Switzerland.kmz (713 B)