Who Remembers? by bmac62
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Description
Who recalls your last flight on a prop driven airliner or better yet, who has ever had a ride in one?
The last flight I made as a fare paying customer on a prop driven aircraft was in 1966 on a round-trip flight between Louisville, Kentucky and Denver, Colorado. The airline was TWA. The aircraft was one exactly like this...a magnificent Lockheed Constellation Super G. That flight actually made a stop at the Kansas City Downtown Airport which by coincidence is exactly where this plane is based now.
The "Connie," displayed by Kansas City's Airline History Museum, was built in 1958 and since its restoration in the late 1980s and 1990s has been involved in numerous television releases, including the Arts and Entertainment documentary, First Flights, narrated by Astronaut Neil Armstrong, and in the movie Ace Ventura - When Nature calls, starring actor Jim Carrey.
It was found in a dusty hangar in Arizona in 1986. Its' last use had been as a bug sprayer in Canada. In a short nine weeks, a skilled crew of retired TWA employees returned this old bird to an air worthy condition, ferried it back to Kansas City and began the task of complete restoration. More detail is available at http://www.airlinehistorymuseum.com/connie
Ahhh, nostalgia...and this piece is photogenic!
Hope you have enjoyed this visit to the past.
Bill
Comments (11)
Hefrian_Rotter
I flew in one from Rabat, Morocco in 1963 to Norfolk, Virginia as a dependent when My father's tour as cryptographer for Vice Consul Cyrus Vance at the embassy ended with the change of the LBJ administration after the kennedy assassination. I flew again on one to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1965 from LAX. Thanks for the visit! happy landings, da 'Rotter
kansas
Splendid shots of this aircraft.
drace68
Not the Super G, but flew PNA from Seattle-Tacoma to Anchorage, Alaska in 1956 (6 hours in fog, two hours in blinding sunlight with snow covered Chugach range below). Then in 1957 flew from San Francisco to Las Vegas for $12.00 (Gamblers Special fare) on TWA (I think). A summer thunderstorm over McCarran Field kept the field closed for almost an hour. I got to see the wings flex more than I wanted.
neiwil
Now that's a beauty !, never did get to fly in one, but from pics and film I know they had a lot more leg room.Bring them back I say!!.Thanks Bill.
vkoontz
Nice pics you have commented on my pics of this acft. My first prop flight was in a Grumman Goose to Catalina around '69. I was lucky to be in the left hand seat, sans controls. The plt did a fly-by of the Queen Mary which just arrived.
rainbows
Wonderful pictures of the airline, excellent work, Bill. Hugs. Di. xx
debbielove
Never seen one, never flown in a prop aircraft at all! Would love to do both but this be just fine as a stand in for now! Great history, great ictures. Great job! well done, my friend, Rob
ledwolorz
Beautiful picture of the airline.
Buffalo1
A classic plane and great POVs on this TWA Connie.
moochagoo
I've travelled only once in this kind of plane in 1959. That was a nice travel (I was very young).
junge1
Great shot Bill. My first ride on a prop job was the day I enlisted, 28 Jan 1963, from Newark, NJ to Lackland AFB, TX on a Douglas DC-6. The last one? If a Boeing KC-97 counts (4 reciprocal engines and 2 jets) - a round trip in December 1976 from Phoenix Sky Harbor, AZ to Hickam AFB, Hawaii! Never have flown on a commercial prop job! On 12 May 1975 a Super Connie that had been converted to a crop duster crashed one mile away from Falcon Field, Mesa after take off with 3,500 gal of fuel on board. It was on its way to Canada to fight forest fires.