FIRST TEST FLIGHT 1989-Save A Connie Star of America 

Wow--great to hear from an old "Regulus" customer from way back. Those were fun days for me and I think you would agree that Frank Fitzgibbon was a champ of a guy. I hope the restored Qantas Super Connie you have down there is still active.

@@AeroDinosaur It is very much active and had a “D” check in 2017 to keep it flying. The owners, the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (H.A.R.S.) have a huge amount of spare parts, from Prop parts to complete engines to keep her flying for many years to come and continue to successfully scour the world for parts. They have also expanded their fleet of airworthy “piston pounders” to include a 3rd DC3, a DC4 and a CV340. The 3rd DC3 and the Convair both have full airline interiors and the DC4 underwent a complete overhaul. Add to this a couple of Focker F27’s, DHC (C7) Caribou’s, P2 Neptunes ( with operational J34’s) and a PC3 Orion. Now, add to that, the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach, Queensland, who acquired the long abandoned ex USN R7V1 that was rotting away at Manila International Airport and relocated it by ship, to their museum site. That old Connie then underwent a 5 year project which included a thorough recondition , to static condition only though, to represent a Qantas L1049H. The interior restoration includes an a/v display on Qantas Connie operations, as well as a total restoration of the cockpit. Both HARS and the QF.M have websites that you can check out . This is the link to one on the QFM project. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1bKv0rrwNw.html. There are also other video’s on You Tube featuring both the HARS C121C and the QFM R7V1. Frank Fitzgibbon was a lovely guy. He and his wife took us out to dinner the night before we toured 37C., something we never expected.

@@Bellakelpie I'm glad to see there is at least one thriving heavy-recip museum in the world and it looks like there's no end in sight. I've seen a lot of RU-vid stuff on HARS and their many aircraft but wasn't sure of the current status. Absolutely the best diversified collection of active postwar heavy-recips anywhere. In U.S. and Europe, most is now static and deteriorating--public interest has evaporated because it seems millennials don't care much for flying hardware. I visited the Airline History Museum (Save A Connie) last September, which was my first visit in 30 years (I live 250 miles away). They have great new management but need a lot of help --no airworthy aircraft and resources are thin. It was a bit disheartening. I was told founder Larry Brown is still with us but barely getting around. AHM is working on getting their DC-3 up but they lack manpower and other resources very thin. It just had its firewalls built up with new plumbing connections and it all looks brand new--we'll see. Also -37C looks great but going nowhere. It was sad to look into its inert, poorly lit flight deck where I once spent so much time with my long-departed friends--this left me with highly sentimental coupled with slightly creepy emotions. FYI I have a great video on the HARS Connie being restored in the Arizona desert and their flying adventure across the Pacific. Never seen such an exercise in perseverance. I think I got the video around early 2000's.

@@AeroDinosaur I also have that HARS Video and a DVD Copy as well. (: HARS are a very active organisation. They are fortunate as it is run as a business by a group of very experienced business people with a strong passion for Aviation. They are very conscious of the need to bring in young people so that the group does not just fade away. Included in the HARS business model is an apprentice school for young people interested in learning about working on Jet turbine engines. Some of the HARS management team have a current or past link with Qantas which also helps. Many of the groups members are also current and former Qantas and RAAF Engineers and Pilots, so there is a lot of experience there.They also trained some of the cockpit crew that Lufthansa intended would operate that carriers aborted L1649 Starliner project. Some of those HARS engineering guys go back to the days of the Qantas L749A! Although the Covid -19 restrictions did curtail a lot of their flying this year, they were still active on aircraft restoration and maintenance, including the rebuilding to airworthy condition, of a replica of Charles Kingsford-Smith's Fokker FVIIB, "Southern Cross." That project meant a complete new wing being made from wood. Another typical HARS initiative was to talk Qantas into donating to them, the 1st ever Qantas B747-400 (the same aircraft that flew non stop from London to Sydney on its delivery flight) when the airline retired it from the fleet in 2015. It was flown to the HARS base at Albion Park, about 50 miles south of Sydney and landed on the Illawarra Regional airport's 5.968 feet long main runway. Quite an achievement and one that was planned many weeks before and then flown many times in a simulator, by the Qantas crew that did the flight. Qantas also sent a tug down to push the 747 off the runway to its final position at the HARS Base, where it is now on static display, plus a set of stairs so that the crew could get off! You can see video of this amazing landing at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pwvTV_GDBEM.html. But big transport aircraft are not the only ones in the HARS fleet. They also have aircraft at the other end of the size scale.

@@Bellakelpie Thanks for the update on HARS. I think I'd like to pass your info on to the Airline History Museum because they may find it useful. Like HARS, AHM is also expanding into broader facets of vintage aviation which broadens public interest. They even have the wrecked hulk of Harrison Ford's WWII Ryan that he crashed into that golf course a few years back. They have an L-1011 hull but no engines, and an airworthy 727 is coming in from Seattle at any time. They also have some very young members in the 12-16 age range who are promoting the museum in their school and their other activities. I met some of these kids and they are very enthusiastic and quite impressive!

And thanks to you--sorry I never caught you at KC Downtown Wheeler.

Great to hear from a fellow member! We were each certainly involved in totally different eras with different challenges. I share all your sentiments about the members and volunteers you knew. Almost all of the ones where I had wonderful friendships are now, sadly, gone. . . .

Thanks for checking us out, Zack and sharing your experiences. I was born a little too late to spend much time on the Connie--the Jefferson City video trip was my video, and the only time I ever flew on the Constellation. We did 3 other videos on 37C on this AeroDinosaur channel so check them out too if you haven't already. We also did videos on the L-749 and L-049. Feel free to email me with any further thoughts that come to mind!

Thanks Chris--means a lot to me when you say that. Glad you enjoy our channel!

Thanks, Vic. My sentiments exactly! It was once in a lifetime for me.

Thanks, Ryan, glad you enjoyed it. Actually, my restoration efforts were microscopic compared to the former TWA volunteers and the other locals who worked on it daily. I need to get to the museum too since I haven't been there since 1992.

Thanks Dan. You may not recall but I remember you from an early SAC dinner circa 1989 when we were both writing articles for John Wegg at Airliners Magazine. I subscribed to your channel years ago and love your SAC posts and other great videos on all aspects of Americana.

@@AeroDinosaur Hello John, sorry I didn't reply to your comment here sooner, but I got caught up watching some of your videos and commenting on them first. Yes, I do indeed remember you especially at one of the winter Save-A-Connie banquets. If my memory serves me right your had written for Airliners Magazine a well researched story about reciprocating piston engines as used on propliners. I subscribed to your channel also and I really liked the videos on the DC-6B you flew on. I never got a chance to fly on a "six" though I saw plenty as a kid growing up in the 1960s near Chicago's O'Hare Field. In fact, I never flew on any propeller aircraft powered by the famous, nearly indestructible P&W R-2800. Lovely sound it makes no matter the plane. Thanks for your subscription to my channel. I never heard anyone describe my videos as "Americana," but I suppose it is category where all my video stuff fits! You really went above and beyond with your Airtec Martin 404 especially with the engine modifications you made yourself. I guess I'm a little more forgiving of some model makers oversights so my model is pretty much "out of the box."

Yes, I suppose that your Ozark DC-3 run, Coral Courts tour, coverage of a small stripper well in the middle of Kansas at sunset, and Route 66 tour through Oklahoma could each qualify under the term "Americana"! All are a lot of fun for me to watch, and I like your rail stuff too. Also, I remember in 1989 you were a CNW rail technician, and you wrote the very first magazine feature ever on SAC. Regarding plastic models, I too put up with a lot of inaccuracies on many of them--goes with the territory I guess. The 404 cowling, however, began eating me alive so I had to do something. Thanks for subscribing and reaching out, we'll stay in touch!

@@AeroDinosaur John, I left the C&NW RWY a few years later and hired on with the Soo Line RR where I remained for the next 26 and a half years working mostly as a locomotive engineer. I've been retired on full pension from the railroad industry for about 2.5 years now. Yes, let's stay in touch!

Wow, being a locomotive engineer has always been one of my big fantasies, even now! I've been retired for 3 years, hence my return to the propliner stuff. I had zero time for it during my last 25 years working. The only thing I did over that period was to digitize my raw video library, which I luckily had enough foresight to do. That on/off project took months.

Thanks much, our pleasure!

Glad to hear there are still TWA Connie pilots who are still flying. All the ones I knew are, sadly, gone. I flew many hours as a passenger on L-1011 both domestic and international, so your Dad could have flown me around. Thanks for checking us out! JA Reed

Thank you much! Glad you enjoyed.

Yes, the desert crash in Homo Faber (also known as "Voyager" outside Europe) was. indeed, N6937C, the subject airplane of our video. They had to dig a big hole, tow the plane into it, and shoot from ground level to make it look like a crash without damaging the plane. In 1990 I helped prepare -37C for that desert shoot by getting it ready for its trip to the Blythe California desert. Hope things are going well in Prague! Thanks for watching, J.A. Reed.

Mr.Reed, Thank You so much for Your reply about Connie crash. Now,very good understand. Look your pages very, interesting. . Wishing To you and the whole family Rest of Christmas and Happy New Year,mainly good health. Sincerely,Jaromír from Prague. @@AeroDinosaur

@@jaromir1942 Hope you and yours had a Merry Christmas and do have a Happy New Year as well!! Thanks again! John

Not that I know of. The KCI destination for this test flight was 15 miles north of MKC departure, and I certainly couldn't get there fast enough on wheels to beat the Super Connie there. I don't think anyone else at SAC had the foresight to have a camera ready at the destination, and not many people had video cameras in those days anyway. At the time, I did not know anybody else that had one but me. To my knowledge, I shot the only published footage of the -37C post-restoration maiden startup and takeoff. There are many online videos of this plane on approach/landing many years later, plus similar footage of other restored Super Constellations. We have distant shots of -37C approach/landing at Oshkosh on one of my later SAC videos.