VC-121A Bataan starts up, takes off and does a few flybys before landing on its 3rd test flight. This video was taken at the Chino Airport in California.
The craftsmen who painstakingly restored this absolute beauty to not only look brand new but be airworthy as well are nothing less than national treasures. It would be an honor to one day to be able to see General McArthur’s old ride at an air show in person.
When I was just a young lad, my family took my Grandmother to, I believe, LaGuardia Airport in NY to watch her fly off to Mexico for a vacation, and to utilize her talents as a water color artist. Watching and waiving from a large window in the terminal, we could see her beautiful Lockheed Constellation roaring down the runway as it was taking off. To our horror, smoke, then flames started pouring out of one engine just as it lifted off! Thankfully, the plane immediately circled around and landed safely. While some degree of flame output was perfectly normal for this aircraft, this time it was a large fireball and smoke emanating from just one engine, so we knew that was not right! I truly believed that we thought we were waiving goodbye to our Grandmother for good! What a scary site that was and has remained with me to this day. I'm guessing it was around 1957 and I am now 75!
I crossed the Atlantic twice on one of these beautiful machines, from Charleston SC to Morocco, with stops in Bermuda and The Azores..... An experience still lingering in my memory @ 80 yrs old
Well, we share flying with a stop at the Azores. I flew on a MATS Constellation from New Jersey to Frankfurt Rhein-Maine. I'm 82, so not far apart in age, either. Yes it was a bit noisy inside, and on MATS you flew sitting backwards.
I flew on a KLM DC-7C when I was 5 years old, LAX to Gatwick. The propellers. The exhaust flame. The noise. The bunk beds in the back. No greater experience for a 5 year old. I did my first flight on a 747 (KLM), Seattle to Schipol, just a few years ago. No propellers. No exhaust flame. Little noise. No beds. I'll take the DC-7. 🙂
I rode Constellations on LAX-LGA flights a couple of times as a little kid in the nineteen-fifties. (Of course, I was a little brat and didn't appreciate them.) Two things I recall -- those prop engines were _loud_, and the trip took a lot longer than it does nowadays.
@@LakhnBer I remember flying from Louisville to O'Hara Airport on a Eastern Airlines four engine prop. I think the airliner was golden Falcon. That was my first airplane ride. It would have never happened if I hadn't join the Navy, I was heading to boot camp at great lakes Illinois. 1964 I was 18. A great plane ride and a great four year's in the Navy.
I absolutely concur. Someone suggests the Concorde as the most beautiful so let's say it's the most beautiful 4 engined prop plane ever created. Outstanding for it's time and ahead of it's time when introduced. This example is effing gorgeous! Thanks for posting!
This still looks futuristic! What a beautiful restoration. Great to see these planes still flying. Lockheed was truly outstanding in most of it designs.
As a young kid growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, my mom used to take me to the airport where I'd watch the Constellations start up, taxi, and takeoff. Never gets old. Thanks so much for this video!!!!
My family and I emigrated from The Netherlands to The US in 1956. Flying on a KLM Super Constellation fro Schiphol to Idlewild in October, stopping off at Gander Airport in Canada. I will always remember that plane and. the trip.
As honorable as the restoration of THE most beautiful bird in the skies is, so, too, is the commitment of pilots to be current in real old school aircraft, their stick and rudder demands, and a flight engineer who can feel, smell, and sense the systems in operation. This is real flying!! Thank you. I have flight training envy.
That’s awesome, me and my SF buddy were stationed there at Ft Rucker in ‘93 going through the CH-47 Chinook transition. We were in some class near the Museum when we heard those radial engines fire up. We both looked at each other grinning ear to ear, got up and just walked right out of class in search of that radial engine music. I don’t remember the mechanic’s name but he was the crew chief for the “Pond Racer” and gave me a picture of his plane that was on his tool box. We visited him daily and even got to run up the throttles once. I remember they had to take the fence around the museum airfield down because the runway was too short for them to clear the fence. Thank you guys so much fixing the big sexy girl up!
Beautiful. My father was a pilot and had 2 of these airplanes flying from Santo Domingo, DR to Puerto Rico with cargo for many years. I still feel the sound of engines in my ears and memory. Thank you for such a happy memories. ❤
That was a great day! Me and my coworkers were extremely happy to see the Bataan up close! <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="650">10:50</a> you can see us all lined up for it’s taxi back! Amazing videos!
The Super Connie was probably the most beautiful aircraft ever built. The thunder of those 4 big Wright engines pounded through everyone on the ground. The last I heard was that the only flying Connie was in Australia and had been retired. I am so happy to see this beautiful plane once again gracing the skies. I look forward to seeing Bataan coming to the Spokane, WA/Coeur d'Alene, ID area.
@@johnslaughter5475 It's a standard Connie L749 (C-121A), with a pointed nose added. It is not an L1049 (C-121C), which are considerably longer, and have square windows. Can't YOU tell the difference?
The Breitling corporation has a beautifully restored Super Constellation that flies out of St. Gallen Altenrhein Airport in northern Switzerland, off of the shore of Bodensee. The engine roar during takeoff is fantastic! (Time marker 5.46) Beautiful aircraft flying against amazing scenery! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G5IWNSaC6ME.html
When I went through A&P school back in 1987-1989 this aircraft was on display outdors at the Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker. Glad to see that it has been returned to her former glory and is flying once again. Excellent work. Beautiful aircraft.
I remember a sering a few of these at San Antonio International back in the 60s when my folks would drive my brother and I out to the Airport just to watch the planes take off and land. What a true labor of love to restore this work of art, and what a wonderful video. A beautiful day to take a beautiful plane out for a spin. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in this effort. Well done.
I was a radar man on the Navy EC-121K from 1960 to 1963. I was in AEWBARRONPAC at Barbers Point, Hawaii until 1961 and transferred to VW-11 in Argentia, Newfoundland in late 1961 until I was discharged in 1963. All the missions in VW-11 were flown out of Keflavik, Iceland. Out of Keflavik we flew patrols between Iceland and Greenland or between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="574">9:34</a> I was at my sister in laws house when it made this pass. Was so amazing to finally see her flying. I was yelling for the wife to come out and look. Looks and sounds perfect.
An iconic piece of aviation history - easily the most recognizable aircraft ever built and one of the best looking. Congrats on the magnificent restoration.
Man, I wish I was i was involved in this project... ...I told myself I wasn't gonna cry. Outstanding work y'all. Gorgeous! Good job!! Beautiful Landing! She looks brand new... lucky bastards👍
Ok one.. I don't care what anyone says. This is quite possibly the most beautiful aircraft to EVER fly. Second to none. Two, the thing is in remarkable shape. Flawless . She looks brand new. And third. Mercy that has to be the cleanest start from ANY radial engine I've ever seen. A tiny amount of mixture chooch.. once on idle she cleaned up instantly. Stunning
My Dad was an FE on many connies. One on the things that the engineer did was to climb up on the wings to dip the fuel tanks. The idea was that you actually measured how much fuel was on board. Seeing this clip reminds me of that. Thank you for rekindling that memory.
Some time in the 1970s, I believe, I was driving near the Miami airport and saw a Constellation flying out. Also, at the same time period I was sent to Key West by my employer and the aircraft was a DC-3! Both of these experiences are engraved in my memory. Than you for this video. I have a small scale model of a Constellation on my desk.
My mum used to take me to Heathrow airport in the early sixties to visit the Queens Building as it was called then, I was twelve and was enthralled by watching the Constellations come and go, but sadly never got to fly in one, my favourite aeroplane, up there with Concorde and the Spitfire, fabulous.
What a beauty... and what a sound ! This must be the best looking flying machine of all times. Barely no smoke at start-up, impressing. And it seems it weighs nothing when it takes off !
Quel bel avion et ce, même en 2023 : j'adore le bruit des moteurs ! Ayant vécu près d'un aéroport pendant mon enfance, ce sont de beaux flashback dans le passé ! Merci ! 😊
Years ago, on the way back from the Grand Canyon, we happened upon Valle airport, a real gem, so seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. At that time, 'Bataan' was was parked there. It was a weekday in March, a trip we took over spring break, so it was pretty quiet, few visitors. For a small fee, we were able to walk through this magnificent aircraft. Back then, they said the group responsible for the aircraft showed up once a year and ran up the engines, in the hopes that at some point in the future, this aircraft could be restored. That time came, it is wonderful to see it flying. If only the airframe could talk and share its stories. Probably alot of documentation for this famour aircraft, but I bet there are still stories it might have to tell.
What a way to travel in one of these. Went and toured the one TWA Constellation at the old Kansas City airport and it's NOTHING like today's sardine stuffed flights. The seats had tons of space, definitely looked more comfortable and the sevise apparatus on board was like in a small kitchen back in tbe day, no plastic and just beautiful.
Just fabulous. I can appreciate the amount of labor the technicians put into completing this restoration. A job well done to all who worked on this magnificent aircraft. Fantastic.
What a beautiful aircraft. My mother told me that when I was just a baby we flew from Boston Logan to Chicago O'Hare in a Constellation. I slept like a baby. I always have liked aircraft.
That sound and view from <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="502">8:22</a> to <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="570">9:30</a> is the exact view I had as a kid when N6937C would land back at Kansas City after airshows and trips. My grandpa (who worked on these back in the day at TWA) and I would marvel at it every time it flew over. It's amazing how your video can take me right back to then, in my grandparents back yard, watching the Connie fly over with him. Though my grandpa is long gone and 37C hasn't flown in almost 20 years, your video gets to let me relive those memories and for that, thank you. Cheers and keep up the great work you do!
I am now 70. I recall flying several times between 1962 and 1964 from Dayton to Philadelphia, with stops in Columbus and Pittsburgh. Also bought a Joyride at the 1996 Van Nuys Air show to Camarillo, as the only passenger. What a thrill, and what memories!
During which time I was employed by TW at MDW I learned that the final ‘Connie’ would land in STL later in the month. I scheduled a flight on DL ex ORD to STL to witness the last Connie’s arrival. The next day TW advertised itself as “the all-jet airline”.
,,Ein wunderschönes Flugzeug ich habe sie noch im Linienverkehr Fliegen sehen,damals als kleiner Junge.dass sowas noch Flug-bereit gehalten wird verdient allen beteiligten meinen Respekt. Danke für eure Arbeit und vor allem eure Finanzielle Investition.
In 69 at Danang I always went to the end of our flightline to watch EC-121s take off and land. It had a large radome atop the fuselage. Agree with everyone, the most beautiful aircraft ever. Second is the RA-5c Vigilanty. Looks mach 2 sitting on the deck.
Living in the UK for 30 years and here for 30 years I've never seen one in the flesh. Looks and sounds like a sexy beast. Apparently 22 were built before the end of WWII.
The Connie was, it's, and always be the most elegant lady of the akies. I grew up watching the Air Force C121 landing at thunder BY AFB. I was 4 or 5. What a thrill it was.
Flew from New York to Lisbon on one when I was a kid. Stopped on one of the Azore islands for some reason. I can still remember the drone of the piston engines. Seats also faced backwards.
Flannery’s Restaurant in Penndel, PA was 10 minutes from my home as I grew up. Jim Flannery put an entire Constellation over his small restaurant in 1967, and it was our favorite site throughout the 70’s and 80’s. They used the Constellation as a cocktail lounge, so I was able to get inside a couple of times. In the late 90’s, it was sent to Dover AFB and completely restored to its USAF origins. You don’t see many things like that now!
Was the favorite plane to fly back in the 70’s came back from Johnston island and got a ride in one from Travis to the east coast got a close up of the Grand Canyon on over flight what a beautiful aircraft to fly after many trips a cross the pacific to Johnston on 118’s
Wonderful photography of the most beautiful airliner that will EVER be produced. I always remember one of them taking off from a local airport by me one summer evening here in the UK. Stood at the end of the runway as it roared overhead with all four engines emitting exhaust flames. Fantastic, never to be forgotten.
