An historic aircraft...

[dg101win]

I spent a year in Thailand working on EC-121's. They were Super Connies setup with with a large radome on the belly. They were AWACS Aircraft.

 

[deanodog]

I rode one from Houston to Lackland AFB in the 50s when joining the Air Force. Nice smooth ride for my first flight on an airplane.

 

[sceva]

I have seen the one in the Air Force Museum many times; it is usually in the Annex Building along with several other Presidential Aircraft.

 

[310Pilot]

Thanks for posting the photos of the Connie, they are great airplanes, easily the most beautiful airliner ever built. If you get up to Valle, just south of Grand Canyon, the Chino Air Museum has a branch operation at that little field, which includes the VC-121 which was Gen. Douglas MacArthur's aircraft during the Korean War. IIRC, it was named Bataan, and, when I saw it several years ago, still had its VIP interior. The early military Connies were variants of the L-649; later, Lockheed developed the L-1049, aka Super Constellation, which served some of the major airlines (notably TWA) on coast-to-coast and transatlantic routes. Truly elegant airplanes, longer than the 649, many of them also having tip tanks. The L1649 Starliners were a later version (the two in Connecticut are the only remaining 1649s, as I recall), intended to compete with the then-new jets, but failed to gain adequate market penetration to continue the program.

I have some great memories of Connies. When we moved to Arizona from Wisconsin in 1959, our last trip was from Milwaukee to Chicago Midway on a North Central Airlines DC-3 (yes, Herman the Duck was on its tail), then Midway to Tucson, then on to Phoenix via a 1049G Super Constellation. There is nothing like the wonderful sound of four R-3350 radial engines with all four propellers properly synched! I had just turned 8 years old, but had been a complete aviation nut since I could remember, and that trip was near-Nirvana to me. It got even better, though - my Dad had been in Naval Aviation during WWII, flew as a civilian (though not his job), and travelled almost constantly for business. He knew many of the pilots and crews on the major airlines, and they were aware that I regularly flew Dad's Beech Bonanza (with him in the left seat, of course). While in cruise flight, somewhere in the vicinity of Omaha, the stewardess (that was their title then) came back to our seats and asked if my younger brother and I would like to visit the Captain in the cockpit (oh, for the much nicer days of the '50s). You can guess the answer! Once up there, the Captain gave us both "official" TWA Junior Pilot Wings (plated metal, not plastic), and asked me if I'd like to fly the plane from his seat for a bit. That would never happen today, of course, but I got into the left seat (I did verify the autopilot was off), and flew that airplane for about 10-15 minutes, basically just straight and level, but did include a turn over a VOR. The Captain was watching over me, as was the Co-pilot, of course. It was a stable bird, and a huge thrill for me. That is the sum total of my 4-engine time. BTW, the cockpit seemed like it was from a space ship, and was, in fact, fairly tight, being rather narrow up at the pointy end of the airplane. Visibility was OK, but not outstanding. They were about the fastest propeller-driven airliners built, too.

I always wanted to fly another one. About 15 years ago, one of my flying acquaintances, Vern Rayburn, owned al 649 which he kept down a Avra Valley Airport (now renamed Marana) north of Tucson. He was offering courses to qualify for SIC, as well as a Connie Type Rating course. I wanted to take the Type Rating course, just for grins, but it was very expensive, and I never got around to it. The airplane is long gone, as is the type rating course. There would have been no use in having the type rating, other than to have done it, but it would have been fun.

Regarding the triple rudder configuration - the outboard vertical stabilizers and rudders are located on the centerline of the inboard engines thrust lines, and the induced airflow from them aids significantly in low-speed control, especially with an engine out, resulting in a lower VMC than would have been possible with a single vertical tail configuration.

 

[jdh]

There was a Connie and a C-97 parked side by side on the tarmac at Lajes for most of the time I was there 69-72. A very odd couple.

 

[MK]

Howard Hughs was responsable for that three rudder configeration. He insisted on them on ordering his.

They say the main reason for that design was to lower the
height of the tail so it could fit in the hangars of the day.
With a single tail, it was too tall. So they used three of them to
get the same performance in a lower package.
Or that's what I've heard anyway.. I remember when I was a sprout
living in Dallas in the late 50's, used to see those things fly over
daily to and fro to Love Field. And I had toy versions too..
Never got to fly on a real one.

 

[61woody]

By far the "Connie" was the prettiest plain of type ever built IMO.

 

[gunfighter48]

They always reminded me of humpback whales. I grew up in the 50s about 10 miles from what is now SeaTac Airport, near Seattle, WA. Used to see them often going in and out. Weins Alaska Air used them on the Alaska runs. My grandmother made many of her trips to Alaska on them and just loved that airplane.

 

[pharmer]

I remember my grandparents boarding TWA at Idlewild. Walked them right to the stairway. The transatlantic planes had fold down bunks as I remember, Italy was a 19 hr flight. That was 1959. Joe

 

[gravymeister]

Thanks for the correction! I researched 48-614, and found that it actually was named "Columbine," but while Ike was using it as SHAFE commander (1951-1952). It preceded the two Air Force Ones, which were named Columbine II and III. Correction noted in the original post!

A chronology is found in the link below:

My White House Days

John

The 8614 was the Columbine, no number.
This is from a letter I wrote to my maternal uncle who was an Air Force and civilian pilot.:
What you ask is not easy to answer.
I don't know the actual timeline, or which came first, the Signal Corps or the Field Artillery, or how long Snuffy served in each.
He washed out of pilot training because he had a crippling attack of arthritis in both knees halfway through the process. He was bedridden.
The Army didn't think he would ever walk normally.
He told his instructor that he would not only walk, he would finish pilot training.

It didn't work out that way.
Even though he had a miraculous recovery, he was too far behind to graduate with his classmates.
That's the official (family) story, anyway.

I don't know why he didn't get assigned to bombardier or gunnery school. Of course, bombardiers did have to fly the bombers for a few minutes, and gunners needed strong legs.
He stayed in the AAF, but not in TAC or SAC, but in the fledging Air Transport Command.

I guess he was commissioned because the AAF needed someone to arrange military air transport for top brass and politicians, including POTUS, which had been using civilian airlines. And, he was virtually the only one around that had flight training and was not actually an air crewman. This is speculation on my part.
The 1254th Air Transport Squadron was organized in 1948 at Washington national Airport to give the top brass better flight accommodations. It was called the VIP squadron and also provided air transport for visiting foreign dignitaries. Of course it became part of MATS.

Most of the ATC jobs were ferrying of warplanes. Cargo was carried on the C-54s, and important government personnel were occasionally flown on converted B-24 Liberators. FDR even had one! The Secret Service insisted on a 4-engine aircraft for POTUS, and that rule stood until LBJ flew on a Jetstar.

Snuffy happened to be in the right place at the right time. He set up training for his people with PAA by sending them to steward's school for the Clipper flying boats, and to Marriot training kitchens in DC to learn about preparing the infamous MATS box lunches. They were complete (cold) meals, and included the "Barf Bag". (That was for airsickness, not the food.) I believe they called them "sick sacks" then.
He also sent them to train at the kitchen in the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.

I don't know how he arranged this or found a budget for it, but after the war, the Pentagon was awash in money, and only had to figure out ways to spend it. As you know, they did.

Snuffy helped design galleys, and he even helped the design of FDR's elevator on the Sacred Cow.
Much of the galley equipment was available on the civilian market.

Ike came home, and was immediately sent back to France to head up the military forces for the NATO pact (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe)
He needed an aircraft and crew, and the Columbine VC-121 8614 was assigned to him and kept at Orly Field in Paris. It was called simply the SHAPE Flight Section. It had one aircraft, and was stationed at the MATS Terminal. The crews families flew from DC to Paris on 8614, including me.
The MATS host was the 7415th ABG, which had the task of meeting and greeting DV's coming and going from Paris. Luckily, they had someone experienced to help out.

Ike came home again and we stayed, and Snuffy flew for Gen. Ridgeway,
Gen. Gruenther, and Gen. Norstad (the first Air Force General to head SHAPE.)
After Norstad, Snuffy returned to the 1254th at National, in 1957.

But we were back in France from 1960 until 1964 where Snuffy was Superintendent of the 1616th Support squadron at Chateauroux-Deols, the largest NATO supply base in Europe.
Because of that tour, Snuffy missed all of the JFK flights.

The 1254th Group became a Wing in 1961 and moved to Andrews AFB, where it was re-designated as the 89th MAW.
Snuffy returned in 1964 and became Superintendent of flight attendants, responsible for selecting, training, and providing cabin crews for special Missions, including Air Force One.
here is a link for more information:
Oral History

 

[Absalom]

They always reminded me of humpback whales. I grew up in the 50s about 10 miles from what is now SeaTac Airport, near Seattle, WA. Used to see them often going in and out.....

You've got a nice one sitting in front of the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.

I went to see it last fall, although this isn't my picture; the weather wasn't cooperating (surprise!).

 

[ameridaddy]

Howard Hughes also designed the P-38. ....I."

Hughes tried to sell two types of twin engine, twin boom aircraft to the Army Air Corps during WW2, but the P-38 was chosen over both, one of which had only a prototype built and the second didn't have a prototype flying until 1946. The P-38 was retired by then.

AFAIK, the P-38 was Kelly Johnson's baby, who also was one of the Lockheed engineers on the Constellation design team.

Howard Hughes pushed the Constellation concept to Lockheed, who were skeptical, after he took stock control of TWA. Hughes took on the financial risks, but AFAIK, he was not ever a designer/engineer for Lockheed.

From the P-38, Kelly Johnson pushed on to design the F-104, U-2, several supersonic and hypersonic drones, the A-12 and SR-71. He was one of the most remarkable aircraft engineers and team leaders in aviation history.

 

[Oldiron]

When I checked in at NAS Jax for "A" school in March of '69 there was a Super Connie sitting just off the runway in the St Johns river. Can't remember if they said it was mechanical or pilot error, but it looked very odd with the three tails above the water. Larry

 

[Rustyt1953]

This sits at the Air Force Museum: