Air France flight 358 into Toronto in in August 2005 was another miracle. The A340 slid off the end of 24L at YYZ and ended up in a ravine right beside Highway 401. Although there was not much left of the aircraft due to fire, (I drove by it on the highway a day or two later) there were no fatalities. The flight attendants must be praised for this.
Yet if they could think, it would probably depend on what caused the 2nd crash. If it was pilot error then you are likely right, yet if it was mechanical faliure than it was just a bad coincidence.
@@coca-colayes1958 - Can we just say "if the captain hadn't been reinstated or hired by another airline"? Ignoring an altitude warning from your First Officer and then proceeding to fly into terrain should be a permanent black mark on your record. No need to wish him dead, just for this to have been the wake-up call that may he shouldn't be a pilot, or at least for airlines to not re-hire him even if he still thinks he should fly. Mistakes happen, but not fixing your situational awareness and not double-checking your altimeter reading after someone points out the exact problem you missed is just terrible. Especially telling them to mind their own business. (After the accident, he said he did misread 2800 and 1800 on the alt. Stepping back and making sure you were reading it correctly could have saved the flight.) Agreed with the sentiment, though, which is that I'd rather take my chances with another pilot. It's certainly possible that this crash gave him an attitude adjustment in terms of listening to your co-pilot, but I'd still rather bet my life on a random other pilot in an emergency. To be somewhat fair, modern ideas of CRM and listening to your copilot were lessons paid for in blood. (And sometimes in non-fatal wrecked airplanes.)
My introduction to aviation was Nov. 1958 when my family moved from California to New York. We flew on a TWA Constellation direct LAX to Idlewild Airport (now JFK). Being 8 years old, I got to go up to the cockpit and for a few minutes I sat on the co-pilot's lap (as we flew over the Grand Canyon!). I asked if I could flip a switch on the overhead panel and they let me. Have been an aviation geek since - but had never heard of this crash before today. By the way, I totally remember that the center aisle was not flat - and today I learned why!
Had a similar experience as a child. Flew from San Fransisco to L.A. in the summer of 1955. Didn't get to sit in anyones lap, but did get a tour of the cockpit. And one of the stewardesses gave me a set of wings. (They'd probably be worth $ now, but...)
Those were the days. Miss the innocent times. Now you can't even go back and greet your family members as they get off the plane. You have to wait in the luggage claim area.
I saw one of these in Hamburg in 2015. Sadly that aircraft has since been grounded. I can still remember the sound of the engines starting up, just impressiv. My grandfather was a mechanic for Lufthansa and had worked on the „Super Connie“ and had always told me about how amazing this aircraft was. Itˋs one of my fondest memories, getting to see this legendary plane together with my grandfather!
I always feel privileged to be able to "sit with you" as you conduct your investigations or explore various aspects of aviation. You are a terrific gentleman and a wonderful You Tube contributor. May you and yours experience a happy, safe Christmas and one of the best ever new years. From a long time subscriber in northern Idaho.
So true! What a time we live in, where we can just sit "around" pilots and learn about everything we want or ask directly to them. Thank you Mentour Pilot, 74 Gear, Captain Joe and Dutch Pilot Girl (the ones I follow :) )
@@MentourPilot Hi, fellow Swede here! (Heja Sverige!) I was wondering if you would comment on the Aeroflot flight 593 crash. I just found out about it a few months ago (it took place in the 90s), and the events leading up it were just mind boggling. There are a number of videos on it (I'll be happy to provide a link if needed), but it would be very interesting to hear your take. I just came here from your video on why airliners fly at the altitudes they do, and the need to always be gentle when trying to take control of a stalling or rapidly descending plane, and that crash sprung to mind. Anways, I stumbled across your channel via 74 Gear (which I've also only recently discovered), and I've been binging videos from both you guys (including obviously the crossover vids I've found) the last couple of weeks, lol. A belated Merry Christmas to you, and Happy New Year! :)
Miracle indeed. It goes back to a time though when the Captain WAS in everyway the Captain and a 1st office would not DARE to take control of a situation even if he knew his Captain was wrong. Merry Christmas Captain Petter to you and yours, and lets all hope for a better, brighter, and healthier New Year for one and all. Greetings from the UK
@@AttilaAsztalos Very much so, "crew resource management" is the way these days. No longer is a 1st officer afraid to challenge the captain if he feels the captain is making a mistake that could endanger the aircraft, even if it means taking control. You then sort it out on the ground
My grandpa was a TWA pilot and flew Constellations before retiring on the 727. My Dad got to fly on it many times and said it was so cool and loud. I live in Kansas City where are the national airline history museum is and they have a Constellation on display and it’s so cool!
I didn't know about that museum! When there aren't pandemics happening, I usually end up in Kansas City for a couple of days every couple of years, so I'll add that to the list of things to do. (Coincidentally, the father of the friend I visit there is a retired TWA mechanic.)
The Lockheed Constellation is an iconic beauty and it's a singular pleasure to recall my three flights aboard the St. Louis-based "Save-A-Connie" back in the late '90's. It was brought to the World Freefall convention at Quincy, IL and I have three takeoffs in the aircraft, but no landings. Yes, that's right; I have three skydives from the airplane and the vision of that triple tail and the shining discs of her four propellers as she flew away from us is one I'll remember to my dying day. Simply a gorgeous aircraft; a thrill to fly on and jump from.
I'd love the opportunity to fly in and especially jump from a Super Connie, although I only know of one that still flies and she is in Europe, only available to a club.
@@Jamesbrown-xi5ih The World Freefall Convention, which was held in Quincy, IL for a number of years, brought a selection of unusual a/c to the event for skydivers to jump from. They included a 727 freighter, various helicopters, an Antonov AN-2 (which I got to fly) and of course, the Connie. It was a great venue and coincided with the increased interest in skydiving in the '90's.
Don’t assume *anyone* is competent. Doing my master’s degree really showed me how little I knew/know despite having an MSc. It now really makes me doubt any kind of expert. Of course I still hope that they are knowledgeable in their respective domains, but even then simple mistakes can happen.
@@splifstar85 Nope. Those airplanes were much more complicated than jets. Much more difficult to fly. Same as computers. Computers 50 years ago could be handled only by experts with years of training on it. Now any imbecile like you can post stupid and ignorant comments ..
In 1955 as a 10year old I had the best time of my life flying BOAC Constellation Sydney to Singapore. Also got up to the cockpit & a crossing the line certificate as well. The 'Connie" you show I have seen many times as I live in Australia & it sends a shiver down my spine every time I see it flying.
One comment below, from a gentleman that flew on DC6s, made me realize that my very first flight was today 56 years back, on December 25, 1964 on MEXICANA (then called "Compañía Mexicana de Aviación") which then had many Douglas DC-6B, from Mexico City to Hermosillo in the State of Sonora, with a scale at Mazatlán, where we had to wait for an hour, because they had to change an oil filter on an engine (or at least that was said!). I walked together with my Mother and Sister along the runway during the wait... and someone of the ground personnel had to wave his arms to call us back to get on board again; an unthinkable situation today! On the return flight at night, some days latter, I clearly remember being worried when looking at the bright red hot exhaust manifolds, but the few flames out them were short light blue ones, very different from the orange long ones on the Connie on the video. I still clearly remember the shaking from the torsional forces slightly but visibly twisting the engines when the first cylinders got firing, followed by light gray colored clouds of smoke during the starting, the emotion of hearing the sound of every engine starting and adding its roar to the others, and my first take-off ever: The wait at the start of the runway, followed by full throttles with the brakes applied, all the soft, damped shaking of the entire airframe, then the brakes releasing and the speed going up for a long time and then the lift off... absolutely unforgettable for a 9 year old boy with a passion for airplanes!
Beautiful rendition ! I could speak of grey smoke(rich air fuel mixture(likely) - the blue flames may indicate a proper ratio of oxidiser to fuel...or possibly too hot. Glowing manifolds are pretty normal on turbo/supercharged reciprocating engines. Most have pyrometers in the exhaust stacks to give feedback to the bags of meat at the pointy end - to aid in them selecting proper afm and keeping cht's and egt's in check. Please tell moar stories (:
The Super Connie shown in your video was restored by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) based in Wollongong, 90minutes drive south of Sydney Australia. Their museum has a heap of historical aircraft exhibits, many of which in full working condition - including Connie. Well worth a visit.
I was very fortunate to fly in a Super Constellation once when I was still a small kid. But I remember everything about the flight. I had a toy car which I let run down the isle. We flew from Windhoek to Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). Very blessed to can say I flew in one. It is a true beauty and hardcore!
brent haestier Wow, you are lucky! I missed both the Constellations and the British Comet ( first ever jet). As a two-year old I flew on DC 4s, then DC6s, after that Boeing 707, a horror story in Boeing 727 (shake rattle and roll) and Boeing 747. From then on, as an adult I became a Star Alliance member and fly Lufthansa with its wonderful fleet of Airbus! My innermost wish would be for 737 Max to fail all and every test in EASA and go quietly into the setting sun of the scrapyard!
I didn't get to fly in one, but as a kid I got the opportunity to get aboard one that had been opened for visitors. Even got to peek into the cockpit. Dials, levers, and switches wherever you looked. Very impressive for a 12-year-old. But what stuck in my mind a lot more was the omnipresent stench of cigarrette-smoke which persisted even over a decade after the plane's decommissioning...
@@annatamparow4917 There is a DC6 standing here at Eros Airport Windhoek. It's been standing here for many years now. I am hoping some day it will be rescued and restored. Not many of them around in the world.
Thirded. I think a lot of it was monitoring the engines which, in those days, had a lot of manual controls. They were also responsible for monitoring and transferring fuel, keeping an eye on the hydraulics and all the other aircraft systems.
The FE did everything that computers now do. The pilots just flew the stick. The FE did everything else. Fuel/weight calculations, engine settings, monitoring, thrust, flight mode, takeoff, climb, cruise, landing settings Diagnostics, trim, flaps, fuel calculations, pre-flight inspection. fire control, anti-ice, cabin pressure. *The FE was the top guy, but got little praise.*
A licensed Super Constellation pilot told me, that engine settings were also done by monitoring the exhaust flames appearance (sorry if that was mentioned here already). 🤞 to Mentour Pilot and thanks for your great work.
Captain never should have been allowed to fly again. I despise pilots that refuse to acknowledge warning from their fellow crew when the aircraft was perfectly sound. Reminds me of the crash at San Francisco, and a few others, too.
This captain was fatigued from the nearly 60 hours on duty within just 6 days, and being on duty for over 13 hours that day. He was set up for failure when he had to use a newer system to guide himself to the runway. His fatigued mind allowed him to make mistakes and probably have tunnel vision
While I was doing my primary training there was a crash at an airport near where I was training. Two pilots were practicing their night GPS approaches in a 182. They both got so involved in the GPS that they failed to notice that the plane was in a slow descent. They bounced off the ground, pulled the power and *landed*, unharmed and the plane was *undamaged*. Fortunately for them, Texas is a big place, and a fair bit of it is flat, hard and empty.
There’s one of these semi-buried in ice, in Antarctica near the existing air strip on the Ross ice shelf, I’ve climbed on it 😁 everyone survived with no serious injuries before shine goes nuts! I’d love to see a video on that!
I love your crash summaries! As a former fan of Air Crash Investigation I love your more condensed story format, and not talking too much about the passengers!
CRM was a distant dream then and a captain's word was law, dictatorial captains and inexperienced first officers were a disaster waiting to happen...ironically, in this case, the F/O was prepared to speak out, unfortunately, the captain left it too late to listen.
Flew on several Connies when I was a kid. My dad always loved this aircraft and I remember how easy it was to sleep to the drone of those big radial engines. These were first class-only aircraft when kids were allowed into the cockpit.
Great video. The Super Connie was definitely a gorgeous aircraft. In my career I only worked on one one time unfortunately. The DC-4 was not pressurized. The DC-6 and DC-7 were. The R-3350 Turbo Compound engines on the Connies were amazingly powerful, temperamental and sounded awesome. I spent several years working on them on US Navy SP-2H Neptunes. I miss my radial days. The jets just can't compare. Merry Christmas to you too.
That was a very different world back then in those propliner days. The copilot was just that and the captain was king. And technology and safety were awful. Some good reads on the topic are "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann and also "North Star over my shoulder" by Bob Buck.
I think I've read FITH more than ten times. I'll seek out North Star, thank you for your recommendation. The Air Disaster series by Macarthur Job are also compelling.
Peter I have all Mac Jobs books and they are the best ones I’ve ever read. They are written by a former crash investigator who goes into so much background about each incident . Sadly I don’t think they are available anymore .
Happy Christmas Mentor! The Wright R3350 that powered the Super Connies was not turbo charged, but was rather turbo compounded. The exhaust driven turbines were coupled back to the engine's crankshaft via a fluid torque converter. There were three turbo compound units per engine. Pratt and Whitney also developed turbo compounding for the Wasp Major 4360 28 cylinder behemoth, but never went into production owing to more money being spent on turbojet engine development at the time. The biggest hurdle being propellers capable of hooking up all that horsepower. Hamilton Standard simply ran out of R&D money for their contra-rotating pusher type propellers for Lockheed's flying wing design.
My parents and I flew from Vancouver BC to LHR (via either Toronto or Montreal) on a Trans Canada Airlines (now Air Canada) Connie in 1955 . I will never forget waking up during the night and seeing those flames from the engine - scared the crap out of me - we called the stewardess (as they were then called) and she calmed me down assuring me there was nothing wrong. Something I will always remember!
Merry Christmas! Good video, thank you. I'm an American and I have been living in Europe for more that 20 years. For the past 12 years I've been living in Poland. Nice to see a shout out to a very nice Polish artist!
Incredible story - thank you for sharing. The footage at the beginning is the Connie in the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (H.A.R.S.) collection located at Shellharbour City Airport, approximately 60 minutes south of Sydney, Australia. And to my knowledge it is the only one still flying anywhere in the world. As a H.A.R.S. volunteer I had the pleasure of flying on her in May of this year (meaning I can die happy) - her most recent flight. One of the most beautiful aeroplanes ever built.
In 1961, I rode Connie, window seats in front of the wings, from Idlewild to Miami and back. ❤️❤️❤️ It's hard to explain how just the sight of this gorgeous aeroplane can make a guy misty eyed with joyfulness all these years.
Very nice to see you referencing Super Constellation "Connie" VH EAG, based at Albion Park where HARS (historic aircraft restoration society) acquired it in 1997 and restored it to flying condition. I live just up the road in Wollongong. Merry Xmas all.
@@MentourPilot Merry Christmas 🎄. FYI the plane was headed to Malton Airport but crashed in Brampton nearby. Malton is now called Pearson International Airport which is the main airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Cheers. Great Story!
I was in the U S Navy from Oct. 18,1971 to Aug. 15, 1975. I was an A-6 Intruder plane captain in a training squadron (VA-42) NAS Oceana, Va. Beach Va. We flew to Fallen, Nv. in a Constellation. It took 12 hrs. & a gas stop to get there. This took place in Feb. 1973. We flew C-9Bs after that. We had a flat tire on takeoff with a C-9B one time. Had to fly around for an hour to use up fuel before landing back at the base we took off from. We had to get into crash position when landing in case the flat tire caused a crash landing. The landing was rough but it was a successful landing & no one got hurt. We flew out the next day for Fallon in the same C-9B after they changed the tire the day before. That Constellation’s engines throw out the flames & they leaked oil ! Thanks Petter for these videos. U S Navy veteran ADJ-3 Dennis Hayes
Awesome! Yes you could park your car on Brookpark Road and watch the planes fly right over (or you could make out with your girlfriend). The Hopkins terminal had a public observation deck on the roof close enough to feel the jet exhaust heat and smell the kerosene.
The Constellation was my father's favourite aircraft when he worked at Air France in Marseille in the 1950's! Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas filled with wonderful moments and many blessings!
What a video for this time of year!!!!! Incredible job Petter! Thank you for bringing us these stories and telling them in the way that you do! So interesting.
I am thinking about those odds and the miracle, since you so nicely gave us this story, Mentour Petter! Love to you and your family this Christmas day.
Thanks! God Jul! Among my earliest memories: VARIG Super Constellation, Rio to NYC (then Idlewild, now JFK, sleeper version. Long live the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation!
It's good to see you profiling a good ole' piston pounder! When I was a child, in the 60's , I remember hearing those behemoths flying over my house as it was under the approach to one of the runways at Peoria International Airport which also housed an ANG and AFRES unit. Now THAT was the sound of POWER as the piston pounders were relegated to guard and reserve units. When my dad got his ATPL and I was a little older he let me take the controls of a privately owned C-46 with two of the same engines as the "connie", what a BEAST! It was so much better than the C-47 because it had MUCH more power, was pressurized AND it had a retractable tail wheel. What difference does that make? About 50 kts that's the difference. Not to mention the fact that it had twice or more payload! I have very fond memories of those big ass war birds flying over.
A Yuletide story. Great one , Captain. I had seen these in BOM belonging to the Indian military back in the 70s. Smoky engines and a sweet, sweet sound....
When the video first started and I saw the Australian Connie I was horrified that it had crashed. Very relieved when you then said that you were talking about a crash from the 50's. I've seen the plane you used in the video several times at airshows and I have a extremely low-res video of that particular plane starting up on my channel. One of the most beautiful airliners ever built. Thank you for this video.
@G.T Again, this is an example for an random accident, where the gear took a lot of the impact energy, unplanned and unforeseen by the pilots, but it did. And for that reason, you do not raise the gear in a terrain escape manouvre, because if you hit terrain an you have to assume this possibilty, you don't get full impact energy, because the gear takes up much of it.
Super Constellation is definatelly one of, if not the, most beautiful aircraft ever built. The problem with pilots back then was that they were the ones in command, something left over from the fact that many were ex-military pilot, and that they would brook no interference from anyone. It took many years, and deaths, before this attitude would change.
I have this memory of one day watching from the window of my room, about 15 years ago now. A few weeks earlier I had been to a museum airport in Lelystad, The Netherlands. This is where I first saw this magnificent machine. As I am sitting in my room I hear this rumble of aircraft engines. As I look out of my window into the sky, I see this small silhouette of a plane. Even though it was a small dot in the sky, I could see a triple tail. There was no question which aircraft this was. There could only be one option. The original Queen of the Sky.
God Jul och Gott Nytt År to you and your loved ones. A great little video as always, and I love the exposure you are giving the aviation artists. This particular video reminded me of my grandfather was a ground crew employee for KLM from the forties until his retirement in the eighties. He used to tow and service all aircraft that flew in that period, including the Super Constellation. If I recall correctly, the Connie was his favourite to look at but one of the worst to service. He would always describe it as the best three engined airliner of all time - A description that always comes to mind when I see a video about the Connie.
I got to fly on a TWA super connie from STL to New York in 1955. TWA had two versions of the connie, one was labled as the super G and was the bigger of the two birds. I was only ten years old at the time, and it was my first flight on a airplane. Needless to say it made a gig impression on me. Back in those days the airlines didn't stuff you in a tube like now, and they treated you as if they enjoyed their job, not like today's airlines. Although not a fast airplane like today's jets, it was much more enjoyable.
Thank you for bringing back this miracle story. I appreciate your attitude to sharing aviation information, and your skill in delivering it. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Mentour Pilot!
My father flew the L1049, or Super Connie, for Qantas many moons ago. A beautiful aircraft. He used to say they were the best 3 engined aircraft he'd flown, because you usually lost one somewhere along the track.
My father used to work on the super connies when he was in the air force. He had some funny stories, but i do not remember them well enough to do them justice. But that was a very well designed and useful aircraft.
Really exciting video! I enjoyed the story-telling (and the excellent animation showing the ILS approach diagram). It was fun in that the story had a good ending and that we weren't really "studying" some technical data. I really hope you do more like this... sort of a fireside chat... every now-and-then. Thanks for a wonderful channel! One doesn't have to be in aviation to appreciate the lessons you share. Keep up the good work. Best wishes for a wonderful New Year!
Growing up in Alaska in the 1950's provided me with some great flying experiences and memories. I recall flying on a Connie from Juneau to Cordova where the family transferred to a DC-3 and flew over the pass to Valdez. I can recall an image of looking outside the plane to the mountains on each side. This was in 1958. Other great experiences were flying in a Grumman Goose in Southeastern Alaska. What a great plane, and some are still flying. I loved to sit up next to the pilot during take-off and landing in the water. Also flew a couple times in a PBY.
Happy new year Captain. Im not a pilot but I have been following your channel for a good few years and I am always entertained. Especially with lockdown. Stay safe and fly high!
@@MentourPilot you are an awesome pilot! I admire your work and I will love to fly with you in the near future because I love aviation and learning to master the 3 axis of flight
I'm so happy to hear that you, as I, feel the Connie is the most beautiful airline ever built. I was a little too young to get to fly on a Connie or even ever get to see a Connie in person but I have photos of this most iconic airliner. The Connie was the very first Air Force One built for President Eisenhower and that one is still airworthy. A great movie about the beginning of the Connie is in the Aviator.
Well the steatoluner where also known for that. But as mentors said, its a bit overblown. Thenfirst generation where equiped with the full turbocompound engines. They where very efficient and strong but very very complicated. And they where hard to keep running. This was way befoee automated controls, you had a dedicated engineer that monitored and adjusted cowlibg flaps, moved around fuels and fiddled around with numerous other controls and kept tabs of the various power settings needed. It was a complicated machine to fly indeed. Later version had a slighly weaker engine but they had stripped the compound system in order to gain reliability, that version where the most common one....
I mean redundancy was a major security mechanic of the day. Today you can build redundancy into a complex system. But if that's too complicated you build just two similar systems. You can not expect absolute reliablity from a still kinda new technology. So you build in options if you can afford them. And 4 engines probably give you a LOT more options than 2. It's the easy but expensive solution. That's what even Nasa did for a long time. Build everything twice if you can. If you HAVE to have a single system requiring absolute reliability, like the Lunar Modules ascend engine, it got extremely difficult and extremely expensive to achieve that with some level of confidence, with the early days material science (BIG topic in aviation history). The lack of miniturisation and lack of computer simulations and many other issues of the day.
The Connie. Wow! My dad flew for Trans Canada Airlines, pretty much from its inception, and retired on the DC-8's. The Constellation was his favorite aircraft of all the types he flew.
I was a kid in the first half of the 1960’s and lived pretty close to the Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo. Never forgot the accident also with a Super Constellation that came to low for landing and kind of “left” most of its landing gear in the head of the elevated runway 17R. I have no recollection on the consequences of the accident (casualties if any, etc) but it was for sure one of a kind! As Christmas is over by now I wish Petter, Sandra and the lovely kids an absolutely fantastic 2021!
I am as I am reminded many times an old man & as a small boy in the early 1950s flew with my family on several outings from Minnesota in 'Connies', all L-749s I believe, to the UK & Australia. Never in any of the later versions, I am sorry to say. But, the version in which we flew was brilliant, large ( ! ) seats, actual china & metal flatware AND 'real' food. Not all the seats were ever taken & a small boy could run around & see out different windows, thanks to kindly cabin crew. ( One person on duty was chuffed, however & so I had to 'sit tight' that time. ) Once, seated next to my ex-RAF Bomber Command old dad, we saw a B-36 thrashing the air & less than a mile away, said Pop, who added that 'somebody will have their guts done for garters', for having let the two aircraft come so close together! Thank you for this story AND the splendid footage. ( Once, too, I also got to have a look at an airliner cockpit but do not remember any longer in what airliner. )
Thank you and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. Your videos are inspiring and informative and jog memories for an old man whose love of aviation is almost as strong as yours. I'd kill to take a 172 up again!
I recently have seen a documentation on the Alitalia 404 crash in Zurich in 1990, where there was an issue with the ILS and also a lack of communication beteeen captain and first officer, but with a tragic ending...
These Super Conny Wright R-3350 engines did not have turbochargers. These here are called recovery turbines, or blowdown turbines, or turbo-compound system. The energy recovered from the exhaust by the turbines is directly converted to mechanical power, mechanically geared to the crankshaft thru an elaborate reduction gearing and damping system to provide mechanical power boost. Typical turbo compound boost on this engine was about 550 shaft HP at full continuous engine power , without fuel consumption penalty. This system helped the Super Connie to become the first airliner capable of true non-stop flights from Europe to the US (east to west against the jet stream)
Incredible miracle Petter.Thanks for posting. P.s tagged you in a linkedIn post tonight, suggestion for a video. Take care & have a lovely christmas with your family. Tacksomycket,
Happy New Year to you, Sandra and the boys P! Another excellent recap. I know I'm OLD now...took several Super Connie trips as a child...mostly on TWA...high quality service on an elegant ship. That said...every time I hear one of these "mishap" recaps of yours, or Juan Browne's, I am reminded of one of the earliest hangar flying maxims I heard frequently, from the old guys when relating this type of story...What are the 3 most useless things to a pilot? Altitude Above...Runway Behind...and Fuel In The Truck! It's amazing how so many of these stories turn on those points. Keep up the great work man...you are a true aviation treasure!
Comstellations were indeed beautiful aircraft. The first Connie flew in 1943, making it the first pressurised aircraft. The DC-4s were not pressurised. The DC-6 first flew in 1946 being pressuried folowed by the Convair 240 in 1947, also pressurised. So I believe the title of first pressurised airliner goes to Lockheed 049 Constellation.
I like the updated theme music. I live in Brampton, near Toronto. The intended destination airport was probably the nearby Malton International Airport, which is now called Pearson International Airport; I can see it from my living room window. The unintended landing site was in Brampton. Thankfully, at the time, the area near the airport was mostly farmland; these days it is heavily developed. An airline crash in that area today would have much more disastrous outcome, both in the aircraft and on the ground. There is a memorial garden in Brampton for another airline crash (Air Canada 621), with far fewer survivors (none) caused by a miscommunication/misunderstanding between the captain (pilot flying) and first officer (pilot monitoring) regarding deploying ground spoilers. Because of this crash, procedures for spoiler deployment were made much clearer to avoid this kind of issue. There were also some change mandated to the DC-8 to help avoid this kind of issue again.
A similar ergonomic flaw caused an Air New Zealand DC-8 to crash at Auckland in 1966 while doing training circuits and bumps. In this case, a thrust reverser got employed as the instructor shut off an engine at take-off. I believe the controls on DC-8s were fixed after these crashes.
I don't think these were turbocharged. They had superchargers and utilized blow-down turbines to recover approximately 600 hp that normally would be wasted out of the exhaust. Great video!
I agree that the Connie is a beautiful plane. As a child I had the opportunity to get aboard one of these planes which was on exhibition on the premises of Munich airport (not sure it still is there). In particular I remember that even though it has been out of service for a decade or two, it still reeked of cigarrette smoke like you wouldn't believe.
I read that Howard Hughes designed the cockpit himself. Still a great looking plane. I see one flying at my hometown if Tucson, AZ about twice a year. The 1st pressurized airliner was a Boeing airliner back in the late 1930's , they used that experience to develop the B29. Another great video! Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.
I think the thing that surprises me most about this story was that an international flight would have flown into Brampton. The nearest large airport today is (YYZ, CYYZ) Toronto Pearson (which at that time would have been known as "Malton Airport", a very short distance from Brampton). The next largest airport at the time was probably Downsview (CYZD) which was an air force (RCAF) base at the time. Anyway, interesting story, and a valuable lesson about deference to seniority.
Great story. I've loved the Connie since I saw the Breitling one flying low (around 1500ft max) over my house about 6 years ago, I guess on its way to the Farnborough Air Show. I heard engines that kept getting louder, so I ran into the garden to look, only to see the triple tail disappearing out of view over neighbouring houses. I can only surmise that it was low to avoid LTN traffic. The noise was incredible!
That's Toronto's international airport which just happens to be outside the city's borders in Malton! Brampton was just the nearest large town! Merry Christmas!
Thank you Captain, Merry Christmas to you as well. Fascinating story, I didn't know about it. Yes, the Connie was so beautiful, a unique design. For the record, the DC-4 was never pressurized, Douglas offered the package after the war, but quickly realized that they needed to do better and finally came up with a real winner thatw as pressurized, the DC-6.
Being raised in Chicago around that time and having my dad as control tower operator at Midway Airport I loved the DC-3, DC-4, DC-6 and that TWA Connie. And Petter is correct in saying that the sound from the engines is something to behold. Growing up around Midway everything was prop driven. Now Southwest Airlines 737's are flying there (a different sound) but then the 737 is a great airplane.
Air France flight 358 into Toronto in in August 2005 was another miracle. The A340 slid off the end of 24L at YYZ and ended up in a ravine right beside Highway 401. Although there was not much left of the aircraft due to fire, (I drove by it on the highway a day or two later) there were no fatalities. The flight attendants must be praised for this.
In retrospect, the people who died in his subsequent crash probably didn't think it was such a miracle that the pilot survived his first crash.
They didn't think anything, because they died.
Yet if they could think, it would probably depend on what caused the 2nd crash. If it was pilot error then you are likely right, yet if it was mechanical faliure than it was just a bad coincidence.
@@squeaksquawk4255 I’d still prefer to take my chances if this captain had of died in the first crash
@@coca-colayes1958 - Can we just say "if the captain hadn't been reinstated or hired by another airline"? Ignoring an altitude warning from your First Officer and then proceeding to fly into terrain should be a permanent black mark on your record. No need to wish him dead, just for this to have been the wake-up call that may he shouldn't be a pilot, or at least for airlines to not re-hire him even if he still thinks he should fly.
Mistakes happen, but not fixing your situational awareness and not double-checking your altimeter reading after someone points out the exact problem you missed is just terrible. Especially telling them to mind their own business. (After the accident, he said he did misread 2800 and 1800 on the alt. Stepping back and making sure you were reading it correctly could have saved the flight.)
Agreed with the sentiment, though, which is that I'd rather take my chances with another pilot.
It's certainly possible that this crash gave him an attitude adjustment in terms of listening to your co-pilot, but I'd still rather bet my life on a random other pilot in an emergency.
To be somewhat fair, modern ideas of CRM and listening to your copilot were lessons paid for in blood. (And sometimes in non-fatal wrecked airplanes.)
Hilarious! Grim. But hilarious.
My introduction to aviation was Nov. 1958 when my family moved from California to New York. We flew on a TWA Constellation direct LAX to Idlewild Airport (now JFK). Being 8 years old, I got to go up to the cockpit and for a few minutes I sat on the co-pilot's lap (as we flew over the Grand Canyon!). I asked if I could flip a switch on the overhead panel and they let me. Have been an aviation geek since - but had never heard of this crash before today. By the way, I totally remember that the center aisle was not flat - and today I learned why!
Had a similar experience as a child. Flew from San Fransisco to L.A. in the summer of 1955. Didn't get to sit in anyones lap, but did get a tour of the cockpit. And one of the stewardesses gave me a set of wings. (They'd probably be worth $ now, but...)
Do you like movies about gladiators??
Those were the days. Miss the innocent times. Now you can't even go back and greet your family members as they get off the plane. You have to wait in the luggage claim area.
I saw one of these in Hamburg in 2015. Sadly that aircraft has since been grounded. I can still remember the sound of the engines starting up, just impressiv.
My grandfather was a mechanic for Lufthansa and had worked on the „Super Connie“ and had always told me about how amazing this aircraft was. Itˋs one of my fondest memories, getting to see this legendary plane together with my grandfather!
I always feel privileged to be able to "sit with you" as you conduct your investigations or explore various aspects of aviation. You are a terrific gentleman and a wonderful You Tube contributor. May you and yours experience a happy, safe Christmas and one of the best ever new years. From a long time subscriber in northern Idaho.
Thank you so much for your kind words.
Have a lovely Christmas!
I completely agree. Love to learn about aviation and I am anning to become a pilot.
The mentor pilot does a excellent job breaking down the information and explaining it .
So true! What a time we live in, where we can just sit "around" pilots and learn about everything we want or ask directly to them. Thank you Mentour Pilot, 74 Gear, Captain Joe and Dutch Pilot Girl (the ones I follow :) )
@@MentourPilot Hi, fellow Swede here! (Heja Sverige!) I was wondering if you would comment on the Aeroflot flight 593 crash. I just found out about it a few months ago (it took place in the 90s), and the events leading up it were just mind boggling. There are a number of videos on it (I'll be happy to provide a link if needed), but it would be very interesting to hear your take. I just came here from your video on why airliners fly at the altitudes they do, and the need to always be gentle when trying to take control of a stalling or rapidly descending plane, and that crash sprung to mind.
Anways, I stumbled across your channel via 74 Gear (which I've also only recently discovered), and I've been binging videos from both you guys (including obviously the crossover vids I've found) the last couple of weeks, lol. A belated Merry Christmas to you, and Happy New Year! :)
Miracle indeed. It goes back to a time though when the Captain WAS in everyway the Captain and a 1st office would not DARE to take control of a situation even if he knew his Captain was wrong. Merry Christmas Captain Petter to you and yours, and lets all hope for a better, brighter, and healthier New Year for one and all. Greetings from the UK
Glad that culture got upended. If you realize you're sitting next to a lunatic, you call it out and take control.
@@AttilaAsztalos Very much so, "crew resource management" is the way these days. No longer is a 1st officer afraid to challenge the captain if he feels the captain is making a mistake that could endanger the aircraft, even if it means taking control. You then sort it out on the ground
My grandpa was a TWA pilot and flew Constellations before retiring on the 727. My Dad got to fly on it many times and said it was so cool and loud. I live in Kansas City where are the national airline history museum is and they have a Constellation on display and it’s so cool!
I didn't know about that museum! When there aren't pandemics happening, I usually end up in Kansas City for a couple of days every couple of years, so I'll add that to the list of things to do. (Coincidentally, the father of the friend I visit there is a retired TWA mechanic.)
The Lockheed Constellation is an iconic beauty and it's a singular pleasure to recall my three flights aboard the St. Louis-based "Save-A-Connie" back in the late '90's. It was brought to the World Freefall convention at Quincy, IL and I have three takeoffs in the aircraft, but no landings. Yes, that's right; I have three skydives from the airplane and the vision of that triple tail and the shining discs of her four propellers as she flew away from us is one I'll remember to my dying day. Simply a gorgeous aircraft; a thrill to fly on and jump from.
You parachuted from a Connie?
You jumped out of a perfectly good airplane?!?
(That was my flight instructor's reaction when I told him I had gone skydiving.)
@@johnopalko5223 Speaking as a fellow pilot, we both know there aren't any "perfectly good" airplanes.Besides, I got a break on the ticket.
I'd love the opportunity to fly in and especially jump from a Super Connie, although I only know of one that still flies and she is in Europe, only available to a club.
@@Jamesbrown-xi5ih The World Freefall Convention, which was held in Quincy, IL for a number of years, brought a selection of unusual a/c to the event for skydivers to jump from. They included a 727 freighter, various helicopters, an Antonov AN-2 (which I got to fly) and of course, the Connie. It was a great venue and coincided with the increased interest in skydiving in the '90's.
You have no equal when you analyze crash incidents. Your description of all facets of the incident is flawless.
Moral of the story: Don't assume those in power are competent.
Don’t assume *anyone* is competent. Doing my master’s degree really showed me how little I knew/know despite having an MSc. It now really makes me doubt any kind of expert. Of course I still hope that they are knowledgeable in their respective domains, but even then simple mistakes can happen.
@@Mike-oz4cv Experience has shown that those who are self-professed "experts" are the most dangerous of all the characters in the theater.
Back than, it seems, the competence of that captain to fly a plain, was at about the level of the modern flight attendant 🙈
@@splifstar85 Nope. Those airplanes were much more complicated than jets. Much more difficult to fly. Same as computers. Computers 50 years ago could be handled only by experts with years of training on it. Now any imbecile like you can post stupid and ignorant comments ..
Can't be truer
Also I know no one cares but 69th like
In 1955 as a 10year old I had the best time of my life flying BOAC Constellation Sydney to Singapore. Also got up to the cockpit & a crossing the line certificate as well. The 'Connie" you show I have seen many times as I live in Australia & it sends a shiver down my spine every time I see it flying.
One comment below, from a gentleman that flew on DC6s, made me realize that my very first flight was today 56 years back, on December 25, 1964 on MEXICANA (then called "Compañía Mexicana de Aviación") which then had many Douglas DC-6B, from Mexico City to Hermosillo in the State of Sonora, with a scale at Mazatlán, where we had to wait for an hour, because they had to change an oil filter on an engine (or at least that was said!). I walked together with my Mother and Sister along the runway during the wait... and someone of the ground personnel had to wave his arms to call us back to get on board again; an unthinkable situation today!
On the return flight at night, some days latter, I clearly remember being worried when looking at the bright red hot exhaust manifolds, but the few flames out them were short light blue ones, very different from the orange long ones on the Connie on the video. I still clearly remember the shaking from the torsional forces slightly but visibly twisting the engines when the first cylinders got firing, followed by light gray colored clouds of smoke during the starting, the emotion of hearing the sound of every engine starting and adding its roar to the others, and my first take-off ever: The wait at the start of the runway, followed by full throttles with the brakes applied, all the soft, damped shaking of the entire airframe, then the brakes releasing and the speed going up for a long time and then the lift off... absolutely unforgettable for a 9 year old boy with a passion for airplanes!
Beautiful rendition ! I could speak of grey smoke(rich air fuel mixture(likely) - the blue flames may indicate a proper ratio of oxidiser to fuel...or possibly too hot. Glowing manifolds are pretty normal on turbo/supercharged reciprocating engines. Most have pyrometers in the exhaust stacks to give feedback to the bags of meat at the pointy end - to aid in them selecting proper afm and keeping cht's and egt's in check. Please tell moar stories (:
All the Stoichiometry wizards can correct me
The Super Connie shown in your video was restored by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) based in Wollongong, 90minutes drive south of Sydney Australia. Their museum has a heap of historical aircraft exhibits, many of which in full working condition - including Connie. Well worth a visit.
Car museums exist, plane museums exist. But do train and boat museums exist?
@@SockyNoobI don’t know about boat museums, but there are definitely museum boats.
I was very fortunate to fly in a Super Constellation once when I was still a small kid. But I remember everything about the flight. I had a toy car which I let run down the isle. We flew from Windhoek to Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). Very blessed to can say I flew in one. It is a true beauty and hardcore!
brent haestier Wow, you are lucky! I missed both the Constellations and the British Comet ( first ever jet). As a two-year old I flew on DC 4s, then DC6s, after that Boeing 707, a horror story in Boeing 727 (shake rattle and roll) and Boeing 747. From then on, as an adult I became a Star Alliance member and fly Lufthansa with its wonderful fleet of Airbus! My innermost wish would be for 737 Max to fail all and every test in EASA and go quietly into the setting sun of the scrapyard!
I didn't get to fly in one, but as a kid I got the opportunity to get aboard one that had been opened for visitors. Even got to peek into the cockpit. Dials, levers, and switches wherever you looked. Very impressive for a 12-year-old. But what stuck in my mind a lot more was the omnipresent stench of cigarrette-smoke which persisted even over a decade after the plane's decommissioning...
@@ranekeisenkralle8265 The cockpit is insane!
@@brentjh1 True.
@@annatamparow4917 There is a DC6 standing here at Eros Airport Windhoek. It's been standing here for many years now. I am hoping some day it will be rescued and restored. Not many of them around in the world.
Could you please do a video on what the flight engineer used to do and what computer systems have replaced the flight engineer? Thank you.
Yes! Please do!!
I second the motion.
Thirded. I think a lot of it was monitoring the engines which, in those days, had a lot of manual controls. They were also responsible for monitoring and transferring fuel, keeping an eye on the hydraulics and all the other aircraft systems.
Fourthed!
The FE did everything that computers now do. The pilots just flew the stick. The FE did everything else. Fuel/weight calculations, engine settings, monitoring, thrust, flight mode, takeoff, climb, cruise, landing settings Diagnostics, trim, flaps, fuel calculations, pre-flight inspection. fire control, anti-ice, cabin pressure.
*The FE was the top guy, but got little praise.*
A licensed Super Constellation pilot told me, that engine settings were also done by monitoring the exhaust flames appearance (sorry if that was mentioned here already). 🤞 to Mentour Pilot and thanks for your great work.
"Set power to two feet of exhaust flame!" 😂
@@beeble2003 Yes, that's it 👍👍
Not sure about power specifically, but I have seen coloured reference charts for exhaust flames to correct the mixture on piston engined ac.
Captain never should have been allowed to fly again. I despise pilots that refuse to acknowledge warning from their fellow crew when the aircraft was perfectly sound. Reminds me of the crash at San Francisco, and a few others, too.
This captain was fatigued from the nearly 60 hours on duty within just 6 days, and being on duty for over 13 hours that day. He was set up for failure when he had to use a newer system to guide himself to the runway. His fatigued mind allowed him to make mistakes and probably have tunnel vision
While I was doing my primary training there was a crash at an airport near where I was training. Two pilots were practicing their night GPS approaches in a 182. They both got so involved in the GPS that they failed to notice that the plane was in a slow descent. They bounced off the ground, pulled the power and *landed*, unharmed and the plane was *undamaged*. Fortunately for them, Texas is a big place, and a fair bit of it is flat, hard and empty.
There’s one of these semi-buried in ice, in Antarctica near the existing air strip on the Ross ice shelf, I’ve climbed on it 😁 everyone survived with no serious injuries before shine goes nuts! I’d love to see a video on that!
I love your crash summaries! As a former fan of Air Crash Investigation I love your more condensed story format, and not talking too much about the passengers!
CRM was a distant dream then and a captain's word was law, dictatorial captains and inexperienced first officers were a disaster waiting to happen...ironically, in this case, the F/O was prepared to speak out, unfortunately, the captain left it too late to listen.
Flew on several Connies when I was a kid. My dad always loved this aircraft and I remember how easy it was to sleep to the drone of those big radial engines. These were first class-only aircraft when kids were allowed into the cockpit.
Great video. The Super Connie was definitely a gorgeous aircraft. In my career I only worked on one one time unfortunately. The DC-4 was not pressurized. The DC-6 and DC-7 were. The R-3350 Turbo Compound engines on the Connies were amazingly powerful, temperamental and sounded awesome. I spent several years working on them on US Navy SP-2H Neptunes. I miss my radial days. The jets just can't compare. Merry Christmas to you too.
Boeing 307 Stratoliner, 1939 was pressurized.
The DC-4E was pressurized.
That was a very different world back then in those propliner days. The copilot was just that and the captain was king. And technology and safety were awful. Some good reads on the topic are "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann and also "North Star over my shoulder" by Bob Buck.
I think I've read FITH more than ten times.
I'll seek out North Star, thank you for your recommendation.
The Air Disaster series by Macarthur Job are also compelling.
Peter I have all Mac Jobs books and they are the best ones I’ve ever read. They are written by a former crash investigator who goes into so much background about each incident . Sadly I don’t think they are available anymore .
Happy Christmas Mentor!
The Wright R3350 that powered the Super Connies was not turbo charged, but was rather turbo compounded. The exhaust driven turbines were coupled back to the engine's crankshaft via a fluid torque converter. There were three turbo compound units per engine. Pratt and Whitney also developed turbo compounding for the Wasp Major 4360 28 cylinder behemoth, but never went into production owing to more money being spent on turbojet engine development at the time. The biggest hurdle being propellers capable of hooking up all that horsepower. Hamilton Standard simply ran out of R&D money for their contra-rotating pusher type propellers for Lockheed's flying wing design.
My parents and I flew from Vancouver BC to LHR (via either Toronto or Montreal) on a Trans Canada Airlines (now Air Canada) Connie in 1955 . I will never forget waking up during the night and seeing those flames from the engine - scared the crap out of me - we called the stewardess (as they were then called) and she calmed me down assuring me there was nothing wrong. Something I will always remember!
Merry Christmas! Good video, thank you.
I'm an American and I have been living in Europe for more that 20 years. For the past 12 years I've been living in Poland. Nice to see a shout out to a very nice Polish artist!
I had to search hard to find details of the accident. So many crashes of the Super Constellation in the 1950s. Definitely a different era...
My absolute favorite ending to these stories, "everyone survived."
Incredible story - thank you for sharing. The footage at the beginning is the Connie in the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (H.A.R.S.) collection located at Shellharbour City Airport, approximately 60 minutes south of Sydney, Australia. And to my knowledge it is the only one still flying anywhere in the world. As a H.A.R.S. volunteer I had the pleasure of flying on her in May of this year (meaning I can die happy) - her most recent flight. One of the most beautiful aeroplanes ever built.
I thought the 3 tail was just for beauty. Kidding. Amazing how the design affected aesthetics.
One of the oldest sayings in aviation: If it looks right, it'll fly right.
As a pilot that reads all crash reports, thank you for such a positive Christmas story. They usually don't end up like this.
In 1961, I rode Connie, window seats in front of the wings, from Idlewild to Miami and back.
❤️❤️❤️
It's hard to explain how just the sight of this gorgeous aeroplane can make a guy misty eyed with joyfulness all these years.
Very nice to see you referencing Super Constellation "Connie" VH EAG, based at Albion Park where HARS (historic aircraft restoration society) acquired it in 1997 and restored it to flying condition. I live just up the road in Wollongong. Merry Xmas all.
Merry Christmas mentour and everyone
Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁
Merry Christmas
@@MentourPilot plss make a video on ALS plsss and mention me in it
@@MentourPilot Merry Christmas 🎄. FYI the plane was headed to Malton Airport but crashed in Brampton nearby. Malton is now called Pearson International Airport which is the main airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Cheers. Great Story!
I was in the U S Navy from Oct. 18,1971 to Aug. 15, 1975. I was an A-6 Intruder plane captain in a training squadron (VA-42) NAS Oceana, Va. Beach Va. We flew to Fallen, Nv. in a Constellation. It took 12 hrs. & a gas stop to get there. This took place in Feb. 1973. We flew C-9Bs after that. We had a flat tire on takeoff with a C-9B one time. Had to fly around for an hour to use up fuel before landing back at the base we took off from. We had to get into crash position when landing in case the flat tire caused a crash landing. The landing was rough but it was a successful landing & no one got hurt. We flew out the next day for Fallon in the same C-9B after they changed the tire the day before. That Constellation’s engines throw out the flames & they leaked oil ! Thanks Petter for these videos. U S Navy veteran ADJ-3 Dennis Hayes
Used to watch the Connies and DC-6/7`s in and out of CLE as a child.
Awesome! Yes you could park your car on Brookpark Road and watch the planes fly right over (or you could make out with your girlfriend). The Hopkins terminal had a public observation deck on the roof close enough to feel the jet exhaust heat and smell the kerosene.
Merry christmas and thank you for all your content. Best wishes from Germany
This aircraft has always been one of my favorites, I got to fly in one many years ago, and even got to do a low approach in the right seat.
The Constellation was my father's favourite aircraft when he worked at Air France in Marseille in the 1950's! Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas filled with wonderful moments and many blessings!
What a video for this time of year!!!!! Incredible job Petter! Thank you for bringing us these stories and telling them in the way that you do! So interesting.
Merry Christmas Mr and Mrs Mentour!
We have a Connie on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It's painted in Air Canada colors.
I am thinking about those odds and the miracle, since you so nicely gave us this story, Mentour Petter! Love to you and your family this Christmas day.
Thanks! God Jul! Among my earliest memories: VARIG Super Constellation, Rio to NYC (then Idlewild, now JFK, sleeper version. Long live the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation!
I made many trips on Super Connies in the early 60s. Mostly on TWA (long gone airline). Always a good trip.
It's good to see you profiling a good ole' piston pounder! When I was a child, in the 60's , I remember hearing those behemoths flying over my house as it was under the approach to one of the runways at Peoria International Airport which also housed an ANG and AFRES unit. Now THAT was the sound of POWER as the piston pounders were relegated to guard and reserve units. When my dad got his ATPL and I was a little older he let me take the controls of a privately owned C-46 with two of the same engines as the "connie", what a BEAST! It was so much better than the C-47 because it had MUCH more power, was pressurized AND it had a retractable tail wheel. What difference does that make? About 50 kts that's the difference. Not to mention the fact that it had twice or more payload! I have very fond memories of those big ass war birds flying over.
A Yuletide story. Great one , Captain. I had seen these in BOM belonging to the Indian military back in the 70s. Smoky engines and a sweet, sweet sound....
Absolute true miracle. I have really enjoyed you channel this year & want to wish you a Merry Christmas & a healthy family in 2021.
Thank you! I’m so happy you like it!
When the video first started and I saw the Australian Connie I was horrified that it had crashed. Very relieved when you then said that you were talking about a crash from the 50's. I've seen the plane you used in the video several times at airshows and I have a extremely low-res video of that particular plane starting up on my channel. One of the most beautiful airliners ever built. Thank you for this video.
Woahhh! Loving those artworks behind you! Thanks for the Instagram link :)
Merry Christmas, Mentour and fellow aviation fans. :)
Merry Christmas Mentour Pilot!
Merry Christmas, Mentour! 👍👍
I live in close proximity to the crash site. The plane was approaching Malton Airport (Modern day - Toronto Pearson Airport CYYZ)
Is the crash site built up now, or still open farmland? Haven't lived in Toronto area since 1972. Winnipeg is my current home.
@@rickgalbraith2752 It’s built up for miles around now. Still growing
7:17 This is the reason, like you explained, you do not raise the gear in case of a terrain escape manouvre
Probably there was no time for that
@@g.t.7726 What do you mean? There was no time for a terrain escape manouvre? There were no such manouvres at that time, I think.
@@jan-lukas I mean probably there was no time to think about the landing gear.
@G.T Again, this is an example for an random accident, where the gear took a lot of the impact energy, unplanned and unforeseen by the pilots, but it did. And for that reason, you do not raise the gear in a terrain escape manouvre, because if you hit terrain an you have to assume this possibilty, you don't get full impact energy, because the gear takes up much of it.
Some A/C gear doors open on retract adding drag.
Super Constellation is definatelly one of, if not the, most beautiful aircraft ever built.
The problem with pilots back then was that they were the ones in command, something left over from the fact that many were ex-military pilot, and that they would brook no interference from anyone. It took many years, and deaths, before this attitude would change.
I have this memory of one day watching from the window of my room, about 15 years ago now. A few weeks earlier I had been to a museum airport in Lelystad, The Netherlands. This is where I first saw this magnificent machine.
As I am sitting in my room I hear this rumble of aircraft engines. As I look out of my window into the sky, I see this small silhouette of a plane. Even though it was a small dot in the sky, I could see a triple tail. There was no question which aircraft this was. There could only be one option. The original Queen of the Sky.
My late Dad used to service Connie's when he was in the Air Force back in the 50's, in Saudi Arabia. They were one of his favorite Aircrafts.
Love the constellation, as you said mentour pilot this aircraft is easily recognised and gorgeous
God Jul och Gott Nytt År to you and your loved ones.
A great little video as always, and I love the exposure you are giving the aviation artists.
This particular video reminded me of my grandfather was a ground crew employee for KLM from the forties until his retirement in the eighties. He used to tow and service all aircraft that flew in that period, including the Super Constellation.
If I recall correctly, the Connie was his favourite to look at but one of the worst to service. He would always describe it as the best three engined airliner of all time - A description that always comes to mind when I see a video about the Connie.
I got to fly on a TWA super connie from STL to New York in 1955. TWA had two versions of the connie, one was labled as the super G and was the bigger of the two birds. I was only ten years old at the time, and it was my first flight on a airplane. Needless to say it made a gig impression on me. Back in those days the airlines didn't stuff you in a tube like now, and they treated you as if they enjoyed their job, not like today's airlines. Although not a fast airplane like today's jets, it was much more enjoyable.
Thank you for bringing back this miracle story.
I appreciate your attitude to sharing aviation information, and your skill in delivering it.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Mentour Pilot!
My father flew the L1049, or Super Connie, for Qantas many moons ago. A beautiful aircraft. He used to say they were the best 3 engined aircraft he'd flown, because you usually lost one somewhere along the track.
I really love your accident review videos. I would love to see you do a video on the second crash involving this captain.
My father used to work on the super connies when he was in the air force. He had some funny stories, but i do not remember them well enough to do them justice. But that was a very well designed and useful aircraft.
Really exciting video! I enjoyed the story-telling (and the excellent animation showing the ILS approach diagram). It was fun in that the story had a good ending and that we weren't really "studying" some technical data. I really hope you do more like this... sort of a fireside chat... every now-and-then.
Thanks for a wonderful channel! One doesn't have to be in aviation to appreciate the lessons you share. Keep up the good work.
Best wishes for a wonderful New Year!
Growing up in Alaska in the 1950's provided me with some great flying experiences and memories. I recall flying on a Connie from Juneau to Cordova where the family transferred to a DC-3 and flew over the pass to Valdez. I can recall an image of looking outside the plane to the mountains on each side. This was in 1958. Other great experiences were flying in a Grumman Goose in Southeastern Alaska. What a great plane, and some are still flying. I loved to sit up next to the pilot during take-off and landing in the water. Also flew a couple times in a PBY.
Happy new year Captain. Im not a pilot but I have been following your channel for a good few years and I am always entertained. Especially with lockdown. Stay safe and fly high!
What a Christmas story! Hope that you and yours are having a very merry Christmas!
We are! Same to you!
@@MentourPilot you are an awesome pilot! I admire your work and I will love to fly with you in the near future because I love aviation and learning to master the 3 axis of flight
I'm so happy to hear that you, as I, feel the Connie is the most beautiful airline ever built. I was a little too young to get to fly on a Connie or even ever get to see a Connie in person but I have photos of this most iconic airliner. The Connie was the very first Air Force One built for President Eisenhower and that one is still airworthy. A great movie about the beginning of the Connie is in the Aviator.
@ L.A. Absolutely.....Love The Aviator......chock full of aviation "chills" moments.
The Super Constellation, also known as the best 3 Engine Plane ....
Yeah I read that. Apparently it’s a bit misleading, it’s not as bad as was said
Well the steatoluner where also known for that. But as mentors said, its a bit overblown. Thenfirst generation where equiped with the full turbocompound engines. They where very efficient and strong but very very complicated. And they where hard to keep running. This was way befoee automated controls, you had a dedicated engineer that monitored and adjusted cowlibg flaps, moved around fuels and fiddled around with numerous other controls and kept tabs of the various power settings needed. It was a complicated machine to fly indeed. Later version had a slighly weaker engine but they had stripped the compound system in order to gain reliability, that version where the most common one....
I mean redundancy was a major security mechanic of the day. Today you can build redundancy into a complex system. But if that's too complicated you build just two similar systems. You can not expect absolute reliablity from a still kinda new technology. So you build in options if you can afford them.
And 4 engines probably give you a LOT more options than 2. It's the easy but expensive solution.
That's what even Nasa did for a long time. Build everything twice if you can. If you HAVE to have a single system requiring absolute reliability, like the Lunar Modules ascend engine, it got extremely difficult and extremely expensive to achieve that with some level of confidence, with the early days material science (BIG topic in aviation history). The lack of miniturisation and lack of computer simulations and many other issues of the day.
@@5Andysalive If I recall correctly, on a flight to the ISS, the SpaceX Falcon 9 can lose two of its nine engines and still make it to the target.
@@johndoe1909 Were. "Where" is a place. Here, there, where (all have "here" in them).
Thank you Mentour Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoyed the video!
@@MentourPilot Captain Pétter wishing you and your family a holy and blessed 🎄
@Mentour pilot you are a gent and utterly genuine and selflessly give give give and it's humbling
The Connie. Wow! My dad flew for Trans Canada Airlines, pretty much from its inception, and retired on the DC-8's. The Constellation was his favorite aircraft of all the types he flew.
I agree with your admiration of the Super Connie; it was indeed a graceful and elegant looking beast.
I was a kid in the first half of the 1960’s and lived pretty close to the Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo. Never forgot the accident also with a Super Constellation that came to low for landing and kind of “left” most of its landing gear in the head of the elevated runway 17R. I have no recollection on the consequences of the accident (casualties if any, etc) but it was for sure one of a kind!
As Christmas is over by now I wish Petter, Sandra and the lovely kids an absolutely fantastic 2021!
I am as I am reminded many times an old man & as a small boy in the early 1950s flew with my family on several outings from Minnesota in 'Connies', all L-749s I believe, to the UK & Australia. Never in any of the later versions, I am sorry to say. But, the version in which we flew was brilliant, large ( ! ) seats, actual china & metal flatware AND 'real' food. Not all the seats were ever taken & a small boy could run around & see out different windows, thanks to kindly cabin crew. ( One person on duty was chuffed, however & so I had to 'sit tight' that time. ) Once, seated next to my ex-RAF Bomber Command old dad, we saw a B-36 thrashing the air & less than a mile away, said Pop, who added that 'somebody will have their guts done for garters', for having let the two aircraft come so close together! Thank you for this story AND the splendid footage. ( Once, too, I also got to have a look at an airliner cockpit but do not remember any longer in what airliner. )
I can remember seeing Constellations. Also the sound of Aircraft ipusing turboprop engines. These included the Vickers Viscount and the Britannia
Thank you and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. Your videos are inspiring and informative and jog memories for an old man whose love of aviation is almost as strong as yours. I'd kill to take a 172 up again!
Agreed! The constellation is one of the most beautiful airplanes ever.
I recently have seen a documentation on the Alitalia 404 crash in Zurich in 1990, where there was an issue with the ILS and also a lack of communication beteeen captain and first officer, but with a tragic ending...
These Super Conny Wright R-3350 engines did not have turbochargers. These here are called recovery turbines, or blowdown turbines, or turbo-compound system. The energy recovered from the exhaust by the turbines is directly converted to mechanical power, mechanically geared to the crankshaft thru an elaborate reduction gearing and damping system to provide mechanical power boost. Typical turbo compound boost on this engine was about 550 shaft HP at full continuous engine power , without fuel consumption penalty.
This system helped the Super Connie to become the first airliner capable of true non-stop flights from Europe to the US (east to west against the jet stream)
Great story. Fabulous shots of a Connie at full power.
Incredible miracle Petter.Thanks for posting.
P.s tagged you in a linkedIn post tonight, suggestion for a video.
Take care & have a lovely christmas with your family.
Tacksomycket,
Happy New Year to you, Sandra and the boys P! Another excellent recap. I know I'm OLD now...took several Super Connie trips as a child...mostly on TWA...high quality service on an elegant ship. That said...every time I hear one of these "mishap" recaps of yours, or Juan Browne's, I am reminded of one of the earliest hangar flying maxims I heard frequently, from the old guys when relating this type of story...What are the 3 most useless things to a pilot? Altitude Above...Runway Behind...and Fuel In The Truck! It's amazing how so many of these stories turn on those points. Keep up the great work man...you are a true aviation treasure!
Comstellations were indeed beautiful aircraft. The first Connie flew in 1943, making it the first pressurised aircraft. The DC-4s were not pressurised. The DC-6 first flew in 1946 being pressuried folowed by the Convair 240 in 1947, also pressurised. So I believe the title of first pressurised airliner goes to Lockheed 049 Constellation.
No, it goes to the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, anno 1940.
I like the updated theme music.
I live in Brampton, near Toronto. The intended destination airport was probably the nearby Malton International Airport, which is now called Pearson International Airport; I can see it from my living room window. The unintended landing site was in Brampton. Thankfully, at the time, the area near the airport was mostly farmland; these days it is heavily developed. An airline crash in that area today would have much more disastrous outcome, both in the aircraft and on the ground.
There is a memorial garden in Brampton for another airline crash (Air Canada 621), with far fewer survivors (none) caused by a miscommunication/misunderstanding between the captain (pilot flying) and first officer (pilot monitoring) regarding deploying ground spoilers. Because of this crash, procedures for spoiler deployment were made much clearer to avoid this kind of issue. There were also some change mandated to the DC-8 to help avoid this kind of issue again.
A similar ergonomic flaw caused an Air New Zealand DC-8 to crash at Auckland in 1966 while doing training circuits and bumps. In this case, a thrust reverser got employed as the instructor shut off an engine at take-off. I believe the controls on DC-8s were fixed after these crashes.
I don't think these were turbocharged. They had superchargers and utilized blow-down turbines to recover approximately 600 hp that normally would be wasted out of the exhaust.
Great video!
I have never seen a super constellation before but I have never seen an airplane this gorgeous
I agree that the Connie is a beautiful plane. As a child I had the opportunity to get aboard one of these planes which was on exhibition on the premises of Munich airport (not sure it still is there). In particular I remember that even though it has been out of service for a decade or two, it still reeked of cigarrette smoke like you wouldn't believe.
I read that Howard Hughes designed the cockpit himself. Still a great looking plane. I see one flying at my hometown if Tucson, AZ about twice a year.
The 1st pressurized airliner was a Boeing airliner back in the late 1930's , they used that experience to develop the B29.
Another great video!
Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.
You are a very good person Sir and your content is outstanding. Thank You!
Merry Christmas!! Ty for your awesome videos!
I think the thing that surprises me most about this story was that an international flight would have flown into Brampton. The nearest large airport today is (YYZ, CYYZ) Toronto Pearson (which at that time would have been known as "Malton Airport", a very short distance from Brampton). The next largest airport at the time was probably Downsview (CYZD) which was an air force (RCAF) base at the time. Anyway, interesting story, and a valuable lesson about deference to seniority.
Great story. I've loved the Connie since I saw the Breitling one flying low (around 1500ft max) over my house about 6 years ago, I guess on its way to the Farnborough Air Show. I heard engines that kept getting louder, so I ran into the garden to look, only to see the triple tail disappearing out of view over neighbouring houses. I can only surmise that it was low to avoid LTN traffic. The noise was incredible!
That's Toronto's international airport which just happens to be outside the city's borders in Malton! Brampton was just the nearest large town! Merry Christmas!
I love how you are promoting aviation artists!!!
Thank you Captain, Merry Christmas to you as well. Fascinating story, I didn't know about it. Yes, the Connie was so beautiful, a unique design. For the record, the DC-4 was never pressurized, Douglas offered the package after the war, but quickly realized that they needed to do better and finally came up with a real winner thatw as pressurized, the DC-6.
Being raised in Chicago around that time and having my dad as control tower operator at Midway Airport I loved the DC-3, DC-4, DC-6 and that TWA Connie. And Petter is correct in saying that the sound from the engines is something to behold. Growing up around Midway everything was prop driven. Now Southwest Airlines 737's are flying there (a different sound) but then the 737 is a great airplane.
Thank you for all these wonderful videos. Merry Christmas and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year!