Forgotten Aircraft - Lockheed Constitution

[fantazum2011]

I'm amazed they scrapped this beautiful aircraft

[WizzRacing]

Wow they serves real food back in the day. Now your lucky to get a coke and a bag of peanuts!

[FrederickDelarge]

What a great clip! Many thanks for posting. But what happened to the Constitution? Looks as if it were in advance of our Bristol Brabazon at the time.

[wlh1usa]

cool, this is where the 747 double deck idea must have came from

[alex9734]

6 rockets and 4 props! Yess that looks efficient!

[kirkconway]

another big aircraft that didnt work.

four R-4360's and double deck's.

[gto66solstice08]

To an old Jet Mech of the 70's USAF, it is so strange to see 4 little props pulling this monster along

[cubantoro]

I remember that one of the planes was near Opa Locka Airport near Miami,FL. I think it was going to be converted to a restaurant... or something... but it wound up getting broken up. I remember seeing it parked when we went visiting my Mom's friends who lived down the street from it.

[dpohunter]

Great footage. I'm glad I had the presence of mind to take a couple shots of the Constitution that ended up at Opa Locka- off airport- sitting in a vacant lot. It was in the news regularly as plan after plan to save it ran out of time. A sad end to an incredible piece of flying history.

[may411]

I like the music selections

[moreleftpedal]

Jesus. Hows that turn and landing at 3.0min...

[GruntyStudios]

It's even got a spiral staircase between dicks.

[carmium]

Doesn't it seem like the rockets are being fired AFTER the plane lifts off?!

[MandolinHymns]

@carmium The rockets were fired immediately after rotation,  and were used not so much to "get it off the ground" but to keep it in the air in case of an engine failure. Gave it a much needed margin of safety during a potentially hazardous phase of flight!

[heettreet]

@carmium yes ,,,, and if they wanted to use less runway ,, that didn't happen ,,,,,,, unless they wanted to just clear trees ,,,,

[slarsonmd]

My father, LCDR Vernon (Swede) Larson USN, was a test pilot on this aircraft in Burbank. He set a coast-to-coast speed record in the aircraft--we still have the newspaper clipping of his flight, on the front page of the LA TIMES, above the fold.

[bvoe9843]

I had the pleasure of riding in the Constitution as a Navy passenger in 1952 from Alameda Naval Air Station to NAAS Fallon, Neveda. It required JATO to get off the runway at Alameda. It took off from Fallon Empty without JATO. The plane carried all non-flying personal of our squadron VF-93 and all necessary equipment to mainteain 16 F9F-3 fighters for two weeks. I remember it was a very bumpy ride! We sat on the lower deck, the equipment and cargo was loaded on the top deck.

[ArmandAllegro]

Thanks Bomberguy. I have watched a lot of your videos. Good job!

[MegaELECTRICEYE]

I assume this aircraft did not make it back then because of the cost to operate it. The samething airbus or the airlines will find out about the A380.

[Ordie76]

ha.. (3:05) 180 passengers or 400 troops.. They really pack them in their like sardines for overseas trips. I couldn't imagine the room you wouldn't have being packed in there like that for a 12-14 hour trip overseas.

[MrMKH2010]

@Ordie76 Try being packed into the passenger compartment of a C-5B for 9 1/2 hours from Rhein Main AFB to Dover AFB. Noisy and no fun.

[Ordie76]

@MrMKH2010 How about Balad, Iraq to Dover AFB? or McGuire to Ramstein?

[Ordie76]

@MrMKH2010 How about Balad, Iraq to Dover AFB? or McGuire to Ramstein?

[Ordie76]

ha.. (3:05) 180 passengers or 400 troops.. They really pack them in their like sardines for overseas trips. I couldn't imagine the room you wouldn't have being packed in there like that for a 12-14 hour trip overseas.

[multicorncake]

I flew on one of these, back in the day.

[killingamps]

Hmm...looks like the C-97

[MrGotsquashed]

Yall got the music down!

[TV843]

Amazing how much the nose section resembles Boeing's current 747. Goes to show you how much there's purpose in design.

[twal1011]

Never heard of this plane until today. Thank you for sharing this video!

[dukegreg]

Passenger comfort WAS rule #1, what a beauty, THANKS Bomberguy for your amazing collection. Passenger comfort for all of us coach passengers went away with the L1011 and DC10 in 1992 never to return for walk on coach service. A 380 and 787 holds some hope, big cabin but still small seats, oh well, Bring back the Lockheed Constitution ! spiral stairway, double decker, good fuel economy?

[backintack]

i wish lockheed still made commercial planes

[arias1772]

Forgotten?  lockheed constellation is forever

[TV843]

@arias1772 Yeah, everbody knows about the Constellation, but how about the "Constitution"--the plane in the video?

[arias1772]

@TV843 yeah i didn't even watch the video. dummy me haha.

[rbtbfree]

Hello xr60...Sorry I did no see any props around

[Axgoodofdunemaul]

I'm not sure but I think I saw two of these parked on the tarmac at Opa-Locka Florida in 1968. I was told they were part of a failed scheme to create flying offshore gambling casinos.

[nubbie1944]

@Axgoodofdunemaul I do know there was at least one at Opa-Locka until the early 80s I believe.

[mrnewagemotor]

I would rather do my flying on an airliner like that than any of the new junk they herd us into these days anytime !!! What style - what class - what safety - and range 5,000 miles !!!

[fjbutch]

Have these Aircraft been spared from the graveyard?

[PUTMEONTHEREDLIST]

Great song.. coming from a 20 year old kid..

[Mikki952101]

This was the plane my dad was co-pilot on. He was Cdr. J. W. Robinson. My sis and I were at the Chrstening in Burbank, CA in the 40's.

[irish89055]

@Mikki952101 that's kewl Mikki... What did he fly in the war?

[Tockertive]

Wow! It's like an A380 with props. Hmmm, perhaps the boys in France were obsessed with this aircraft....

[gblpst81]

She was a beautiful old girl. Too bad she didn't see more success and higher production numbers. That would've been a great one to see in a museum.

[SFConifer]

It takes a Lockheed to beat a Lockheed

[duxberry1958]

a guess who Boeing copied

[michaelhypno]

Doc Emmett Brown worked on this one--he found that when it reached 88-MPH it would go back to the future -however some Libyans killed him before he could complete his work

[tunkunrunk]

this is airbus A380 ancestor , double decker plane were built many years before , today we are only improving old technologies

[topgun51]

i think you could say this was a early try at a L-1011, with props.

[TIMOTHYSAARINEN]

@topgun51, Funny, I thought about the L-1011 too while watching this. As wonderful as modern aircraft are, I definitely miss the good old days of large prop driven planes, and I mean non turbo prop planes. As a kid in the 60's here in Portland, Maine, Northeast Airlines operated DC-3's and DC-7's as passenger carriers. In 1969 they were replaced with DC-9's. Exciting at the time, jets soon became boring. 727's, 757's (love them) and now the ultra boring 737's. Love to see just 1 Constellation!

[rbtbfree]

2nd part

IN 2007 I had to do this job..about two miles west of the las vegas airport..and this guy had the engines off this aircraft setting in the back of his business...I asked him how he had got a hold of them..and he told me that he was contracted to help scrap her..and they just gave him the engines..I am sure if he still has them he would sell the cheap.....If any one wants more INFO let me know..and I will tell you where I had found them..

[XR60]

Do you know if he had any props off those engines?

[rbtbfree]

When I was a small kid, I toured one of these aircraft. Its last landing was in Las vegas Nev..A man named G.Crocket ..bought this aircraft for advertisement for is FBO called Almo Airways In the 60's..If you fly into Las vegas..they have the have a small aviation museum..above the main baggage pickup.with lots of info...The last time I seen this aircraft all in one piece..someone had bought it to make a Night club/Bar out of it..Sat for years. they ran out of money, county made them SCRAPE IT

[zeekwolfe]

No doubt Congress ignored the Constitution in the middle forties just like today.

[heettreet]

@zeekwolfe whoa!!!!!!! wish i said that

[Nlangkirby135]

What's the name of the song?

[rooftopjump]

29?

[shitimeem]

the lady from 29 palms by dorthy day i think

[andya2719]

"The Lady From Twenty-Nine Palms"

The Andrews Sisters. Also by Guy Lombardo and others.

[ThunderAppeal]

Seeing that America was this advanced and so far ahead of everyone at the time, but failed to follow through on the execution really creates some serious pain right down to my soul. The shortsightedness by politicians is astounding to me.

[DEP717]

A shame they scrapped her, imagine her at an airshow today!

[DrBPhD]

A museum would have been better. It's hard to keep such a plane airworthy. They were just 2 of a kind all together and I guess there is not much documentation available anymore on specs and maintanance.

[1vdn992]

The Plane has a low stall speed, is empty, and is being flown by the military at a base

[Soarhead77]

Definitely - you wouldn't normally use the wing down method on anything but an airplane with short wings - you do risk hitting the ground with the wing otherwise.

[Gruntol5]

That landing at 2.54 looks as close to a crash as I have seen! I'm not even sure it's real film. Could it have been faked?

[Alexvideoclip]

Not fake, that airplane had folding wings.

[Gruntol5]

Folding wings? Are you completely insane?

[Alexvideoclip]

I've never been soo sirious, even the landing gears were retractable.

[chrigel1234]

I don't think so, but it is a very unusual approach. Maybe one of the flight certification tests...

[Soarhead77]

That's the other method of landing in a cross - wind than using "slip". This is the wing down method.

[Gruntol5]

Soarhead: For such a large aircraft, that landing looked distinctly dicey. Either a very skilful or very lucky pilot.

[beagleyid6]

Not a lucky pilot....an incredibly accurate and experienced pilot.....my dad....Roy Wimmer.

[Gruntol5]

Your dad? Amazing. My compliments to him. My dad was an RAF bomber pilot in WW2. Flew Bristol Blenheims and Douglas Bostons till 1943 when shot down over France. Spent 2 years as a POW.

P.S. My "lucky pilot" comment seems to have vanished and replaced by my original comment, which is now duplicated. I wish YouTube would get themselves sorted out!

[Mikki952101]

@Gruntol5  The pilot was Cdr Collins and my dad, Cdr J. W. Robinson. :)

[vwsambabus]

the A380 in the 50's

[pacificbound67]

@vwsambabus Only difference is this old bird is much better looking.!!LOL

[vwsambabus]

@pacificbound67

you're right! xD

[InfiniteMushroom]

@vwsambabus I'd say the Bristol Brabazon would have been the A380 of the 50's. The U.K. was so financially weak after WW2 that they didn't have the finances to continue the Brabazon's development. Rather than admit such weakness, the Brabazon was accused of being unprofitable before it had a chance to work any problems out and be useful. It would have made a magnificent military transport.

The same shameful fate was handed to the Saunders Roe Princess flying boat. Great aircraft, wrong time.

[boneheadvideo]

I also remember the one that was parked at opa-locka.Did any one remember there use to be prop slices in the fusealage? Their use to be a air school right next to it and some people did not go thru their check list before start up and guess what happened?

[yevgeni2905]

what is his range??

[felipe2157]

outstandind

[jtp0321]

That banking landing was freakin' awesome. The flaps on that momma jomma are huge too.

[cobra8811]

lol.airbus own

[joebobshouse]

One was dismantled at McCarran in the 60s'. The other cut-up at Opa-Loca (Miami) in the middle seventies over in "corrosion corner". Motors are R-4360s. See also: Convair XC-99 (even larger). 6 R-4360s using wing of B-36. Also a double-decker.

[charb747]

I remember the Opa-Loca bird, I was just a little boy in the late 70s and my dad use to take me to see that airplane which was just east of the airport in a lot on 135st.(Opa-Loca BLVD)

[georgeacaley]

when I bought this bird from Sunline Helicopter it was already burned. They told me it was to fly to Barcelona to be a nightclub the story was that someone was shot in the plane and it was set on fire and burned a big hole in the upper floor but they closed the door and the fire smothered out. I could not get a permit to put it on Red Road so I had to abandon the project. I had a C-46 on the road as a rocket ship with a trip to the moon at the time. NASA film and voice of Alan Shepard

[georgeacaley]

I bought this airplane from Sunline Helicopter at a auction after a article ran in the Miami Herald about the plane. I still have the clipping but it has turned dark. I would like the original if anyone has it. I wanted to put it on a lot on red road as a tourest attraction but the mayor of Hileah would not give me a permit. It was awsome with seating for 5 across in the cockpit. sleeping for 5 you could almost stand up to reach the inboard thru a hach in the forward lower comp 570-544-5264.

[clerlic]

You bought a real airplane? How much did it cost?

[ericbob04]

Did these ships get fully dismantled or are they in a museum somewhere?

[MilesB1975]

'180 Passengers or 400 Troops' , I guess the troops won't get their choice of inflight movies or a vegetarian meal!?

[SSCFPA]

I reckon I have a very good knowledge of aviation, but before this video I don't remember ever of hearing of this machine.

So thanks for the fascinating video.

The nose/cockpit reminds me of the later DC-8 jetliner, on steroids.

[ENCOMAN]

Hi SSCFPA, Lockheed built two of these. at what was called the "constitution hanger" at Burbank airport. Sad but I saw that hanger get torn down with the skunk works, f-117, P-38 SR-71 all came down in the mid 90's when Lookheed left California. I took some bricks home.

[gotstars]

what a terrific plane for the time..why did this plane not make it

[98RamMagnum]

It probably wasn't cost effective enough to make it.

[wormbaby79]

1 in the 1940 i would be HARD to sell 180 tickets to anwhere.

2 it needed a HUGE runway to take off or JATOs.

3 The engines sucked. You actually had to leave all the grills and access hatches open to cool them during flight which increased drag and made it even less efficiant.

[Sh0KcWave]

Interesting note there about the engines.

Do you think they could have installed a better engine type ?

Or was the aircraft simply too big for the engine technology they had at the time ?

I can't imagine that using 4 to 6 JATO's for take-off's would have made it more cost effective either.

[wormbaby79]

I don't think they were wrong necessarily it would be able to take off unassisted from a modern runway. The problem was originally considered an advantage. These engines were accesable in flight via tunnels in the wings. All that extra tunnel room prolly caused the overheating and therefore the power loss. If they had been in nacelles who knows!

[skipstalforce]

that is one big ass plane

[DAVCOUGAR]

what is the song at the start?

[rallyden]

thanks bomberguy. great video of interesting airplanes from the past.

if it flew today, it would undoubtedly carry the callsign xyz "heavy". imagine a heavy designation and it's not a jet!!

[Zempin1]

Probably it would be a medium not a heavy airplane, because of its max gross weight of 83000 kgs. Heavy ones have masses over 136000 kgs nowadays.(except from b 757), due to its very strong wake.

But nevertheless big plane!

[Scoused5000]

The Prophetic sign of the new airbus!

[Nosferatuonline]

wow! Impressive airframe for the 40's

[OtisSpain]

Y con música de las Andrews Sisters ¡qué guapo!

[tahrqa]

The Lady From 29 Palms - The Andrews Sisters

[TheA320Expert]

fantastic vid Bomberguy my friend, it shows that there is very little that has not already been done or tried in aviation.

[MilliVanilli2007]

2 decks?! Never knew this has been tried before

[vidcritic27]

The new Airbus has 2 decks.

[bruunobanaani]

wtf, a stupid gas billboard in some smelly desert? and how could they just scrap the other one? why not keep it in one piece or broke it and save the parts... so stupid.

[BC107BP]

LOL... they used JATO rockets on short runways...

[lejink]

180 passengers, or 400 troops. must be a shitty ride for the troops.. what are they sitting on eachothers laps?!

[dcooke1989]

incredibly manurverable for a plane of that size! like how the rockets help the plane take off.

[Adreen82]

This great plane was actually taken from the famous da vinci design. It was actually built in 1933 though. These fact are all wrong on this video

[shaquo890]

at 3:13 those dudes got some balls to be standing so close!

[junkdeal]

I know about nothing on airplanes, but several years ago , I got involved in the demolition of an orphan plane at Chicago's Midway airport. It was stored at 0'hare for a while, and the owners were going to static-restore it for a museum. It was the last of it's kind, and I think it was a Constitution or Constellation, but I'm not sure. It was about a big pile of scrap metal, and that was what it ended up. Sheared up, and packed into scrap condolas.

Does anyone know about this?

[eatpogs]

it was a constellation. poor connie. there's a few still flying in australia (restored), but I believe that was one of the last connie carcasses in the states. faced backwards when you flew, and if you got a window seat, you could see flames shooting out the exhaust at night. had to be fun to see as a first time flyer.

[spencnaz]

What a waste of a good airplane, as a billboard. Typical of the wasteful attitudes of North American industry, no wonder they're hurting now.

[TJWatson59]

Great collection of videos! On this particular one, what is that air-mail postcard all about? "Ford Studebaker, Vice President, Hawaiian Airlines Ltd."?

[TJWatson59]

Wait...I just found out..that was a REAL guy! What a name!

[ataramprat]

Ir reminds me of an early A-380, especially the nose section.

[Powertampa]

is one of the two still exsisting?

[pulgabros]

To answer your question, no. Both were retired to the then Navy storage depot Litchfield park. One aircraft was was used by Alamo Aircraft as a commercial sign for the company. Alamo Aircraft was painted on the tail of the plane. It was then abandonned. Later, it was broken apart by the request of Howard Hughes. The second aircraft was flown from Litchfield to Florida where it was then left derilect in a field. It was then destroyed when vandals set the plane on fire. Hope this helps.

[Samovarius]

I think the engine should be typed as R-4360 Wasp Major.

[AMCKenA]

and 12 Bearcats for escort. : )

[greenseaships]

That last caption comes like a slug in the gut.

[vc10derness]

what a crazy landing approach!!(from2:50)

[pete5668]

takes ya back

[MaxXclark]

Note : It had a nice walk in food freezer too!

[afconcorde]

How do you do it bomberguy not only do you show rear aircraft but you also find video of them

[cumpot4u]

not to menssion the mail ticked thingy.

[Hypsan]

Great compiliation of footage! That last shot of the Constitution being used as a desert gas station billboard was truly heartbreaking! Plane reminded me a lot of Airbus' new double-decker, except that it preceded it by a mere 60 years!! Amazing feat of engineering for 1946!  Too bad it didn't make the grade. Thanks again for this very nice video!

[InfiniteMushroom]

What a shame to be reduced to a gas station billboard! It should've been sold to a foreign country that could've made good use of it.

[Eric2221]

WOW...i learned something today!! Nice job man

[fordlandau]

This is remarkable! thanks for adding to my knowledge...this aeroplane shows clearly that the so called miracle of the Airbus A380 was presaged over 60 years ago..the Constellation looks better too ( I am not an Airbus fan as if you couldn't t ell !)

[specklebelly23]

thanx bomberguy.

[fanofjets]

Thanks for the awesome footage! Convair also built a double-deck giant based on its B-36 bomber and proposed a passenger variant, the Model 37 (also for Pan American). The company even had a jet-powered variant on the drawing boards! Martin proposed similar two-deck trans-oceanic comfort with its giant Mars flying boat and Saro actually built the Princess. These were interesting times, indeed! The use of the Constitution as an airliner, however, is new to me.

[dowling1981]

fanofjets - Do you wear an anorak?

[likepatsandGTOs]

Man, the post WW2 period had such cool aircraft...what a time to be in aviation

[RSIXV]

I spent a year flying on these aircraft while with VR-5 in 1952. I had over 100 hours of flight time. The aircraft was underpowered with 4630 engines. There was a proposal to replace them with turbo-props ... but that never came to pass ..... if anyone has some questions would be glad to respond

[sarkizmutafyan]

hey that was like an Airbus A380 in this times :)

[trinnhedy]

It cracks me up how they say "It can carry 180 passengers or 400 troops." Suck it in boys!

[leptadlo]

Hawkins & Powers Aviation in WYoming used a KC-97 as a forest-fire extinguisher in the 80s.

[375GTB]

OK, by me.....but this aircraft is NOT a Boeing product, it is not a 377, C-97 or KC-97....it's a LOCKHEED!!

J.C.

[leptadlo]

I stand corrected. I got confused by the 8-shaped fuselage similarity + an older comment on C-97 here. Thanks.

[gooneybird47]

Once again,Bomberguy brings us a classy clip of another forgotten aircraft...keep 'em comin'. Great stuff !!!

[venicebeachbud28]

Pan Am tried to configure this for commercial use, however the ideas were stolen and moved to Boeing where the much of its technology was adapted to create the 747. Notice the nose/cockpit is very similar to that of the 747. These 2 planes were ordered destroyed, including their history of ever existing, due to collusion on part of Pan Am, the gov and Boeing. This plane looks far better than the A380 though.

[peter455sd]

-Weights 22 tons more than a 707 and got a cruise speed of a Cessna Skylane,even for 1940s standards it was no good!

[whizbang47]

Wasn't this the one that could either carry the fuel or fill the seats? I saw it as a child, maybe 1950, with a big FLY NAVY painted down the side.

[askerlad]

HRD TO BELIEVE IT FLIES....LOL COOL.

[TsurugiJiri]

Andrews Sisters, excellent!

[slrman]

Aww, Bomberguy, you've done it again! Excellent blend of newsreels and music.

Those spiral staircases were seen again on the 747. So I guess new stuff isn't all that new?

This would have become a standard world airliner but for the rapid progress in turbine-powered aircraft.

[megashegem]

Loved all those Bearcats flying with it at approx. 3.32.

[XR60]

That was a great video Bomberguy!

I really enjoyed it! My family owned the last Constitution(the one that flew to Washington)#164 that was scrapped in Miami in 1978. The First One #163 was ordered scrapped in Las Vegas in 1969.

[Flyermac]

For its epoch, it had a much more advanced front shape than the A380 has in this time of much higher technology.

Are still there any units preserved?

[tdub1941]

Great Video! 5 STars !

RagJazzMonkey

Tom Warner

[costamesa22]

Great video thanks for posting this.

[Mikojan88]

Looks good.

[CropDusterMan]

Hey Bomberguy! I really enjoy your films...the great old music and I love the classic narator voices...thanks for the hard work!

[zimmerking2]

In the mid 1960s, one sat at Opa Locka airport (near Miami) for a long time. I think it was scrapped there. I got into the fuselage several times. I knew that there were crawl holes in the wings; didn't try getting in them though.

[kathryn807]

Did you fight in world war 2?

[DartDakota]

Of course he did, he flew a Nakajima G8N in the Battle of GuadalCanal. Sorry BG, have I blown your secret?

[Bomberguy]

Great Dart, now everone knows!

[denberg2]

Keep 'em coming, Bomberguy!

[peepeevagi]

It's a double decker superfortress.

[DartDakota]

No, that was the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. Have a look at the Boeing web site. Just type Stratocruiser into Google.

[teenonator]

AKA the C-97

[faireyswordfishmk1]

nice. great video bomberguy