Sunday, February 9, 2020

So Classic


10 comments:

  1. Flew Connies lots back in the day. Of course it didn't hurt having a dad who worked for Pan Am.

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    1. I have heard they were great to fly and great to fly in. Is so? I do not recall ever flying in one.

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    2. Rickvid, they were roomier and faster than the DC-6s we flew in and of course the fuselage lines were sexier too. Constellations were right up there with the B-377 for early 1950's passenger and crew appeal.

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  2. It is said that no Constellation pilot could be older than 40. Because, no guy over 40 could handle three pieces of tail at once!

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    1. Ha! Good one. So here's a quiz: Why did they go with the 3 tail set up instead of the traditional one tail?

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    2. With the taller landing gear (to provide ground clearance because of larger props) the tail was designed to fit into existing hangars of that time.

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  3. At the downtown airport in Kansas City there was a group of retired TWA employees that had a group called "save-a-connie" On the weekends they would fly their Connies around KC. I lived on the East side and once in a while they would fly over my house.

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  4. Sav A Connie dba Airline History Museum restored and flew the third to last L1049(H) airframe off the production line. N6937C was painted in TWA livery with non standard wingtanks to resemble the international G model. Powered by 4 EA-1 Wright 3350s. Flew the girl to many airshows nationwide. I was one of the volunteers. Good times.

    greenman

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  5. Flew in Connies to and from Morocco as a kid. Fuel stops in Gander Newfoundland and the Azores. 18 hours in the air. I still have a set of tumblers given to my Dad by Eddie Rickenbacker commemorating the inaugural flight of Eastern's first Connie. The glasses are emblazoned with the a picture of the plane. My Dad worked for Eastern right after WW@ until he was pulled back into the Air Force at 'the pleasure of the President' as the Strategic Air Command was being formed.

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