The most beautiful airliner ever built. Nothing else is even close.

On a Connie flight from Jacksonville to Lake Charles La in 1956, my mom went into labor with me. I was born shortly after touchdown.

The most georgeus 4 engine aircraft ever built. Hands down.

@Alt19392

3 жыл бұрын

True

@ak5659

Жыл бұрын

There's a saying: A good line is a good line is a good line. This, the original Marlin, original Barracuda, and a few others come to mind.

South Lake Tahoe 1974. Pilot's comment. "6,280' altitude. I can take off safely with two engines at part throttle". This impressed the heck out of me. I had thought the engines were turboprop. Wrong! They were radial. Wonderful humming engine sounds on the ground. We could hear it 5 miles away. In a thunderstorm newer jets creak thump and groan. This plane was rock solid. I flew on the constellation a dozen times or so. No jet seemed so impressive.

My first ever flight was in a Lufthansa "Connie" about 1966 on a scheduled short trip from Cologne to Frankfurt. I can say that this is still my favourite aircraft . The unique sleek shape; the comfort with it`s amazing seating and brilliant viewing from inside as a passenger. The normal airliners nowadays are faster, etc, but are not in anyway near in comparison in comfort to the Connie. It was a real privilege and I am not surprised that the first Air Force One (President Eisenhower`s) was a Lockheed Super Constellation.

To continue my Connie Love story - I helped start the Travis AFB Air Museum and was recovering older planes for them as a Volunteer Recovery Chief - One of the many trips recovering planes from the Bone Yard, I came upon this Connie a few years later - and I talked our museum into acquirng it. It was in fair shape & I decided it could flly after lots of work. One of the engines had been removed , so I found a complete QEC in Calif, then started cleaning pigeon crap out of the plane. Someone had opened the copilot window and hundreds of pigeons had made it their home. I hauled 97 large garbage bags out of the plane, moved it to the ramp, firehose washed the interior, and was starting to work on other items, getting ready to start on the engines and systems when the museum decided it would cost too much to finish it and fly it to Travis.They pulled me off the project - it sat for a few more years - then was acquired by the Aussies - eventually moving it to Pima museum, worked on it for some time - couple years I believe - then it was flown to The main airport for more maint and a paint job, then was flown to Australia, where I think it still flys sometimes there. I was really unhappy that we had given it up. But I think it still is flyable - so - saved another one then. Thank You Kermit for saving this one too!! Larry Rengstorf, SMSgt, USAF, Ret

I had the privilege of seeing a Connie inside and out at a hangar here in Kansas City where one is stored at the downtown airport. There was also a cutaway of one of it's piston engines that TWA used back in the day to train their mechanics. An old timer at the hangar told me about flying on one and said at nighttime you could look out a window and see flame coming out of the exhaust 2 or 3 feet. My Dad recalled seeing them constantly flying over the family farm to and from Kansas City when he was a boy during the early 1950's. The Connie takes the prize in pure sexiness in my book!

In 1967 I took my first airline trip from Seattle, WA to Juneau, AK on a Pacific Northern Connie. Really a neat experience and one I feel fortunate to have had. To me the Connie is the most beautiful plane ever built.

I helped work on it in the late 90's while it was sitting at SFB. Drove by one day and sat by the gate waiting for someone to greet me. The only guy there was Maurice Roundy , I didn't know who he was at the time, and he let me in after talking for a few minutes. I think a few times it was just me and him there. A very fascinating man with a unique history. A few things he said have stuck with me. Anyway, I'm not a pilot or an A&P guy so my usefulness was very limited but he always found something for me to do. I remember when they were working on the rudder and he asked me if I would like to go in the cockpit and manipulate the rudder pedals while they were doing some sort of adjustments to the left rudder. A memory I will always cherish. Thanks Maurice R. :)

As a young boy, my folks took my brothers and I to Newark Airport to watch the airliners come and go. had the privilege of watching Connies and DC6's taxi out and take off..left an indelible image in my mind to this day!

Oh, wow. What a great memory! As a kid, back around 1954-55, my elder sister and I flew by ourselves for the first time from Houston to Philadelphia for a summer with both sets of grandparents, on an Eastern Connie Super G. It was great. Only problem, though, that it was also a night flight. I had flown before, but this was the first when I looked outside the window and saw blue exhaust flames from both starboard engines! WE’RE ON FIRE!!!! The flight attendant (stewardess back then) calmed me down and I got to sit on the first officer’s lap in the cockpit, aka the “front office.” I recall he made it a point to mention that the generator on just one engine provided enough electric power for a town of 6,000 people. Probably so, back in the 1950s. 😃

I've always loved the super Connie's! When I was stationed at NAS Alameda in San Francisco Bay in the mid-1970s one parked on our flight line overnight for a weekend. It was before I owned a camera and I always wished I'd had a picture of it. It was beautiful weather, blue sky with the San Francisco skyline, Oakland Bay bridge, and treasure Island all in his background. It was simply beautiful sitting there. 😍

Fantasy of Flight is absolutely amazing. We have been back several times and the staff is wonderful. I’m in a wheelchair and they helped me into a biplane and went for a flight! Thank you Fantasy of Flight.

I was a radarman in the Navy WV-2 (Later designated the EC-121K). I went through the Navy school at Glynco Naval Air Station in Brunswick, GA in 1960 and was assigned to AEWBARRONPAC at Barbers Point on Oahu, Hawaii until 1961 when I transferred to VW-11 in Argentia, Newfoundland. There were two Navy squadrons at Argentia, VW-11 and VW-13. Both deployed to Keflavik, Iceland and flew patrols in the gap between Iceland and Greenland and Iceland and the Faroe Islands. I was discharged from the Navy in April 1963 after 2,400+ hours on the EC-121K. An opportunity of a lifetime to do what I got to do as a kid as I joined the Navy at 17 and got out at 21.

Only a man with a huge heart could take in an orphan like Connie, the way Kermit did. God bless you son! 🆗

@KermitWeeks444

5 жыл бұрын

It will eventually have new life. Almost certainly not as a flyer, but we'll see what the future park development holds for it.

@mattinsley1721

5 жыл бұрын

@@KermitWeeks444 I like the sound of that. Keep us informed!

@jennydiazvigneault5548

5 жыл бұрын

He used it for parts

Very Cool Plane, always loved seeing pix of them, and really loved seeing it flying in this Video, thanks for sharing Kermit, and thanks for keeping it there at FOF.

In 1963, February, I flew on this very plane from Travis AFB, Ca, to Hawaii, then to Wake island, and then to Kadena AFB Okinawa. I was in the USAF..about 31 hours with this great aircraft that got us there safely. It was flown by World Airways at that time. I remember sleeping, getting up walking around, going to the bathroom, then looking out at the vast expanse of the Pacific ocean and the glowing red exhausts from the big engines. thinking keep on turning, there aint no place to land around where we were! I think the leg from Wake Island to Okinawa was about 10 or so hours..a LONG time to be up in an aircraft!

@irishkeely10

7 жыл бұрын

In 1961, my family flew a Connie from Hawaii to Travis AFB. I remember it had rear-facing seats.

@107main13

5 жыл бұрын

@@irishkeely10 The seats were, at least then, reversed in military planes.

@gilleslavigueur4625

5 жыл бұрын

LUCKY YOU ! ! !

@friendlypiranha774

5 жыл бұрын

107main13 Yes, I agree - lucky you👍

@iggymoyanojr7145

5 жыл бұрын

Bro ;;; I use to Work For WOULD ...

I can't tell you how many times I've watched this video. I was in the third grade when Mom, Jeff and I flew from Travis AFB to Agana, Guam via Hawaii, Midway and Wake. Twenty-two hour trip. Each stop required a maintenance check that delayed the flight several hours each. Twentieth Century airline, MATS charter , summer 1963.

As a child of 9 or 10 years, my Dad took a business trip from Phoenix to Denver. Back then, flying was a big deal and you wore proper business attire. I remember those huge three vertical tails and being taken into the cockpit where I was amazed at the instrumentation. A memory from my childhood that has lasted for 60 years. Thank you for saving these marvelous aircraft.

We had a Connie visit here at Hobart airport, Tasmania, some years ago, so I had to go see it. It brought back some of my earliest memories, as I flew to London with my parents in one when I was about four years old. What a fabulous airplane.

Beautiful Kermit, thank you for this preservation trip down memory lane. At 11 years of age, in 1960. My mother, father and I flew on a Connie to Dad's new duty station in the Philippine Islands. We flew 18 hrs flight time and three refueling stops on what must have been among the last flights of the Connies as the Boeing 707 were taking to the air. ~ your neighbor

God bless those wonderful men who keep history alive for the rest to appreciate. Job well done!

@MrSvenovitch

4 жыл бұрын

Good thing your deity doesn't bless the people who suffer and/or die horrible deaths each and every day right, they must be some sinners!

@MonteOlsen

4 жыл бұрын

Sven really? His mention of God made you respond like that? Seriously?

@georgeorwell4534

4 жыл бұрын

Amen. I have great respect for the people who do this difficult labor of love. And deep respect for pilots able to such a difficult job.

As a kid I lived under the flight path of the Burbank airport and saw Connies taking off many times a day in the 50's. In 1956 our Boy Scout Troop 12 chartered L-1049 from Burbank to Hawaii. As recall there were over around 60 scouts, hand full of leaders and a dozen parents that went their own way to fill out the flight. We droned out over the Pacific for 8 hours in the middle of the night. In those days there wasn't any concern about security and some of us spent time up in the cockpit. You had to shout at each other to communicate.

I was a Navy VR-7 Pacific Division MATS radio operator and flew in the Connies The Navy designated R7V ‘s after we transitioned to them from The R5D’s in1953/54. It was the queen of MATS at the time. Beautiful airplanes.

I missed a commuter ride on this beautiful aircraft back in 1968 being late to the gate at Washington's National airport, but years later walked through one at Andrews AFB in its form as a radar plane. Magnificent flying machine......thanks for sharing this video.

In my very lowly opinion, this is the most beautiful airplane I have ever seen.

@robertcroft9320

4 жыл бұрын

WE have one in Kansas City, and it's fun to see it in the air from time to time.

@RedWolf777SG

4 жыл бұрын

That is so true. There's not that many airplanes with triple tail fins. Which made it quite unique from other airline planes.

@lostcat9lives322

4 жыл бұрын

Ever seen a British Spitfire?

@paulh7589

4 жыл бұрын

To me it looks as beautiful as Sandra Bullock's ass in jean shorts.

@gregson99

4 жыл бұрын

@@paulh7589 flat and boring?

My first flight on an airline was on a Pacific Northern Airlines Connie from Anchorage Alaska to Seattle in 1954,( age 9 by myself) then again in 1956 from Anchorage to Seattle and the last time from Ketchican, Alaska to Seattle.The captain was a friend of ours and let me ride in the cockpit for a good part of the trip. What a thrill for am eleven year old!

Amazing! Having a Lockheed Constallation flying still today, such a beauty of the aviation world in the sky!

1958 Varig Super Constellation New York to Sao Paulo. 24 hours with one stop in Trinidad. What a joy!

It was a TWA Super Connie in club seating over-water configuration that carried me to Marine Corps boot camp. Of all the flying in the front seat and in the back I've done over many years--that was one of the most fondly remembered.

I was privileged to fly in one in 1956 from Japan to San Francisco, most beautiful plane ever!

Very enjoyable video clip, what beauties those Constalations are !. best looking birds in the sky. Thanks for making the clip.

There’s a Connie you can view/walk through at the Aerospace museum in Washington DC. Body but no wings. Still, you can see the cockpit and passenger areas. The Connie, Electra, and Comet were the most beautiful aircraft.

VERY EMOTIONAL !~ THANK YOU SO MUCH MR WEEKS

I worked at Lockeed at the Burbank airport as a drafts person. We were on the first floor designing and fabricating the P3's. I had an operturnity to see the archived drawings for the Constallation. All drawning were on silk and inked by hand. All station bulkhead were different (not like the new barrel stations bulkheads} At the time there was no computed aided drawings. All engineers and draftsmen had to perform their jobs with rulers, scales and slide rules.

When I was 6 yo I was put on a Eastern Airlines Constellation in Miami to Hartford It was incredible four hours. The airline put a tag on me and gave me a set of wings. The stewardesses were incredible and reassuring. There will never be service and pride like I experienced as a child. The aircraft was a little loud and rumbled (it put me to sleep). One great aircraft and time to fly. You dressed up when you flew as it was a special occasion. The ticket was $43.00 one way. A lot of money then. 1952

What made the Connie so beautiful was the double compound curves in the fuselage. That must have been expensive to make. Now all airliners have cylindrical fuselages as it is lighter and easier to built, especially with the higher pressure differentials of today's airliners. But it made the Connie real pretty!

@RodMcNeilTV

4 жыл бұрын

Sure did,. Every new aircraft release I hope to see a reflection of the curvaceous super constellation, but it never happens..We were lucky in the late 50s that Qantas moved its super constellations on to the Sydney to Port Moresby service at a time when many of us Aussie PNG residents were traveling to Aussie secondary schools to try and learn a few things....the flight to Brisbane Qld., was great.

@ferdinandfrancis9673

4 жыл бұрын

RIP Howard Hughes.

@rattusnorvegicus4380

2 жыл бұрын

_@Ferdinand Francis_ _1 year ago_ _RIP Howard Hughes_ Oh no, did he crash?

@owen368

2 жыл бұрын

It was done to get the plane in and out of hangers as even with 3 fins it would have still been to tall for the hangers of the time.

I flew on one of these when I was 19 in August of 1962 from Idlewild International Airport ( Now John F. Kennedy International Airport) to Kansas City. What a plane and a trip as Bob Hope was on the plane and I got to shake his hand and to talk with him for a minute or so. I believe it was a TWA flight.

@haridj8532

5 жыл бұрын

Bill tell me more about the experience

IMO the Conny is the most beautiful airliner ever designed, bar none. It's lines are graceful and elegant like nothing else, an incredible looking airplane in every way. It's without a doubt my favorite airliner of all time.

I remember seeing these planes at Lambert St. Louis Airport in the early '60s, about the time when 707s were really starting to show up. The Constellations were so beautiful; the lines of the fuselage are unforgettable. When they'd taxi away from the terminal, you'd see and 'smell' the oil droplets in the air. That was back in the day when McDonnell-Douglas was building the F-4 Phantom in St. Louis north of the runways and terminal, and were also involved with NASA, building the Gemini spacecraft. Great times.

I was stewardess who flew the Connie's in the 60s and i also flew 720s . I loved flying in the the Connie which made a special noise as we flew . We did have a lot of mechanicals which would freak out modern passengers . We had to check our doors before take off . Sometimes the Ground crew didn't completely shut them which could be deadly . A friend of mine was almost blown out when a door in the small cabin behind the cockpit blew out taking 8 seats and all of the Pilots brain bags and coats . She was a few feet away in the galley when it blew . She had just walked to,the cockpit to tell the Cockpit crew there was a strange noise coming from the door then returned to the galley when the door blew out .The force was so strong she fell on a metal step where passengers grabbed her hands and held her because she was being sucked out of plane . Passengers saved my friend Who decades later still has the scars on her knees . We still loved the Connie . We did carry barf bags and they were often used in bad weather . None of us liked carrying warm barf bags to toss away .we served Fabulous food daily . We had lobster Thermador or giant King crab legs or a fresh Crab Louis King crab salad covered with a lot of crab . We would complain about being served crab everyday . We wanted some chicken or steak . Now you can't find King crab legs the size they Used to have . I'd give anything to eat the Meals again . Our passengers appreciated our flights and we seldom had a complaint unlike today It was a special era to fly . I have great memories . Some of the mechanicals were frightening over the sea or mountains . Sometimes Engines would have to be feathered in bad weather over the sea Or mountains where we'd be bouncing all over the sky with sick passengers . We were young and figured we'd get home . I'd be terrified today after Being spoiled with safer smooth jet flights . The Connie looks beautiful in the sky .

@pauldirschka7052

3 жыл бұрын

Great Story Liz! Thanks!

This is the most beautiful aircraft - inside and out - I've ever flown in, and that was back in the early 1960's. This airplane had CLASS!

I had the privilege to have known the pilot who flew the last Connie out of the KCMO downtown Airport. September 67!

In 1954 We flew from London to NY via a short stop in Iceland in a TWA Connie. It's one aircraft I'll never forget, and is still one of the most beautiful ever made.

This brings back great memories of when I worked on the Camarillo CA Connie. It was fun pulling all the birds and nest of her. It's great seeing her flying in Switzerland as the Breitling Connie. Sure miss working on her.

I flew in a Connie from Brisbane to Port Moresby and return in January 1960. The Connie was part of the Qantas fleet with registration of VH - EAA to Port Moresby and VH- EAC Southern Wave for the return flight.

I used to fly out of Sanford, and the flight academy would round up the pilots occasionally and we’d go volunteer to help out on this project...scraping off old boots and such. She flew out just after I left the academy. Glad to see the old girl has a proper home now!

The first commercial airliner I ever flew on. The image of that plane (TCA Trans Canada Airlines) walking up to it on the ramp at three years old with my mom, (1958 -Toronto to Halifax) is an image I still have in my head to this day. What a craft. Unforgettable. (My mom shocked me by nicking a "TCA" stamped spoon from the metal service set.)

When I was a little kid we rode the eastern shuttle from maryland to New York City on Connies. What a beautiful airplane.

My first flight was on a connie from Las Vegas to what is now LAX. It was in 1960 and it was impressive. I've flown on sea planes to those crazy flights in the Himalayan mountains. But that TWA flight was one I'll never forget.

Aircraft have played a great part of my life, The Super Connie being my favorite,her lines, engines,everything about her is beautiful. It's great to learn that so very many others feel the same way about Lockheed's beautiful Babe.

I flew as a passenger in one many years ago. It was a real nice flight. Felt good

In early October, 1966 I flew to Mcmurdo on Ross Island Antarctica from Christchurch NZ,, to do a 12 month stint at the NZ Scott Base. It was a memorable flight and as we Kiwis were always great friends with the guys over the hill at Mcmurdo, we were given a tour of the cockpit. A truly lovely aircraft. I flew back to NZ 12 months later in a RNZAF Hercules, a much faster trip but sitting in the noisy, cargo compartment on the webbing seats, not nearly as comfortable as the trip down in the Conny!

By far the Connie was one of the most graceful looking aircraft in the skies.... Stunningly beautiful!

Without doubt the most elegant, graceful passenger aircraft of all time. Close runners up would be the DH Comet and the Bristol Britainia. I hope this example is still alive and well as at February 2015.

@paulstern9775

9 жыл бұрын

Adrian Larkins I have to agree, and not because I think little of many other graceful aircraft. Thanks to how it inspired respect and affectionate regard from people with enough resources to care for her, she will enjoy many years of pampered dotage.

@bobby33x97

5 жыл бұрын

Totally agree!

@stephenesler1125

5 жыл бұрын

God bless you mr. Kermit

@johnc1001

5 жыл бұрын

I also thought the Connie was as you describe, however in my opinion, her equal is the Concord, especially in the landing configuration. There's an ugly beauty about that look. I was fortunate enough to be in the number one position for takeoff out of JFK, when she arrived on one of her flights. Then again for a takeoff out of MIA, where we were positioned to see her just as she broke ground. Both occasions are vivid in my memories.

@bobby33x97

5 жыл бұрын

@@johnc1001 Sounds like some of my buddies describing a couple of ex-girlfriends: "Yea, she was pretty...pretty ugly!"

I was six or seven when I was on a Connie from LA to Cincinnati. My Mom told the stewardess that my Dad was a Navy fighter pilot, the stew told the pilot and next thing you know I've got and invitation to the cockpit. What a thrill. When I was five we were stationed at Mirmar Naval Air-station and Dad was flying Douglas Skyraders (AD-1). Skyraiders had different cockpit configurations. We were on the base for some function and He was walking with me on the flight line up to one with a 2 seat cockpit and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. I said yes and so he put me in it with him, belts me in, puts the headsets on us, called a guy over with a fire-bottle, and fired it up! It's the same engine used in the Connie. The whole plane shook as he cranked it over and I'm looking at that big prop going by, it fires up in a big roar and as I recall I could see a lot of smoke looking down from the right side of the cockpit as It fires up and I remember everything shaking. The wings, the nose, my seat, everything seemed to be bouncing me around. I'm five years old. You iknow? This many (holding up a hand). I looked over at dad who's busy doing pilot stuff and I have to get his attention. "Dad" I say into the mirophone. He looks over at me with his Elvis smile, I say "Dad, Maybe we can go for a ride some other time". A couple of years later he takes me for a ride on a deeps south Texas highway south of NAS Kingsville in our new midnight blue 56 Pontiac Starchief and pretty much buries the speedometer. This is a great video. I have to say though that the pilot seemed so concerned about dropping it in after the power lines that he didn't get the nose back up and really banged the landing. The left wheels bounces back in the air and the right wheels are skidding pretty good before the right comes back and the nose is yawed about 15 degrees left before the nose wheel touches. Considering that skid was on a grass runway I think it was kind of dicey.

@pontiacdriver999

7 жыл бұрын

I'm guessing since this guy was probably retired considering Connie's haven't been used as an airliner since the 60's he was probably a bit rusty :) Plus Kermit's runway isn't exactly ideal to land an old airliner on.

@jackhammer5468

7 жыл бұрын

I don't want to be too critical but the fact it is a grass runway only came into play when he bounced the airplane. With the plane stripped down with low fuel load and very light he had way more runway than he needed yet he seemed to think he needed to get it on the first part of the runway. I've read about this engine. I tried to find the original official (with the secret stamp on it) operations manual from my dad's AD-1 which I'm pretty sure is the same engine. I think there are warnings about all big radial engines about opening the the throttles to quickly. It creates such sudden huge vacuum in the cylinder that it sucks gobs of oil past the rings oil fouling the cylinder head and fouling spark plugs and creating a loss of power. When he very aggressively goes full power on reverse thrust the fact that engine billows what appears to oil smoke confirms it to me. Another question about his response is think of yourself driving a car. You hit some ice or do something that kicks the rear end out. Do you hit the brakes? Of course not. How I see it... He pushes the nose down after the freeway, can't get it back up in time to flair, he bangs it down, the right wheel bounces back into the air, comes down hard enough to bounce the left wheel in the air. During this time the nose wheel kind of hangs in the air even lifting a bit more before settling down. He seems to be gathering up that 15 of 20 degree yaw to the left, the plane appeasers to be centering, then for no apparent reason yaws left a second time. I don't think it's a fish tail because it never yawed right. The reverse power could do just what it would do if you hit the brakes in a car with the rear hanging out, kick the the weight bias forward taking more weight of the rear wheels. What would happen next would depend on how much front grip you suddenly had. In a car if the front bites and you're steering right the rear goes light it will fishtail back across the center-line the other way. But this airplane has far less braking power on the nose so it can't bite you into a reversal of the skid even though the weight bias shifts forward when the nose wheel hits. Another possible more likely reason for this could be that the right outboard engine billowing smoke lost power. If the engines on the left are pushing back harder that the ones on the right the plane will yaw left, just as it did again just before you see the smoke. It comes out of that second yaw only as that engine clears and starts making power again. Actually I was unfamiliar with reverse thrust on these other than reversing the prop pitch to back up or make taxi turns. I couldn't imagine reversing the props at speed an laying on power, as the announcer claims. I'm having trouble verifying it in searches. But if indeed it's true on all four engines have more reverse on one side would push that wing back and especially on grass I can imaging it turning the air-frame He didn't break the airplane or lose it in the skid but it was an ugly landing. The potential for something worse was right there. I'm not convinced this whole flight wasn't dicey safety wise as all the engine cowlings are covered with oil in a 50 mile flight. It could be leaks, it could be blow by from cylinders and rings that developed rust from sitting to long. But fixing that is damn near as expensive as a rebuild which appears to have been out of the question. I get it that the FAA seems to have believed they knew what they were doing but look at the billowing smoke on #4 and look at the engine cowlings as it drifts by after landing after only 30 minutes of running at modest power and low altitude. As I mentioned above my dad was a WWII carrier pilot flying Hellcats and AD-1 skyraiders during Korea and I grew up around naval air-stations, but I have only a little stick time in gliders and a bit in a Cessna cardinal I know that doesn't make me a pilot. I'd be interested in hearing from pilots that have commented here about what they think of the landing and whether the craft was actually safe to fly. It's a beautiful airplane. Arguably the most gorgeous airliner ever built. BTW I think the wing on the Airbus 380 is one of the all time great examples of industrial sculpture humans have ever created. Great work done by dozens if not hundreds of engineers can rise to the level of art. I guess you could say the same of the engineers on the Connie. Especially since it was the era of slide rule math.

@sanfranciscobay

7 жыл бұрын

Jack. I noticed the steep approach in the last few hundred feet of altitude. Maybe the pilot 1. wanted to make sure he got it on the ground quickly (brakes in poor condition?) and not float down the runway, 2. hit a downdraft? 3. was used to landing on Aircraft Carriers?

@jackhammer5468

7 жыл бұрын

i think i explained in detail what happened. Yes, I think he tried harder than he should have to get it on the first part of the runway and that made him screw up the flare and bang the wheels down. When he feels that wheel bounce up it may have sent a jolt of adrenaline through him, puckered his asshole and made too aggressive with throttling up reversed props You can't slam the throttles open on those big radials without sucking oil into the heads fouling the plugs. You clearly see that engine foul. It's not making power and that creates a %50 reduction in reverse power on the right wing and kicks the nose into a pretty fair yaw left. The engine cleared (it blew out the oil) and when the power came back it pushed the right wing back and (along with right rudder) the nose moved back to center squaring the plane up again. He ends up using about half the runway. I think they were winging it and didn't prepare well. I think if the pilot would have flown over there in the biggest twin he could find he'd have known he had plenty of runway. He didn't need that drop over the power-lines that started the whole thing. I admit I don't know that he didn't come land on that runway before but ... there's the botched flare bouncing one wheel then the other and the fowled engine and the yawing.... glad first of all nobody got hurt because if it yawed further you'd have had a wing-over and people get hurt in broken air planes. The second, I'm glad they didn't break one of the coolest planes ever. i'd say from the time I was in one in 57 or 8 until july 2016 it was the coolest plane I'd been in. But then I was on my first 747 to paris, and on the A-380 coming back. Both of those planes are beautiful and special. The 747 is this huge hot rod and the wing on the A-380 is a huge industrial art sculpture. It's cool. BTW, a few months later Air France retired that last 747 that was the reason I booked that particular flight. It was the shortest duration by far.

@jackhammer5468

7 жыл бұрын

a drop over the trees then over the power lines. not hundreds of feet. you're supposed to a little floating at the end of the landing. It's called flare as you settle into the air that gets trapped between the wing and the ground. Then you reduce or cut power and it settles. He pointed the nose so steeply downhill that he couldn't get it back up in time to make if flare so the wheels banged down hard creating the bouncing that could have freaked him out a bit and he opened the throttles to fast in prop reverse and oil fouled an engine and the loss of reverse on that engine made it yaw. the engine is making no power when it's billowing smoke. But then it clears and helps square him up. Cowboyed it down.

In the Navy, my father flew and logged over 15,000 hours of flight on the C-121 Super Connie as they called it.....beautiful aircraft. He flew our family to Hawaii when we moved their due to his TAD at Oahu.

I was fortunate enough to part of the maintenance crew where Naval Research Lab had their Flt Supp Det. Made local flights out of Pax River and several Dets to Rosy Roads PR. What a treat flying in that plane. On my first ride in a Connie I was told that during flight the wingtips would travel up and down 2 - 3 feet but didn't believe it until I actually saw it myself! The plane was like none other!

Many years ago when this Connie was in Sanford I took a self guided tour. It doesn't look much different now. Sad to see these beautiful planes rot away.

@vincesbardella3838

4 жыл бұрын

I did the same when residing in New Smyrna Beach, in the 90s.

A wonderful video on one of the most beautiful, elegant airliners of all time. Not just the prop engines, but its design, and lines were truly beautiful to look at. Thank you so much for this video.

I have made 2 jumps out of the Kansas City Connie. What a thrill. What a beautiful aircraft. Keep them flying.

Thank you for sharing this Vido. I have a little over 1000 hours flying the Connie back in the late 1960's. Great Memories.

I flew across the Atlantic from Germany in one of these in 1956. I was 7 years old. I was also sick most of the time because just about every adult on the plane was constantly smoking and they did not change the cabin air fast enough. I'm glad the "good old days" are gone.

I flew in an Eastern Airlines Constellation to Miami Florida. I was 12 years old . It was magic .

I was a radar operator on the Super Connie in the early 1960's. It had a large radar bubble on top and one on the bottom. We flew up and down the west coast, one trip to Floriday and 19 trip near Cuba during the Cuban crisis.

It was the most beautiful iconic airliner ever built or ever will be built.

@dallisb1047

6 жыл бұрын

D. Paul Riderman That and the DH Comet

I flew for TWA based at JFK from 1976 to 1988. I was FA certified on B707, B727, B767, B747, DC9, L1011. Never flew the Lockheed Constellation but know its history and visit them in aerial shows and museums. As a crew member the Lockheed 1011 remains my favorite aircraft I ever work on. It was as passenger friendly as it was crew friendly. A pleasure to work on always.

@lewiskemp212

5 жыл бұрын

i love the l1011 ehaust taking off its my favorite

Hubby was a child when his family flew from London to America on a BOAC Constellation in 1960. His Mom still has the Flight book given to hubby, signed by the crew, including I'm told, the stewardesses. This was in the Age of Dinosaurs, where hubby was allowed to sit up in the navigators chair during the flight and watch the crew fly the plane. His flight book has a photo of him with the crew in front of the airframe. There was a Golden Age.

I had the pleasure of flying on one of the last Connies in operation. It was a bit noisy and vibrated but was it ever cool! Undisputably one of the most beautiful aircraft ever to fly.

I lived in Longwood in the 90's and often drove up to Sanford airport. It always amazed me that a Connie was sitting by herself on the tarmac. I had flown on one with Lufthansa into Dusseldorf back in the late 50's. It took this YT video to let me know where she finally found a new home. 👍

Kermit thank you for all that you do in trying to keep these wonderful old birds flying. It is truly an amazing sight!

I grew up on this plane with Eastern Air Lines. I remember sitting in the aft 1st class lounge as the tail swung out over the taxi way. What a thrill! No glorified elevator ride here. This was flying as it was meant to be experienced. Cabin service was superb and every aspect was so civilized. Now it's shuffle them on and shuffle them off. So sad.

As a kid,I watched QANTAS connies working out of Perth Airport Western Australia,always loved the solid roar of those radials,still get a buzz from a radial engine.

One of the most beautiful, elegant aircraft ever produced.

Top notch Aviation Event.... thanks for posting this piece of history!!

The Constellations, to me, were the most beautiful piston-engined passenger aircraft ever built! Thanks for the video!

Born 1947 in West Germany this was the epitome of a gigantic airplane for a kid that would never dream of ever going in the air in an airplane. 1965 I flew to Florida for a scholarship, graduated from Highschool class of 66, started to work for Lufthansa as a flight attendand and purser, later became a dentist and oral surgeon and have flown countless flights in all sorts of airplanes. Thanks for the good memories and keeping the interest in the planes of not so long ago vivid with videos like this one!

Mr. Weeks thank you so much for your true passion and love for aviation and the preservation and flying of so many historic aircraft..

What a honor it must be to own one of the best flying birds of all times. Thank you Kermit for saving another piece of world history. 😉👍🏼

The Constellation was and still is a very beautiful plane.

9:34 "SINK RATE, PULL UP" .... that was one hell of a touchdown. No way to treat a relic like that.

@bertiesworld

4 жыл бұрын

Looked great when I saw it up close up back in 2003

@johncarter816

4 жыл бұрын

Gusty cross wind so he planted it hard which is the correct method.

@lm1584

4 жыл бұрын

@@johncarter816 hard is good, bounced on a 70 year old airframe, not so much

Lockheed has always been known for building extravagantly beautiful airplanes. My personal favorite is the Sirius float plane that Charles and Anne Lindbergh flew to explore far-north air routes to Asia. Seldom has an airplane looked so right in flight or on the water.

What an elegant old bird . I used to drive past one at Bankstown airport , Sydney Australia, every morning on my way to work in the early '90s . It was under restoration there . A truly beautiful machine .

This is one of the most beautiful airplanes I have ever seen.

Thanks Kermit! I hope to be able to visit your museum one day. Thanks for keeping all these birds in good condition for us to see.

Wow! Beautiful aircraft.👍😎

Fascinating story about this grand and graceful old gal - nicely narrated, too.

We lived under the flight path of Kingsford Smith airport in Brisbane. 1960 I was 4 years old and Constellations would fly over with their enormous growling engines. If I was out in the back yard playing and heard one coming I'd race upstairs and hide. I thought to myself one day that that was silly and I was going to be a big brave boy and stay outside and look up to see what was making that fearful noise. So that's what I did, caught a glimpse of the body swooping down to the tri tail. Then I raced upstairs and hid under the blankets. Should have got a Victoria Cross or Medal of Honour I felt so brave but was oh so scary. ;)

A truly mesmerizing video! Thanks for sharing with us Kermit!

oooohhh... I have watched this video more than once, probably will watch it again.😊

The Connie is nothing short of a fine work of art...

My father-in-law was crew chief on a Navy C-121 Warning Star aircraft in the early 60's.

Dear Mr Weeks, Thanks for keeping this wonderful piece of aviation going.

Most beautiful airliner ever made! Awesome to see it at Fantasy of Flight! Thanks for the video Kermit!

The Connie is the Spitfire or Mustang of the world of passenger aircraft of the era, such a beauty, perfect in form and function, she's is my favourite aircraft of all time

I flew on one of these in the 1960's from Hawaii to Tachikowa, Japan during a typhoon. Flying Tiger Airlines. What a ride!!

@rogermorris7309

4 жыл бұрын

I rode these, EC121, on the Island of Guam. Squadron VW1 tuphoon trackers

Thanks for saving a Connie, Kermie!

When I was 5, we lived in Arlington VA and used to picnic on Haaynes Point in the middle of the Potomac. I remember watching the Constellations landing and taking off from DC National.

Qantas flew these in the 50’s and 60’s and flew regularly east and west to England. It took over 72 hours for the trip. The route through New York required a fifteen hour hop across the Atlantic to London. That was on the 1049 Super Connie version with wing tip tanks. I did the return trip on 4 occasions. The most beautiful airplane ever, but the highly stressed engines were not super reliable.

I remember this. We were driving to WDW down Rt 4 from Naples and we saw it land. It was a beautiful sight. I’m originally from Dayton Ohio and remember going to the airport for a school field trip and they took us inside a Connie. I will remember that always. Love your videos Kermit.