EC-121

[zzzippper]

Can't deny it served its place well, but the plane's fuselage and the nose looked like they were designed by two different engineers with two different agendas, at least to me.


Of course that's coming from a guy who loves the A-10.

I think that if you saw one flying you would change your mind.

 

[shouldazagged]

The Constellation is the most graceful passenger liner ever built.

Absolutely. A gorgeous design.

 

[steveno]

start up and take off

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynlAVeQd_MY[/ame]

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I think that if you saw one flying you would change your mind.

As I have posted-
I was down at Ft. Craig, on the Rio Grande S. of Socorro.
It was a big time re-enactment event.
I was happy as a pig in the poopie!
Taking pictures like crazy.
Then I heard a moan and a groan downhill right over the river.
There was a Connie going North, not very high maybe 2,000.
The folks up where I was were back in an older grounded age.
For one thing, you didn't have a motor on your Gatling Gun.
You had to hand crank it.

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

The EC-121, or Super Connie, was powered by the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone engines. It was the same engine used on the Martin P5M seaplane I flew on in the '60's. At full rich mixture used during engine start and again when going to full power during takeoff it would shoot about 3 feet of flames out of the exhaust stacks. That was normal operation for those engines, but a bit scary for novice fliers. During engine start the engine would cycle anywhere from 10-15 blades before the magnetos were switched to "On" which hopefully would clear any raw fuel from the stacks before ignition. Stack fires were not uncommon and there was always someone manning a fire bottle close by just in case of a stack fire. Seeing one takeoff at night was kind of exciting!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taU6qu5pXBo[/ame]

 

[Dennis The B]

The shape of the fuselage probably developed a lot of lift. The problem is that the shape is very hard and expensive to manufacture, especially during that time with available machining and manufacturing capabilities. The tube and wing is much easier and less expensive to manufacture on a large scale. BTW, I love the Connie AND the A-10.... That's coming from a guy who has worked 30+ years for the same company that brought you the Connie!

Anyone who loves Connies and Warthogs is okay in my book!