As a 10 year old, I flew with my family on a "Connie" and to this day I can remember climbing up the boarding steps of this huge silver airplane, At age 72 I can recall it vividly.
The Constellation was my first airplane flight in 1955. Seattle to Anchorage to Cold Bay to Tokyo. 16 hours. Our aircraft even had sleeping berths. Incredible that this aircraft is still alive. Bravo!
My Dad worked as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer at Qantas on the Connie. He recently visited Longreach Museum and I took him to Albion Park Museum near Wollongong south of Sydney where they still have a plane that is flying- fantastic experience!
My first long distance flight was on a Constellation - thought I was high class society ! No more noisy than today's jets for the most part, as I remember. And the flight attendants were cute ...really cute !
In 11/56, my family and I flew from Detroit Willow Run Airport to Los Angeles and then from San Fransisco back to Detroit on a TWA Super G Constellation. Made 4 stops on the way there and non stop on the return. That trip is still one of my fondest memories.
I flew as co-pilot on the Super Constellation in 1965.-both the 1049C and the 1049H. Lovely planes---VERY strong in weather turbulence . The radar was huge --a big screen mounted behind the central console and it was stowed underneath the cockpit floor to be pulled out when required. Unfortunately it only seemed to register storms after you got into them. The whole fuselage section ahead of the wing was for crew. We had a position for a Radio Officer ( no longer used in 1965) a navigator, two Flight Engineers, three pilots (a Captain and two Co-Pilots) Two rest bunks with curtains were provided --one above the other. Flying on the "Connie" was rather like a being crew on a ship. After departure everyone settled down for the "voyage." The First Class was at the rear of the cabin--with reclining seats and a separate galley forward where breakfast eggs were freshly cooked and the Siesta Seats fully reclined.
My first flight was Aug 1955 NY Idlewild to Amsterdam via Shannon. I wasn’t quite 6 but can remember the trip and my visit to the cockpit. I vividly recall the #3 engine exhaust stacks glowing red in the night sky.
I really enjoyed my first surreal flight on a Lockheed Super Constellation. An elderly gentleman who is no longer with us flew around the world, along with his treasured wife. He said it was the greatest holiday they ever had. They both loved the Super Constellation. Rest in peace Roy, I now understand.
I fueled and oiled these babies back in the late 50's and early 60's for Eastern Air Lines in Miami. The 749's, 1049's, 1049C's, 1049G and Supers. Rode on them many times. Also worked on the DC6's, DC7's, Corvair 440's, Martin 404's. We walked the wings to fuel them, unlike the jets fueled from underneath. Our first jet also was a Lockheed, the Electra L-188 turbo prop. A great airliner. Our DC8's were on the way! Miss those days a lot.
I remember seeing my older sister get on a TWA Constellation at Bradley Field in Hartford for a trip to LA to visit our grandmother in, I think, 1957 or 58. By the time my turn came, it was on the latest thing; a Boeing 707 jet. I think the most beautiful thing about this beautiful airplane is the curved and tapered fuselage. It's another wing. Other planes are straight tubes with nose and tail sections added on the ends. The wing shaped curve of the Constellation, that tapers at the tail for those three distinct stabilizers and curves and tapers again into that calm, sincere brow of the head end is just so graceful, so beautiful. I think the Lockeed Constellation is the most beautiful airplane ever made.
LOL ! I noticed the smile on the captains face, as the aircraft took off. He was stern and serious until then, but a takeoff he had done countless times, still brought a smile. The sound of those 3000 hp engines is enought to bring a smile !
I remember as a kid travelling near the end of one of the runways at Essendon airport in Australia and seeing planes lined up to take off, all with three red tails. The Connie looked fantastic to a young kid then and still does to a 70 year old guy now!
I wouldn't say the Connie "lost the battle" to the jet aircraft. . .There was no "battle". . .Technology simply advanced and the jet age began. . .And I must say that, to me, the difference between the best of the propliners and the jets is similar to the difference between the cars of today and the classic cars of the 1950's and 60's. . .Sure, the cars of today are far more technologically advanced, but so many of them really do look almost the same. . .Whereas, the cars of the 50's and 60's each had a more distinctive style all their own. . .And I think that's also true of the classic propliners and the jets of today. . .Those old propliners each had a distinctive style that really set them apart from one another. . .The jets of today really do look more like each other than the propliners did. . .I know, I know. . .The similar shapes relate to the efficiency of the basic design, which is true of cars as well. . .But I miss that "style" distinction that made those old planes, and cars, more fun to me. . .Just my opinion!
I flew with a Super Constellation 1967 from Recife (Brazil) to Lisbon. By train then to Zurich. It was very exiting to review this beauty in your video. Thanks!
What an amazing video of one the most beautiful aircraft ever designed. What an honor it must be to actually step back in time in this piece of history. Thank you for sharing this !!
I flew with the Breitling Super Connie during the Hamburg Airport Days in September 2011. Weather conditions were similar as in this video. It was a great experience that I can recommend to all Super Constellation fans. Thank you for having shared this video. Kristiaan, Brussels
The 'Connie" as we called it in my 'Canoe Club" days back in the 50's and 60's was a terrific aircraft. We flew them into hurricanes back then. Ours were equipped with two large radomes. The top one housed the APS 45 height finding radar and the lower dome was the APS 20 search radar. We flew in and out of the storms at several altitudes and there was always one of our aircraft in a storm while out at sea. These were great aircraft and for it's time one of the best. Those P&W 3350 engines served us well and rarely gave us any major problems in flight.
I had the privilege of flying to Port Morsby from Cairns (Australia)...part of the "Kangaroo Route by Qantas" flying through PNG/Indonesia/Singapore/Thailand/India/Middle East/Europe/to the UK> in the mid 50's in a Connie. I thought it was the ultimate journey of a lifetime, even at the ripe old age of 4. This was to be one of a dozen flights back and forth between PNG and Oz during the 50's and early 60's to give me a thirst for flying that has never died.Thank you for this video, reminding me of the beautiful lines and sounds that enlighten my senses each time I hear a radial engine aircraft. All Aboard....and safe flying.
In 1955, I made my first airplane flight from NYC to Frankfurt, Germany aboard a Super Connie.. I was only 4 so I don't have too many memories other than it was very exciting .
I rode in a TWA Connie in 1951, combining it with an AA DC-6 to get from LAX-MDW-LGA; can't remember which leg was which! I was 15 (now 83) and was amazed at the luxury and speed, although it seemed to take a long time! (My few earlier trips had been in DC-3's for Mohawk airlines in the NE US. Thanks so much for posting this! After extensive airline travel as a businessman and as a 2,500-hour private pilot (but always in singles), these videos take me back to the amazement and thrill of flight and some of the skill I had back in those younger years. Missing from the video were the oil trays under those big radial engines when parked, and the ground crew with the big-and-kept-handy fire extinguishers at startup; your Connie must be pretty well maintained! Thanks again.
I flew from Amsterdam to Winnipeg in a Nordair Canada, Super Constellation way back when I was 16. We had a re-fueling stop in Rankin Inlet and then off to Winnipeg. That was in 1965. I would so love to experience a flight on that marvelous aircraft again.
This brings back a few memories. June 6, 1954, Trans Canada Airlines (TCA), Montreal, via Shannon to London. I remember the noise and vibration the most. The noise was so loud that my ears rang for hours, after we landed. It was considered the ultimate flying machine in its day but thank goodness jets came in at the end of the 50s. Flight time was approx 18 hours. The return trip had us landing at Goose Bay to refuel before going on to Montreal. Nice video though! Thanks.
A TWA Connie in club car configuration carried me to San Diego and US Marine Corps boot camp. She was a beautiful bird and had real class. I'd rate her, except for the cooking, with my inaugural Alitalia First Class flight on a 747 about 10 years later.
Great video! My first airplane ride was in a Chicago & Southern Airlines L-749(?) Connie in 1953. Quite an adventure for an 8 year old. A great memory from another life. Also had great trip from JAN to FLL and back in a MSANG C-121 circa 1965. IMO, one of most beautiful, graceful airliners ever built.
I used to see that exact plane often when she was known as 'Camarillo Connie'. It was sad to see her go, but it's great that she has a new home and is kept in the air.
When I was a teenager my family lived in Chicago on the South side and I remember seeing these aircraft flying in and out of Midway field. I think they are the most beautiful passenger plane ever made.
The days when flying was a joy, a nice part of the holiday or trip, nowadays its a pain to go through airports and pay lots of money to be crammed in a fuselage full of germs and no space to stretch your legs. love these old school, manual flying type planes with proper mechanical connections between the yoke and control surfaces. plus more staff with 4 flight crew in cockpit, its safer in one way.
I flew on one of these from San Francisco to the Phillipine Islands back in 1957 and then back again in 1958. It was a US navy plane and we had to sit facing the rear. WE made three stops on the way. The trip seemed like it took a week but I think it was more like two days total. Was a lot of fun for a 19 year old USAF enlisted kid to make.
Passenger on the USN Super Constellation Phoenix bound from Christchurch, New Zealand to the Antarctic in Nov 1969, Party No 13 bound for the Ice (my first flight ever at the young age of 20). Fabulous experience for a young Kiwi - cargo on one side, seats on the other all facing backwards, thick sweet black American coffee, a tall negro American Serviceman from the Harlem sitting next to me). Lots of learning about life! Its sister plane was the Pegusus. Still have that first photo. My interest rekindled when in a NZ Airforce documentary (2020), it was mentioned that the 2 new runways at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica are called Phoenix Field and Pegusus Field. Memories!
In 1956 my mother and I flew from Sydney to Fiji on a Qantas SC to meet my father who was returning from a long business trip to the USA. It took nine hours. I was 6 and I had a long ride up in the cockpit. In those days it was very expensive to fly internationally and it was a great thrill. Qantas maintains their SC here in Sydney. I am pretty sure it does joyflights.
TWA Was still flying these beautiful birds in their fleet when I began working there. I had the opportunity for a couple of flights in the Super Connie and I will never forget those experiences.
I was a flight engineer on the C121 in the 60s. I loved flying in that airplane. The engine rebuilders quite working on the engines and it became harder and harder to find a source for rebuilt engines. That was one of the many factors. The USAF recalled all the ANG C121s to convert to radar picket planes in the late 60s. A couple were shot down by Russians
While a pilot in US Navy squadron VW-2 I was assigned the project to see how long we could keep a WV-2 airborne as a part of our new Primary Mission of developing search procedures to find the developing space capsules. I headed out on a simulated search and ultimately kept my "Willy Victor" airborne for 24 hours and 15 minutes. That is probably a Lockheed record.
I flew on a TWA Constellation from London to Los Angeles direct in 1962. It was a long crowded flight in the days when booze flowed without restraint and smoking was allowed. When I landed, I smelled like a cheap London pub. It was exciting to see the Arctic from the air though. The only plane that felt more like I was bouncing along in the sky more than in the Constellation was a flight in a Viscount in 1959 over Africa-- Nairobi, Khartoum, Wadi Halfa, Bengazi, and London. Khartoum was 102 F. at 2AM, and the airport lounge was an oven. The orange soda was warm, and everyone tried to sit under a fan. At Wadi Halfa they took us from the end of the runway to the airport in a stake bed truck. Bengazi had a cobble stone clay brick apron and a very short runway. The pilot touched down about ten feet from the top end, and he did full throttle and flaps so much that we felt like we would fall out the front of the cabin. All this nostalgia is yours free for the reading by an old Anglo Wog from Kenya.
Kelly Johnson was not only a magnificent aircraft designer…he was an absolute artist. The Connie is just a Masterpiece. Oh yeah, and The P 38 Lightning was another one of his Mona Lisa’s. What an eye.
Beautiful trip into “the way things used to be” 😁! I have become fascinated with Super Connies because they were slightly before my time - I was born in ‘63 and never got to fly anything but jets. Magnificent aircraft, and a true Labor of Love to keep it flying almost 70 years on ❤️!
Back in 1965, I flew home (Navy Boot Camp) from San Diego to Houston, I was a passenger on one of these Constellations. I remember sitting in a Window seat near one of the Engines, and seeing the Blue Flame of the exhaust.
As probably most comments that have been made, and will be made, this is a beautiful designed aircraft...one that I hope for decades to come, gets shown around the world for all people to see. I've never been in one, nor had an opportunity to get a ride to somewhere in one in my young days in the 1950's to some of the 1960's, but, my mother had a few way back when. I've got some airline literature of those planes she was on in vacations or work related meetings. My first, and only prop plane flight was on an Eastern Electra four engine. That was fun and way back on June 1, 1964, I think: from Indianapolis to Atlanta. I just love the sounds of those two & four engine prop airplanes.
When I was a little boy in 1960 my father made his first intercontinental flight on board a super constellation from Germany to New York. Years later I had my first intercontinental flight on another Lockheed highlight the L-1011 Tristar fom Rome to Colombo.
And on this flight a lovely sunny morning, had been flying for 6 and a half hours going across the Southern Ocean, when the radio crackled and the pilot announced at the 60th Parellel (point of no return) that we had been flying into strong headwinds, using up too much fuel, so we would have to return to Christchurch. On the tail wind 5 and a half hours back. So my 1st flight 12 hours in the air and was back in Christchurch, were we started (had got nowhere). A day and a half later after compulsory crew rest and refueling we headed off again this time in the evening and made the trip down in 9 hours. About midnight it started to get lighter ( as in the Antarctic summer the sun never sets, it just goes around in a big circle) and colder, so we had to get up and dress up in our full protective Antarctic clothing for the landing. Outside exciting as we first passed over frozen sea ice and along the amazing snow covered rocky mountains of the Royal Society Range (part of ancient Gonwanaland - coal there, fossils, forests and forests once, great geology and Skua gulls and seals) We landed at William's Field in almost whiteout conditions, got put and were taken in a tracked vehicle to NZ's Scott Base to begin our great adventure. After flying by helicopter over snow covered volcanic Ross Island, smoking Mt Erebus in the distance, we stayed at Cape Royds for a month in a tiny unheated 9 ply hut doing work at explorer Earnesr Shackleton's historic hut and census work at the Adelie Penguin colony. After travelling back by tracked vehicle over the frozen sea ice, we did snow clearing at the historic hut at Hut Point, McMurdo before returning home in an 7 hour flight in a Hercules. Michael Orchard.
THANK YOU for the video . I really wish I could have been aboard that flight as it would have been my Second Historical Flight aboard a Super Connie . My Father was Lockheed's Insurance Broker , so Lockheed invited us for the Celebration and Inaugural Flight when they released the Super Connie for civilian transportation . My Father and I (a young child) were among the civilian passengers on that Inaugural Flight , my Mother had an infant to care for so she waited in the Terminal . We took-off from Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California , USA and flew around for awhile and then returned to the Lockheed Terminal . Lockheed gave everyone who had been on the Inaugural Flight a Lapel Pin in the shape of a small Super Connie . I still have my Super Connie Lapel Pin .
What I remember most about the Connie, was the night takeoffs and the sound of those 3350s, and the PRTs belching blue flames, while sitting in the studio compartment of 193rd TEW EC-121s.
I have always wanted to fly in the flight deck, & I think this is as close as I will get. I fly to Europe often, & never comfortably I am afraid of flying. Its sad, because I always wanted to be a pilot, but the terror of flying put that dream to just that. A dream. Thanks for the ride, & its the cheapest one I ever had. Much Thanks .
My first airline flight was in a Connie back in (I think) 1959, a business trip from St. Louis somewhere in Kentucky (can't remember where). We were in first class and I remember being served a meal placed on a pillow on our laps. Little did I realize that I had the privilege of flying on one of the last piston engine airline flights. The 707 soon took over the airline skies.
The aesthetics of the Constellation and SUperConstellation are second to none. Now insofar the sound or should I say rumble of the engines coming off the stacks of the SuperG are simply music from heavens.
I flew as a child between Santo Domingo and San Juan with Aerovías Quisqueyanas connies a couple of times,and then being a co pilot on the C-46 ,if for any reason our C-46 was down we used to catch a ride from San Juan back to Santo Domingo on Aerochago's Connie,great times back in the 80's !
10 hrs from Travis AFB (Calif), then 10 hrs to Honolulu and finally 10 hrs to Tachikawa AFB, Yokohama Japan. I was 18 yrs old and along with my buddy we joined 87 women and children dependents for the trip. I'll never forget flying in that gorgeous old bird.
Wow such memories! My first trans-atlantic flight was on a Super Conny back in 1959, Gander Newfoundland to Shannon Ireland. After refueling on to Frankfurt and finally to K-Town. 3 yrs later a seat on a brand new Pan Am 707! It felt like a flying limo compared to the Conny.
I have fond childhood memories of the Super Connie freighters.Dad was with Flying Tiger Line, Boston,. With kin in NJ, "Dead Head" was one of the first aviation terms I remember learning.
I feel very lucky to have flown a super Connie from Kansas City Mo to Denver then on to Phoenix Az in 1963 en-route to my first duty station in the Navy. I use to sit in a mothballed 121 while I was stationed at the Navy aircraft bone yard at Litchfield Park, Phoenix Az,any seat I wanted!
Never had the privilege to fly in a Connie, but have flown in a DC3 three times, hitting air pocket, with people rising up out of their seats and people screaming!! Yeah, people actually do that! I thought it was great, since I have complete faith in the DC3 and the pilots and was ready to hit another air pocket, and sure enough,m we hit another one, what a ride! Loved every minute of it!
Good movie. Check out TV personality, Arthur Godfry, in his 30 minute presentation of the super Connie. He flew for a living air routs over the USA. He flew with only one outboard engine to demonstrate how safe it was.
my love of the Connie began with a flight from clark ab, pi to travis afb, ca and it was a wonderful flight that was all I knew of the connie until in 1969 I got a chance to fly on one at an exercise at fort bragg, pope afb, nc and it was an ec 121 and again it evoked wonderful memories
Super cockpit visibility, narrow cockpit looks to be about the same width as the C-118b. Sure like the sound of those 3350 starting, waking-up that CHT.
Great video! Had 200 hours on the Connie with the NJ Air National Guard in 1970. One suggestion: it would have been a plus if there were English subtitles, especially at the end.
ce super constellation et un vrai bijoux pour l'époque!!!!! avec ces 4 moteurs avec le bruitcaractéristique, lui donne toute sa beauté en vol!!!!!! c'est cela le vrai mot aviation!!!!!
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As a 10 year old, I flew with my family on a "Connie" and to this day I can remember climbing up the boarding steps of this huge silver airplane, At age 72 I can recall it vividly.
The Constellation was my first airplane flight in 1955. Seattle to Anchorage to Cold Bay to Tokyo. 16 hours. Our aircraft even had sleeping berths. Incredible that this aircraft is still alive. Bravo!
My Dad worked as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer at Qantas on the Connie. He recently visited Longreach Museum and I took him to Albion Park Museum near Wollongong south of Sydney where they still have a plane that is flying- fantastic experience!
Wow!!!! Thats so nice of you, I love beautiful storys like that one. nice
I hope he had experiences as a Engineer and is a healthy, happy man. :)
My first long distance flight was on a Constellation - thought I was high class society ! No more noisy than today's jets for the most part, as I remember. And the flight attendants were cute ...really cute !
In 11/56, my family and I flew from Detroit Willow Run Airport to Los Angeles and then from San Fransisco back to Detroit on a TWA Super G Constellation. Made 4 stops on the way there and non stop on the return. That trip is still one of my fondest memories.
I flew as co-pilot on the Super Constellation in 1965.-both the 1049C and the 1049H. Lovely planes---VERY strong in weather turbulence . The radar was huge --a big screen mounted behind the central console and it was stowed underneath the cockpit floor to be pulled out when required. Unfortunately it only seemed to register storms after you got into them. The whole fuselage section ahead of the wing was for crew. We had a position for a Radio Officer ( no longer used in 1965) a navigator, two Flight Engineers, three pilots (a Captain and two Co-Pilots) Two rest bunks with curtains were provided --one above the other. Flying on the "Connie" was rather like a being crew on a ship. After departure everyone settled down for the "voyage." The First Class was at the rear of the cabin--with reclining seats and a separate galley forward where breakfast eggs were freshly cooked and the Siesta Seats fully reclined.
The Lockheed Super Constellation is one of the most beautiful things ever created by human hands.
Mona Lisa ain't got nuthin' on a Connie.
My first flight was Aug 1955 NY Idlewild to Amsterdam via Shannon. I wasn’t quite 6 but can remember the trip and my visit to the cockpit. I vividly recall the #3 engine exhaust stacks glowing red in the night sky.
sounds awesom the first flight are almost the most exciting ones. Never will forget the crazy feeling s
I really enjoyed my first surreal flight on a Lockheed Super Constellation. An elderly gentleman who is no
longer with us flew around the world, along with his treasured wife. He said it was the greatest holiday
they ever had. They both loved the Super Constellation. Rest in peace Roy, I now understand.
I fueled and oiled these babies back in the late 50's and early 60's for Eastern Air Lines in Miami. The 749's, 1049's, 1049C's, 1049G and Supers. Rode on them many times. Also worked on the DC6's, DC7's, Corvair 440's, Martin 404's. We walked the wings to fuel them, unlike the jets fueled from underneath. Our first jet also was a Lockheed, the Electra L-188 turbo prop. A great airliner. Our DC8's were on the way! Miss those days a lot.
Next to the Super-marine Spitfire, the Connie is the most beautiful aircraft ever designed.
just a true legendary plane it gives this crazy feeling because of the shakyness
I remember seeing my older sister get on a TWA Constellation at Bradley Field in Hartford for a trip to LA to visit our grandmother in, I think, 1957 or 58. By the time my turn came, it was on the latest thing; a Boeing 707 jet.
I think the most beautiful thing about this beautiful airplane is the curved and tapered fuselage. It's another wing. Other planes are straight tubes with nose and tail sections added on the ends. The wing shaped curve of the Constellation, that tapers at the tail for those three distinct stabilizers and curves and tapers again into that calm, sincere brow of the head end is just so graceful, so beautiful.
I think the Lockeed Constellation is the most beautiful airplane ever made.
LOL ! I noticed the smile on the captains face, as the aircraft took off. He was stern and serious until then, but a takeoff he had done countless times, still brought a smile. The sound of those 3000 hp engines is enought to bring a smile !
I remember as a kid travelling near the end of one of the runways at Essendon airport in Australia and seeing planes lined up to take off, all with three red tails. The Connie looked fantastic to a young kid then and still does to a 70 year old guy now!
Never a more beautiful airplane has graced the skies....
the most beautiful airliner ever.
I wouldn't say the Connie "lost the battle" to the jet aircraft. . .There was no "battle". . .Technology simply advanced and the jet age began. . .And I must say that, to me, the difference between the best of the propliners and the jets is similar to the difference between the cars of today and the classic cars of the 1950's and 60's. . .Sure, the cars of today are far more technologically advanced, but so many of them really do look almost the same. . .Whereas, the cars of the 50's and 60's each had a more distinctive style all their own. . .And I think that's also true of the classic propliners and the jets of today. . .Those old propliners each had a distinctive style that really set them apart from one another. . .The jets of today really do look more like each other than the propliners did. . .I know, I know. . .The similar shapes relate to the efficiency of the basic design, which is true of cars as well. . .But I miss that "style" distinction that made those old planes, and cars, more fun to me. . .Just my opinion!
BluesImprov, I think what you mean to say is that neither planes or cars of today have any soul.
Most car front end last decades are just Bug ugly. Look at the Lexus for example. UUUgly.
I flew with a Super Constellation 1967 from Recife (Brazil) to Lisbon. By train then to Zurich. It was very exiting to review this beauty in your video. Thanks!
What an amazing video of one the most beautiful aircraft ever designed. What an honor it must be to actually step back in time in this piece of history. Thank you for sharing this !!
One of the aviation highlights of my life was a round trip flight from Oakland to Los Angeles and back in a Constellation in 1964.
I flew with the Breitling Super Connie during the Hamburg Airport Days in September 2011. Weather conditions were similar as in this video. It was a great experience that I can recommend to all Super Constellation fans. Thank you for having shared this video. Kristiaan, Brussels
This is one of the most beautiful Airliners in the world I think.
That was a very strange turn to final approach. He wasn't on the runway center line until after crossing the thresh hold. What a beautiful aircraft.
The Constellation was the most beautiful aircraft ever built. It just encompasses style, grace, and beauty.
What a beautiful old bird.
Thanks for installing this cam in front of Ernst and Ronny, plus Rolf and Werner to see them from a new perspective.
Definitely one of the most beautiful designs ever conceived
Immer wieder schön,wenn solche schöne Oldtimer fliegen siehst!
The 'Connie" as we called it in my 'Canoe Club" days back in the 50's and 60's was a terrific aircraft. We flew them into hurricanes back then. Ours were equipped with two large radomes. The top one housed the APS 45 height finding radar and the lower dome was the APS 20 search radar. We flew in and out of the storms at several altitudes and there was always one of our aircraft in a storm while out at sea. These were great aircraft and for it's time one of the best. Those P&W 3350 engines served us well and rarely gave us any major problems in flight.
Eastern Airlines flight 633. Super C Constellation from Newark to Miami in mid-December 1959.
Most beautiful liner ever designed built and flown
that's true its one of the best for sure :)
that's true, one of the best designs out their :)
I had the privilege of flying to Port Morsby from Cairns (Australia)...part of the "Kangaroo Route by Qantas" flying through PNG/Indonesia/Singapore/Thailand/India/Middle East/Europe/to the UK> in the mid 50's in a Connie. I thought it was the ultimate journey of a lifetime, even at the ripe old age of 4. This was to be one of a dozen flights back and forth between PNG and Oz during the 50's and early 60's to give me a thirst for flying that has never died.Thank you for this video, reminding me of the beautiful lines and sounds that enlighten my senses each time I hear a radial engine aircraft. All Aboard....and safe flying.
Awesome flight of a superb ship,totally professional crew thanks to Brietling for keeping this beautiful bird flying
In 1955, I made my first airplane flight from NYC to Frankfurt, Germany aboard a Super Connie.. I was only 4 so I don't have too many memories other than it was very exciting .
Crazy landing... comes in at a 45 degree angle .. well done.
I rode in a TWA Connie in 1951, combining it with an AA DC-6 to get from LAX-MDW-LGA; can't remember which leg was which! I was 15 (now 83) and was amazed at the luxury and speed, although it seemed to take a long time! (My few earlier trips had been in DC-3's for Mohawk airlines in the NE US.
Thanks so much for posting this! After extensive airline travel as a businessman and as a 2,500-hour private pilot (but always in singles), these videos take me back to the amazement and thrill of flight and some of the skill I had back in those younger years. Missing from the video were the oil trays under those big radial engines when parked, and the ground crew with the big-and-kept-handy fire extinguishers at startup; your Connie must be pretty well maintained! Thanks again.
I WAS A PILOT IN CUBA, 1963, CATEGORY TEXAN AT=6, WW2, I ENJOY THHIS SOUNDS, I LOVED SANKITTORLKITON
I flew from Amsterdam to Winnipeg in a Nordair Canada, Super Constellation way back when I was 16. We had a re-fueling stop in Rankin Inlet and then off to Winnipeg. That was in 1965. I would so love to experience a flight on that marvelous aircraft again.
This brings back a few memories. June 6, 1954, Trans Canada Airlines (TCA), Montreal, via Shannon to London. I remember the noise and vibration the most. The noise was so loud that my ears rang for hours, after we landed. It was considered the ultimate flying machine in its day but thank goodness jets came in at the end of the 50s. Flight time was approx 18 hours. The return trip had us landing at Goose Bay to refuel before going on to Montreal. Nice video though! Thanks.
I rode the Super Connie's as an Army brat on TWA in the 50's and 60's, those were the golden days no TSA & no airline BS.
I love this aircraft,really,thanks for the people that keep them flying .
I was a combat crew member in EC 121R Connie in South East Asia in 1969-1970. Love this aircraft, always got us home.
A TWA Connie in club car configuration carried me to San Diego and US Marine Corps boot camp. She was a beautiful bird and had real class. I'd rate her, except for the cooking, with my inaugural Alitalia First Class flight on a 747 about 10 years later.
yes really nice one, the feeling of traveling to the corps in a US marine uniform must have been a nice experience :)
-stay safe
Connie, beautiful and nostalgic.
Great video! My first airplane ride was in a Chicago & Southern Airlines L-749(?) Connie in 1953. Quite an adventure for an 8 year old. A great memory from another life. Also had great trip from JAN to FLL and back in a MSANG C-121 circa 1965.
IMO, one of most beautiful, graceful airliners ever built.
I used to see that exact plane often when she was known as 'Camarillo Connie'. It was sad to see her go, but it's great that she has a new home and is kept in the air.
When I was a teenager my family lived in Chicago on the South side and I remember seeing these aircraft flying in and out of Midway field. I think they are the most beautiful passenger plane ever made.
The days when flying was a joy, a nice part of the holiday or trip, nowadays its a pain to go through airports and pay lots of money to be crammed in a fuselage full of germs and no space to stretch your legs. love these old school, manual flying type planes with proper mechanical connections between the yoke and control surfaces. plus more staff with 4 flight crew in cockpit, its safer in one way.
I flew on one of these from San Francisco to the Phillipine Islands back in 1957 and then back again in 1958. It was a US navy plane and we had to sit facing the rear. WE made three stops on the way. The trip seemed like it took a week but I think it was more like two days total. Was a lot of fun for a 19 year old USAF enlisted kid to make.
Passenger on the USN Super Constellation Phoenix bound from Christchurch, New Zealand to the Antarctic in Nov 1969, Party No 13 bound for the Ice (my first flight ever at the young age of 20). Fabulous experience for a young Kiwi - cargo on one side, seats on the other all facing backwards, thick sweet black American coffee, a tall negro American Serviceman from the Harlem sitting next to me). Lots of learning about life!
Its sister plane was the Pegusus. Still have that first photo. My interest rekindled when in a NZ Airforce documentary (2020), it was mentioned that the 2 new runways at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica are called Phoenix Field and Pegusus Field. Memories!
even the pilot fits this airplane..square jawed, ruggedly handsome..quiet and determined..what an honor to fly this beautiful plane it must be..
Lucky passengers, so fortunate to be able to take a nice flight on such a beautiful plane.
In 1956 my mother and I flew from Sydney to Fiji on a Qantas SC to meet my father who was returning from a long business trip to the USA. It took nine hours. I was 6 and I had a long ride up in the cockpit. In those days it was very expensive to fly internationally and it was a great thrill. Qantas maintains their SC here in Sydney. I am pretty sure it does joyflights.
TWA Was still flying these beautiful birds in their fleet when I began working there. I had the opportunity for a couple of flights in the Super Connie and I will never forget those experiences.
I was a flight engineer on the C121 in the 60s. I loved flying in that airplane. The engine rebuilders quite working on the engines and it became harder and harder to find a source for rebuilt engines. That was one of the many factors. The USAF recalled all the ANG C121s to convert to radar picket planes in the late 60s. A couple were shot down by Russians
I was a TWA flight engineer on Constellations 1962-1967. I was 22 years old when I checked out. I sure would like another try!
I was a FE on the C121 in the MissANG at the same time. 1963 to 1967 then went with the C130s until 1997. The FEs job was the best. on the C121.
The Connie & B17 were 2 of the coolest airframes ever designed!!
I’ve flown on both. 🙂
While a pilot in US Navy squadron VW-2 I was assigned the project to see how long we could keep a WV-2 airborne as a part of our new Primary Mission of developing search procedures to find the developing space capsules. I headed out on a simulated search
and ultimately kept my "Willy Victor" airborne for 24 hours and 15 minutes. That is probably a Lockheed record.
Such a beautiful plane
I flew on a TWA Constellation from London to Los Angeles direct in 1962. It was a long crowded flight in the days when booze flowed without restraint and smoking was allowed. When I landed, I smelled like a cheap London pub. It was exciting to see the Arctic from the air though. The only plane that felt more like I was bouncing along in the sky more than in the Constellation was a flight in a Viscount in 1959 over Africa-- Nairobi, Khartoum, Wadi Halfa, Bengazi, and London. Khartoum was 102 F. at 2AM, and the airport lounge was an oven. The orange soda was warm, and everyone tried to sit under a fan. At Wadi Halfa they took us from the end of the runway to the airport in a stake bed truck. Bengazi had a cobble stone clay brick apron and a very short runway. The pilot touched down about ten feet from the top end, and he did full throttle and flaps so much that we felt like we would fall out the front of the cabin. All this nostalgia is yours free for the reading by an old Anglo Wog from Kenya.
Kelly Johnson was not only a magnificent aircraft designer…he was an absolute artist. The Connie is just a Masterpiece. Oh yeah, and The P 38 Lightning was another one of his Mona Lisa’s. What an eye.
That is right, thank you for your great comment.
Greetings from Patrick
I was on the Airport Days too. I flew with the Super Conni on Saturday.
Beautiful trip into “the way things used to be” 😁! I have become fascinated with Super Connies because they were slightly before my time - I was born in ‘63 and never got to fly anything but jets. Magnificent aircraft, and a true Labor of Love to keep it flying almost 70 years on ❤️!
I totally agree! they are really great and just provide a lot of nostalgic feelings for aviation Fans.
Back in 1965, I flew home (Navy Boot Camp) from San Diego to Houston, I was a passenger on one of these Constellations. I remember sitting in a Window seat near one of the Engines, and seeing the Blue Flame of the exhaust.
I always watch these videos fondly, having been a member of this planes crew when it flew out California as "Camarillo Connie".
Fantastic ,Thanks for bringing it to us ! !
As probably most comments that have been made, and will be made, this is a beautiful designed aircraft...one that I hope for decades to come, gets shown around the world for all people to see.
I've never been in one, nor had an opportunity to get a ride to somewhere in one in my young days in the 1950's to some of the 1960's, but, my mother had a few way back when. I've got some airline literature of those planes she was on in vacations or work related meetings.
My first, and only prop plane flight was on an Eastern Electra four engine. That was fun and way back on June 1, 1964, I think: from Indianapolis to Atlanta.
I just love the sounds of those two & four engine prop airplanes.
When I was a little boy in 1960 my father made his first intercontinental flight on board a super constellation from Germany to New York. Years later I had my first intercontinental flight on another Lockheed highlight the L-1011 Tristar fom Rome to Colombo.
And on this flight a lovely sunny morning, had been flying for 6 and a half hours going across the Southern Ocean, when the radio crackled and the pilot announced at the 60th Parellel (point of no return) that we had been flying into strong headwinds, using up too much fuel, so we would have to return to Christchurch. On the tail wind 5 and a half hours back. So my 1st flight 12 hours in the air and was back in Christchurch, were we started (had got nowhere). A day and a half later after compulsory crew rest and refueling we headed off again this time in the evening and made the trip down in 9 hours. About midnight it started to get lighter ( as in the Antarctic summer the sun never sets, it just goes around in a big circle) and colder, so we had to get up and dress up in our full protective Antarctic clothing for the landing. Outside exciting as we first passed over frozen sea ice and along the amazing snow covered rocky mountains of the Royal Society Range (part of ancient Gonwanaland - coal there, fossils, forests and forests once, great geology and Skua gulls and seals) We landed at William's Field in almost whiteout conditions, got put and were taken in a tracked vehicle to NZ's Scott Base to begin our great adventure. After flying by helicopter over snow covered volcanic Ross Island, smoking Mt Erebus in the distance, we stayed at Cape Royds for a month in a tiny unheated 9 ply hut doing work at explorer Earnesr Shackleton's historic hut and census work at the Adelie Penguin colony. After travelling back by tracked vehicle over the frozen sea ice, we did snow clearing at the historic hut at Hut Point, McMurdo before returning home in an 7 hour flight in a Hercules.
Michael Orchard.
THANK YOU for the video . I really wish I could have been aboard that flight as it would have been my Second Historical Flight aboard a Super Connie . My Father was Lockheed's Insurance Broker , so Lockheed invited us for the Celebration and Inaugural Flight when they released the Super Connie for civilian transportation . My Father and I (a young child) were among the civilian passengers on that Inaugural Flight , my Mother had an infant to care for so she waited in the Terminal . We took-off from Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California , USA and flew around for awhile and then returned to the Lockheed Terminal . Lockheed gave everyone who had been on the Inaugural Flight a Lapel Pin in the shape of a small Super Connie . I still have my Super Connie Lapel Pin .
Loved the Super Connie. Had the pleasure of flying it (courtesy of Uncle Sam) when I was first deployed overseas (Casablanca) in early 1961.
I was in the cockpit of a Connie in 1956 at 6 years old , flying by my self , from Phoenix to Albuquerque ,it was great !!!!
What I remember most about the Connie, was the night takeoffs and the sound of those 3350s, and the PRTs belching blue flames, while sitting in the studio compartment of 193rd TEW EC-121s.
I have always wanted to fly in the flight deck, & I think this is as close as I will get. I fly to Europe often, & never comfortably I am afraid of flying. Its sad, because I always wanted to be a pilot, but the terror of flying put that dream to just that. A dream. Thanks for the ride, & its the cheapest one I ever had. Much Thanks .
I preferred the pilot when he was in the 'A' team. Great upload.
The Captain says at the end, "They said we were crazy, but that just motivated us to show it could be done."
My first airline flight was in a Connie back in (I think) 1959, a business trip from St. Louis somewhere in Kentucky (can't remember where). We were in first class and I remember being served a meal placed on a pillow on our laps. Little did I realize that I had the privilege of flying on one of the last piston engine airline flights. The 707 soon took over the airline skies.
The aesthetics of the Constellation and SUperConstellation are second to none. Now insofar the sound or should I say rumble of the engines coming off the stacks of the SuperG are simply music from heavens.
Flew on one from Ramey in Puerto Rico to Charleston in 1959, great flight. Twa all the way.
I never tire of watching this. If God had created a more beautiful airplane, he would have kept it for himself....
I flew as a child between Santo Domingo and San Juan with Aerovías Quisqueyanas connies a couple of times,and then being a co pilot on the C-46 ,if for any reason our C-46 was down we used to catch a ride from San Juan back to Santo Domingo on Aerochago's Connie,great times back in the 80's !
10 hrs from Travis AFB (Calif), then 10 hrs to Honolulu and finally 10 hrs to Tachikawa AFB, Yokohama Japan. I was 18 yrs old and along with my buddy we joined 87 women and children dependents for the trip. I'll never forget flying in that gorgeous old bird.
Raymond O'Rourke
I am in love with the conny !!! The first airliner I travel in ...! ! !
Listening to those Wright motors especially at 20 minutes gives me goose bumps.LOVE IT!
Wow such memories! My first trans-atlantic flight was on a Super Conny back in 1959, Gander Newfoundland to Shannon Ireland. After refueling on to Frankfurt and finally to K-Town. 3 yrs later a seat on a brand new Pan Am 707! It felt like a flying limo compared to the Conny.
I have fond childhood memories of the Super Connie freighters.Dad was with Flying Tiger Line, Boston,. With kin in NJ, "Dead Head" was one of the first aviation terms I remember learning.
The Connie may not be fast. But she has more grace and elegance in thr sky then any modern jet airliner today.
I feel very lucky to have flown a super Connie from Kansas City Mo to Denver then on to Phoenix Az in 1963 en-route to my first duty station in the Navy. I use to sit in a mothballed 121 while I was stationed at the Navy aircraft bone yard at Litchfield Park, Phoenix Az,any seat I wanted!
beautiful Lockheed costelation...
Magic. This plane is magic.
Never had the privilege to fly in a Connie, but have flown in a DC3 three times, hitting air pocket, with people rising up out of their seats and people screaming!! Yeah, people actually do that! I thought it was great, since I have complete faith in the DC3 and the pilots and was ready to hit another air pocket, and sure enough,m we hit another one, what a ride! Loved every minute of it!
DC3 is also a nice one, must have been an interesting flight with Passengers screaming all over the place.
Good movie. Check out TV personality, Arthur Godfry, in his 30 minute presentation of the super Connie. He flew for a living air routs over the USA. He flew with only one outboard engine to demonstrate how safe it was.
my love of the Connie began with a flight from clark ab, pi to travis afb, ca and it was a wonderful flight that was all I knew of the connie until in 1969 I got a chance to fly on one at an exercise at fort bragg, pope afb, nc and it was an ec 121 and again it evoked wonderful memories
Super cockpit visibility, narrow cockpit looks to be about the same width as the C-118b. Sure like the sound of those 3350 starting, waking-up that CHT.
This is such beautiful plane!
All the commenters sharing how they flew on it dont realize how lucky they are- im 20, never seen one in person let alone flew one- I'm so jealous 😭😭😭
the chance will come for you :)
Guess I am lucky to be involved with. VH-EAG. still flying, last one currently 🇦🇺🦘
Finally, a pilot wearing a genuine britling watch
Great video! Had 200 hours on the Connie with the NJ Air National Guard in 1970. One suggestion: it would have been a plus if there were English subtitles, especially at the end.
I love the engineer panel with thrust levers!
ce super constellation et un vrai bijoux pour l'époque!!!!! avec ces 4 moteurs avec le bruitcaractéristique, lui donne toute sa beauté en vol!!!!!! c'est cela le vrai mot aviation!!!!!