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Bob Bogash updated his website this week on the restoration of CF-RNR/CF-TGE at Empire Aero Center (EAC) in Rome, New York. This aircraft has been undergoing restoration for about a year at EAC and was recently rolled out into the bright sunshine to wait its turn in the paint shop queue, where it will be painted in 1950’s era Trans Canada Airlines colors. Reassembly and restoration of the aircraft is essentially complete and after the aircraft is painted she will be disassembled and shipped to the Museum of Flight in Seattle for reassembly and display. Considering what they started with, the folks at EAC deserve a lot of credit for the job they've done. For additional information about the restoration of this classic aircraft, Bob’s website contains a multitude of photos and text tracing the restoration project from disassembly at Toronto in January 2006 to its rollout two weeks ago at EAC.
There is encouraging news from the folks at the Airline History Museum in Kansas City about their Super Connie N6937C. Since suffering a #2 engine failure in July 2005 the aircraft has been grounded. The engine has been replaced and Larry Lillge, the Museum’s Director, reports that recently all engines have been successfully ground tested. The museum is in the process of hiring a new maintenance director who will be charged with maintaining the aircraft. He is a retired TWA/AA senior mechanic and it is hoped that all of the maintenance checks can be completed this summer in preparation for FAA certification. Next on the agenda is flight crew certification, which will involve check rides in the aircraft. Anyone who flies these days is feeling pain at the gas pump and with the Super Connie burning 500 gallons per hour, at $6.00 per gallon, the museum faces a major challenge in keeping the thirsty airliner fed with gas and oil. The museum has set a goal to get the aircraft back in the air later this year and to rejoin the airshow circuit in 2009. She will make an appearance at the Kansas City Air Show on August 23-24 but this only involves towing her across the field, where she will be joined by the museum’s M404 and DC-3. The Airline History Museum is a volunteer not-for-profit organization and depends on contributions from its members and the public to keep its operations going. If you would like to make a contribution to the museum, please contact them via their fundraising email address.
News from the Dutch Aviodrome is not as encouraging. After successfully testing all four engines in early June, there were high hopes of getting Constellation N749NL out on the European airshow circuit this summer. Her coming out event was to be the RAF Waddington International Airshow on July 5th and 6th but news regarding the cancellation of her appearance was posted on the airshow's website on June 23rd. “It is regretted that we have had to withdraw the Lockheed Constellation from the flying display. The Dutch engineers are having problems bring her to a flying condition and are unable to make the Waddington International Air Show. We keep our fingers crossed for next year.” Hopefully the problems are temporary and the aircraft will be flying later this summer.
Until a June 16, 2008 Wall Street Journal article, there had been little recent information regarding Lufthansa’s L1649A Starliner restoration project. Not much new was reported in the article other than the the Germans are planning to install a glass cockpit in the aircraft. Wow…what a cockpit upgrade that will be! Maurice Roundy reports that a hangar will be built at the Auburn-Lewiston Airport after which restoration of L1649A N7316C will begin in earnest. Lufthansa plans on performing what is essentially a heavy check of the airframe including the possibility of removing the cargo doors and re-installing passenger doors! The engines from Fantasy of Flight based L1649A N974R have been removed and sent to Ray Anderson for overhaul. This makes sense since these engines were last run during the ferry flight from Sanford to Fantasy of Flight in October 2001 and represent the best of the remaining engines. Good luck to the folks at Lufthansa on this fascinating project.
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I visited the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB on 10-11 May 2008 and met with a group of volunteers from the Naval Aircraft Restoration Foundation (NARF). The group meets at the museum every year during the last three weeks of May and the first three weeks of October to work on the museum’s EC-121K and P2V-7. Dr. Gerald Durbin, the group’s Secretary-Treasurer expects 30 volunteers to contribute 2,000 man-hours towards the restoration of these two aircraft during this year’s May get-together. May 10th was the first day of this year's May event and a number of NARF members had already arrived and parked their RV's and campers in the museum's restoration area next to the EC-121K and P2V-7. Its a nice setup and its a win-win for all involved.
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The Yanks Air Museum is in need of aircraft specific manuals (flight, maintenance, etc) pertaining to their EC-121T aircraft serial number 53-0548. In addition, the museum also needs the following tech orders:
I received an update yesterday from Raymond Oostergo of the Dutch Aviodrome regarding the status of the organization's gorgeous Connie. The aircraft hasn't flown since July 5, 2004 when it's #3 engine suffered a failure during a test flight. While a serviceable replacement engine was salvaged from the former MATS Connie in April 2006, high insurance costs have kept the aircraft grounded. Raymond reported that the museum is hoping to have the airplane back in the air sometime in June in time to participate in the European airshow circuit this summer. In fact, the RAF Waddington International Airshow has already booked the Connie for its show on July 5th and 6th.
More news about EC-121K BuNo 141311 and it’s not good. The National Museum of Naval Aviation (NMNA) in Pensacola received word last week that the Chanute Aerospace Museum in Rantoul, IL was experiencing financial problems and could possibly be declaring bankruptcy as early as April 2008. The US Navy (NMNA) owns the Super Connie, which has been on loan to the Rantoul museum for many years. NMNA has decided that, in light of recent developments, a new home must be found for the veteran aircraft. 
They will only loan it to a legitimate 501.c.3 corporation acting as a museum and the museum is responsible for moving it to a new location. They have also ruled out leaving the aircraft at Rantoul in the care of a volunteer group like the Willy Victor Group. They are considering moving it to another museum even if the Chanute museum somehow manages to stay open since officials feel that the aircraft is not being properly maintained. This was not the case during my 2005 and 2006 visits when the aircraft was very well maintained by museum volunteers. Obviously, disassembling and moving an aircraft this size is not an easy or inexpensive task but it can be done. Worldwide Aircraft Recovery make a living disassembling, assembling and moving large aircraft including the AMC Museum’s Super Connie and C-133B,the Air Force Museum’s C-99, a number of C-97's and many others. A very sad tale about a very proud aircraft…let’s hope for better news in the coming weeks.
When I visited the Chanute Air Museum back in August 2005 the future seemed secure for the museum’s EC-121K BuNo 141311. The aircraft is actually owned by the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola and is on loan to the Chanute Aerospace Museum for display. A team of dedicated volunteers had restored her back from near-derelict condition and they were providing the regular TLC needed to keep her looking good. Portable air conditioning had been installed and the aircraft was open for tours on a regular basis. Rol Barger, a museum volunteer, gave me a personal tour of the Super Connie that day and we have kept in touch since. He contacted me last week with the distressing news that the museum was in dire financial straits and that it could very well be closing in the near future. A few days later he sent me a newspaper article, which detailed the sad state of affairs at the museum. The museum has appealed for donations on its website and is apparently having some success in acquiring funds to cover immediate needs. Rol said that members of the Willy Victor Group are exploring alternatives to ensure that the Super Connie is protected from vandals and receives regular maintenance if the museum does, in fact, close its doors. In addition to the EC-121K, the museum has a number of interesting aircraft in its collection including the prototype B-47, a C-97G, VC-47D and C-133A.
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I received a distressing email on January 23rd from Pierre Biron, who is a volunteer with the “Amicale du Super Constellation” organization. This organization is restoring L1049G F-BRAD/F-BGNJ at Nantes Airport and, as reported by this website on January 17, 2007, their restoration hangar is located within a restricted military area of the airport. The group had hoped to receive a “Temporary Occupation Authorization” from the military authorities allowing them continued access to the hangar and their aircraft but disappointing news came last week. Apparently the military wants to demolish the hangar and has demanded that the Constellation be removed the hangar and moved elsewhere on the airport. In addition, an AN-2 and Nortalas parked outside the hangar must be moved. This decision has the organization scrambling for a place to store the three aircraft and to complete restoration of the Super Connie. Good luck to Pierre and the group in their quest to find a suitable home for the three aircraft and a big thumbs down to the French military authorities for making life so difficult for these dedicated aircraft enthusiasts.
Lufthansa made it official on January 10, 2008 when it announced, on the Lufthansa Technik Group website, that the Hamburg based aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company would be spearheading the Starliner restoration effort. The restoration will be performed in the United States at the Auburn-Lewiston Airport by 
current and former Lufthansa employees and local “experts”. Acceptance flights and training of flight crew will also be performed in the United States with the ferry flight to Germany tentatively planned for 2010. I spoke to Maurice Roundy on January 20th and asked him if he knew which aircraft the Germans planned on restoring. He said it was his understanding that N7316C, currently stored at Auburn-Lewiston Airport, would be restored. He said that Lufthansa 
was anxious to start the restoration as soon as possible and he confirmed that they would be building a hangar at the Maine airport. The restoration will be extensive and will involve essentially doing a D-Check on the aircraft. A D-Check normally involves removing everything from the aircraft that can be removed and replacing with new or rebuilt components. I asked him about the possibility 
of moving N974R from Florida to Maine and he said he was unaware of any plans to do so. He said that, between the three aircraft, there were enough parts to restore two of them to an airworthy condition. Maurice is currently in discussion with Lufthansa regarding his involvement in the restoration project and should know more in the near future. Having participated in the restoration of all three aircraft during the past twenty-five years, Maurice Roundy is an encyclopedia of knowledge regarding L1649A Starliner aircraft. Hopefully he will be part of this very exciting restoration. I’ve attached some photos of the three aircraft from the past. The photos of N7316C and N8083H are from a visit a made to Maine right after a severe ice storm in January 1998. The photo of N974R was taken at Sanford Airport a few minutes prior to the October 19, 2001 flight from Sanford to Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk, Florida.
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As reported by Constellation News on May 17, 2007, Super Connie F-BRAD/F-BGNJ emerged from the paint hangar at Nantes Airport on April 16th in 1950’s Air France colors. The restoration is being performed by volunteers from Amicale du Super Constellation, which is part of the Aeroscope Association. These efforts came to a halt in 
August when the group was denied access to hangar because it apparently fell within a restricted military area of the airport. Although the military no longer uses this area, it still is under their jurisdiction and the group has requested a special authorization to allow access. While they wait for the military bureaucracy to make a decision, restoration work has ceased and the Super Connie sits in the hangar awaiting the return of the volunteers. This turn of events has put a serious crimp in the group’s plans. Additional detail paint work still needs to be completed and along with quite a bit of interior work. The group had hoped to have the restoration completed in 2007 with the aircraft being put on display at the Aeroscope Museum in 2008 but this is obviously not going to happen now. Good luck to the group and hopefully 2008 will see the resumption of their efforts.
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----Created 31 January 2004------Updated 21 July 2008----