Mostly about my backyard chickens. (Boring, I know), but there are a lot of us out here. Mine are only kept as pampered pets. I could eat a neighbor's chicken, but not MINE. There may be a comment on current events only if I get riled up enough. And there will always be a cartoon or a joke to cheer us. I promise to try my very best to respond to comments. Now I have to figure out how this blogger thingy works....
Presidential Transport Lockheed Constellation Columbine II (Image Credit: Town of Marana)
The internet has lit up over the past couple of weeks, abuzz over the “discovery” of one of President Eisenhower’s Lockheed Constellations,
reputed to have dodged the scrapper and presently languishing at the
Marana Airport near Tucson, Arizona. Features on the plane have been
popping up everywhere from NPR to Fox News, Local Arizona papers to the
New York Daily News, all presenting the same “lost plane” narrative. Far
from being a “lost,” this Connie last flew about ten years ago and has
been for sale for quite a while.
Fateful designation number of 8610 led to all presidential aircraft being assigned the ” -One” call sign.
The
provenance of the plane is without question, it was indeed Eisenhower’s
Lockheed, a VC-121A named Colombine II in honor of the state flower of
Mamie Eisenhower’s adopted home state of Colorado. It was also the plane
that the president was in when the incident ocuured that caused all
presidential flights to carry the -One flight call sign, Air Force One,
Marine One, once even Navy One. The 1953 incident occurred when an
Eastern Airlines commercial flight 8610 had the same call sign as this
plane’s (Air Force 8610). As a result, of the confusion caused to
aircraft controllers by two planes with the same call sign, there was
nearly a mid-air collision.
Restored Lockheed Constellation Columbine III at the Presidential Gallery of the Museum of the US Air Force. (Image Credit: Museum of USAF)
There
seems to be some controversy as to whether this particular plane ever
actually carried the call sign Air Force One as it was used as a back up
plane from 1954 and the Air Force One call sign wasn’t instituted until
1959. No matter, this is a historic plane worthy of preservation, in
fact it’s sister ship, Lockheed VC-121E “Columbine III” is restored and
on exhibit at the Presidential Gallery of the National Museum of the US
Air Force in Dayton Ohio.
Columbime II in better days
This particular plane was delivered to the US Air Force as a Constellation C-121A
in November 1948 and spent a year flying between MacArthur Field on
Long Island, New York and Keflavik, Iceland. The plane was returned to
Lockheed in Burbank, California for conversion to VC-121A specs in
November 1949. In 1950 it was assigned to the capitol’s Washington
National Airport where is served as a VIP aircraft before being assigned
to presidential duties in November 1952. The plane was demoted to
secondary status in 1954 upon the arrival of Columbine III and served as
the presidential backup plane until 1955.
Awaiting a new owner.. (Image Credit: Town of Marana)
The plane was then operated by Pan American Airways, registered as N9907F as “Clipper Fortuna”
on special assignment to the Government of Thailand from May to June
1955, then returned to flying VIP missions for the remainder of its USAF
career. The plane was retired by USAF and sent to Davis Monthan Air
Force Base near Tucson, Arizona for storage in April of 1968. The plane
was later sold at auction, along with five other surplussed
Constellations, to the Christler Flying Service in May of 1970. While it
was intended to be converted to an agricultural spray plane, it never
was, and instead became a source for spare parts for the other Connies
in Christler’s fleet. By 1980 the plane had been stripped of most of her
useful parts, but by the middle of the decade, perhaps realizing that
had a piece of potentially valuable machinery Christler began
reassembling the plane, using the remaining Constellations to make it
airworthy again. By 1990 the plane was in flying condition and even made
some appearances at air shows. In 1998 the plane was flown in to
Scottsdale, Arizona and offered at auction for $1.5 Million, though did
not sell, and was flown down to Santa Fe before being flown again for
storage at Marana in 2003, where it’s been for the past decade, though
it’s hardly forgotten, in 2005 it was again offered for sale, this time
for $3.2 Million.
Why the sudden rush of media coverage for this “discovered,”
“forgotten” plane? Our guess is the owners are motivated to get the old
girl sold at this point, sooner than later. Nothing like some media buzz
to generate interest. The plane is certainly worthy of preservation,
hell at this point all Constellations are, presidential pedigree
notwithstanding. Here’s hoping she goes to a good home!
The Connie was a great aircraft. We still had one where I worked in the 70's that had a cargo door installed and was used to fly jet engines around. It was designed at Lockheed Burbank by Hall Hibbard and Kelly Johnson. Johnson worked for Hibbard and was the first team leader of the famous Skunk Works. Think U2 and SR71 among many other famous aircraft. I hope they are able to complete the restoration of Columbine II.
The Connie was a great aircraft. We still had one where I worked in the 70's that had a cargo door installed and was used to fly jet engines around.
ReplyDeleteIt was designed at Lockheed Burbank by Hall Hibbard and Kelly Johnson. Johnson worked for Hibbard and was the first team leader of the famous Skunk Works. Think U2 and SR71 among many other famous aircraft.
I hope they are able to complete the restoration of Columbine II.
Interesting - thanks for providing some more info on them! Would be great if they can get her airborne again.
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