Connie flyers?

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by Airspeed »

cstorey wrote:
01 Jan 2021, 11:21
Mike, Happy new Year to all .

Was your article by Reg Darwell ? If so , an amazing bloke who comes on our old car jaunts in the UK , and until recently was racing an MGB in Oz !
Hi Chris,
Happy New Year to you too.
The article which I read, was by Sandy Howard, a 747 pilot in his daily life back then.

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by Airspeed »

Thanks Nigel and Aharon,
As mentioned above, and in the article, the Flight Engineer is an essential part of the team, to keep all the balls in the air simultaneously.

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by cstorey »

Mike - for interest, Reg Darwell started as an Office Boy with Qantas c. mid to late 1950s , got a PPL via the Flying Club, started on the Connies about 1958, and then progressed through the fleet, 707s, 767s , to be one of the chief pilots on 747s. He now still at nearly 80 flies the Connie at the Avalon airshow, and is amusing to hear on the fact that because there are now only about 3 people worldwide qualified as Captains on the Connies, they have to check each other out ! He gave the speech at the recent QANTAS centenary celebrations

Article here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-17/ ... t/12890746

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by Airspeed »

Hi Chris,
Are you saying that he's the only one who flies the Connie at Avalon?
I've been to three shows there, can't remember if "Connie" was there, but I definitely saw her flying at Moorabbin Air Fair 1994.(corrected year in edit)
Like everyone else, I clearly remember the squealing brakes and volumes of oil smoke on start up.
I'll check my Airshows and Airports photos, about Avalon.
EDIT:
If you want to see the photos......site address in signature block,
Yes! "Connie" was at Avalon 2017. The photos of it are in the Warbirds gallery, because I was in the warbirds area when she took off.
There are clearer shots at the Moorabbin Community Air Fair,1994, that's on Moorabbin 3 /Airshow visitors gallery.

I'll watch your link later, thanks. ;)
EDIT 2 Read that, thanks Chris.

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by AllanL »

The Lockheed Constellation was known as the fastest three-engined airliner in its day.

Apparently, when my mother flew from Calcutta back to Scotland on her own while pregnant with me, the QANTAS Connie she flew on lost an engine between Calcutta and Kharachi. So they had to wait for another engine to arrive before continuing the flight.

At least she ensured that I'd be eligible for a Scottish passport when Nippy Sweetie declares UDI from Bungling Boris :)

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by Airspeed »

AllanL wrote:
04 Jan 2021, 23:37
The Lockheed Constellation was known as the fastest three-engined airliner in its day.

.........
Yes, I read that somewhere, Allan.

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by cstorey »

I don't recall the Lockheed having a reputation for unreliability. The airliner of that era which was notorious, was the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, the R 4360 "corncob" engines being renowned for going on fire as a rehular occurrence !

Going back to Reg Darwell, I think he is the last Australian survivor qualified as a captain on L749/1049, and he certainly has flown it at recent airshows in Eastern Australia, although it was grounded for about 12 months , about 2 years ago, with the loss of an engine . There is a wonderful video of it in the dusk at one of the shows with exhaust flames clearly visible

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Re: Connie flyers?

Post by johnhinson »

The Constellations certainly did have a reputation for engine failures. If you look at records for those that crashed you will see that many did so after losing a second engine. But it may only be a certain type, I think the later (larger) ones had different engines but don't quote me.

I have a DVD of a cargo example taking off from Miami on 3½ engines - the fourth seemed to be backfiring and they baulked the first take-off attempt but went for it at the second attempt. It made such a slow climb it looked as if it only just cleared some skyscrapers. Presumably they shut it down once away, I hope they made it home to Venezuela which I think is where they were bound.

i have never tried the A2A Constellation as the Manfred Jahn ones have far more liveries available, as do the 049s and 149s which I think were made by somebody else. Some varieties seem a little over-powered on climb-out but I think otherwise they are pretty realistic. Perhaps I'm too gentle with them, but I haven't observed any built in failures any any of the variations.

The main thing with any piston-engined airliners, real or simulated, is that they shouldn't be thrashed. There is usually a time limit for maximum power on take-off and you must throttle back almost as soon as you are off the ground.

They all chuck out clouds of blue smoke on startup by nature (I remember watching Atlantique's DC-6s do the same at Coventry), and drip oil too. That same DVD showed a cargo ramp at Miami that was actually concrete but looked as if it was newly-laid asphalt!

Best regards,

John

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