LOCKHEED LEGENDS by: Cub Flounder
You’ll hear no arguments from me that the Lockheed Constellation or “Connie” was one of the greatest aircraft in aviation history (pict1)– marking, arguably, the start of intercontinental and even trans-global air travel. I also found the link Bill provided from YouTube to be quite fascinating and informative. However, this stellar history which includes many records (such as the longest (time) passenger flight in history at over 23 hours in the air) do not change the fact that I, personally, am not at all a fan of the “Connie.” Okay, stone me or call me names if you like but I just do not find the Constellation to be very aesthetically pleasing (and I’d think an Architect would know that!). (pict2) To my eye (and this is purely subjective) it looks like Lockheed stole some spare B-29 parts for the too-big main wheels. (pict3) Then, they made the fuselage about ½ normal size and kind of bent it to fit the wings (pict4) (which were designed from the great P-38 Lightning by the way). This odd “porpoise-shaped” body means that the 9-foot tall nose gear had to be taken off a Vought Cutlass! (pict5) Lockheed could have gotten by with just one tail had they not made it 3x too small for the size of the plane … and my gripes could go on and on.
You’ll hear no arguments from me that the Lockheed Constellation or “Connie” was one of the greatest aircraft in aviation history (pict1)– marking, arguably, the start of intercontinental and even trans-global air travel. I also found the link Bill provided from YouTube to be quite fascinating and informative. However, this stellar history which includes many records (such as the longest (time) passenger flight in history at over 23 hours in the air) do not change the fact that I, personally, am not at all a fan of the “Connie.” Okay, stone me or call me names if you like but I just do not find the Constellation to be very aesthetically pleasing (and I’d think an Architect would know that!). (pict2) To my eye (and this is purely subjective) it looks like Lockheed stole some spare B-29 parts for the too-big main wheels. (pict3) Then, they made the fuselage about ½ normal size and kind of bent it to fit the wings (pict4) (which were designed from the great P-38 Lightning by the way). This odd “porpoise-shaped” body means that the 9-foot tall nose gear had to be taken off a Vought Cutlass! (pict5) Lockheed could have gotten by with just one tail had they not made it 3x too small for the size of the plane … and my gripes could go on and on.
So rather than ranting and ragging on the Connie, I’ve decided to just fly another Lockheed Legend for this FOTM: The L-188 Electra – which actually looks like a real aircraft (pict6) and, so far as I can tell, saw service with more airlines from more countries for a longer period than the Connie! (pict7) In fact, Airliners.net shows an Electra still in service in December 2007 – some 60 years after the Qantas Connie made it’s hop-scotching, 4-day trip to the UK! (pict8) Sure the Electra is a bit smaller and for that reason can’t haul as much but it is faster and can fly higher thanks to TURBINE engines. The Electra marked the first turbine engines seen by many airlines around the world and has, over its career, hauled more stuff into more places than the Constellation. (pict9) For these reasons among others, it too was (or IS) a legendary aircraft.
Some Notes:
Connie hauled 62-95 passengers ... 99-127 for the Electra
Connie was 116.2 ft long ... Electra was 104 feet
Connie was 126.2 ft wide ... Electra was 99 ft wide
Connie was only <25>
Connie cruised at 354 mph versus 405 mph cruise for Electra
Connie has a 25,000 ft ceiling ... Electra had a 28,000+ ft ceiling
Connie hauled 65,300 lb but Electra only hauled 22,825 lbs
Max T.O. weight was 137,500 lb for Connie, 116,000 lbs for Electra
Connie boasted a range >4,700 miles, only about 2,000 miles for Electra
I’ve been holding out on about 10-12 Electra repaints for just such an occasion as this – and congratulations to Bill for being the first one to propose a FOTM feature that really covers a vast territory! So, there I was enroute back to the Mumbai VA hub from ... somewhere, when I learned of Bill’s plan to “celebrate” the Connie and Qantas’ “Long-Hopper” service. Knowing full well that I would NOT be taking the Connie from Sydney to London I began thinking of where to fly the Electra. Here is a problem with getting FOTM hints ahead of time: Geert had indicated that the April FOTM would be in “Sunny Europe” so flying west from Mumbai seemed like overkill since I'd be heading that way in April – although the Mediterranean was calling at me.
March's FOTM will call for a "wide-body" flight into Islamabad so I wanted to end this month somewhere from where I could connect to for March. Considering the Electra’s 2,000-mile range I began to scheme a plan to make about 5 legs from Mumbai to Sydney. I also hoped that I could do some more flying from past FOTMs in either New Guinea or SW Oz.
Watch the full slideshow of my FOTM at: http://media.putfile.com/Lockheed-Electra
LEG ONE: After catching two full days of good rest on the beach in Mumbai I headed out, (pict10) eastward, across country, in my Bombay Air livery (the predecessor of the Air Mumbai liveries seen last month). (pict11) I've flown some shorter flights in the Electra FS model but never really enough to know what the real fuel range would be. Planning on roughly 2,000 miles I headed for Calcutta, figuring I'd then turn SE to Rangoon for my first pit-stop. I departed behind an MD-83 just before 06:00 local time and by the time I reached Rangoon I still had 71% fuel left (pict12)... waaaay off. So I changed the fuel burn ratio in the CFG file from 1.000 to 2.500. (With range like that I could just head to Perth or Papua NG from here!) As I cruised towards my next waypoint at Chumphon, Thailand I decided to land south of there at Songkhla. (pict13) Landing was near-perfect at 12:53 local time and as I started doing a little calculating (2 PM now, leave by 3:30, fly another fours makes it......dark!) I figured this was as good a spot as any to spend the night. (pict14) I know the Long-Hopper service had two nights on the ground and two in the air but it was only the 1st of February and as Bill pointed out, if you're going to feel like you are seeing some of the world you may as well stop over and SEE it!
LEG TWO: The next day (as it turns out) was Saturday, so, not too early Sunday morning (9AM)I boarded an East Asia Air (pict15) liveried Electra and continued on (pict16) toward Singapore spotting downtown and Changi as I passed overhead at 21,000 feet. I wondered where Salina was as my last several attempts at contact have been dead ends. (For those who don't know, this was not one of my torid affairs, Salina used to be a member of this club) Ultimately my destination was Bali in Peshawar, Indonesia. Arriving there 'round 14:00. The flight over all of the Indonesian Islands was increadibly scenic (pict17) and many of the tall volcanic mountains reminded me of Dick's FOTM in the Philippines! (pict18) There were a couple of them there hills that looked near 18,000 feet! Just amazing! So anyway, I was in Bali and found myself asking, "Who wouldn't want to spend the night here?"
LEG THREE: It was about 10 AM Monday that I loaded up the South Pacific Air Electra at set course, (pict19) almost due east, for Papua, New Guinea. There was a LOT of water on this flight, a few islands but mainly Ocean. (pict20) (pict21) I thought back to the 1940's and even '50s and what it must have been like to lose an engine out here. I passed the hours looking for alternates on my GPS ..... Arrival into Port Moresby was just before dusk at around 17:00. (pict22) Man, this crate is hard to slow down on finals!!
DETOUR: I spent the next week flying a Grumman Goose all around the island and into some of the places we had been on a FOTM a couple of years ago. I heard that a company in Florida is making a turbo Goose - can't wait!!! (pict23) (pict24) (pict25) (pict26) (pict27) (pict28) (pict29)
LEG FOUR: Finally I was ready head down the east coast of Oz, over the Gold Coast (pict30)(it's summertime so should be fun!!) to Syndey. Since it's hot and steamy in Australia I chose a Firefighting livery for this leg. Actually, having left Port Moresby pretty early (pict31) I took a quick 4-hour stop in Brisbane for some breakfast and a dip in the sea, then continued on into Sydney. (pict32) (pict33) (pict34)
LEG FIVE: After an additional ten days relaxing and seeing the sights in Sydney (pict35) I took a Mobile Hospital Livery Electra along another former FOTM (pict36) track to Melbourne. (pict37)These last two legs were flown at a slightly lower altitude than the prior legs' 21,000 feet. (pict38) (pict39)
Bill, great historic flights, I love these - even if I don't love the Connie! (pict40) It was also great to get to see some of the sights from past FOTMs again and what a treat to land in some places I've never been to before (like Songkhla, Thailand). Thanks again for the great adventures!
pretendpilot@yahoo.com
