N178UA From United Arab Emirates, joined Jan 2001, 1626 posts, RR: 69 Posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 14900 times:
Background
Historian Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) operates a variety of restored historical aircraft such as the Lockheed 1049G “Connie” Super Constellation , Dakota C-47, Neptune and Catalina. The above mentioned aircraft are invited to Canberra for the Airport open day display event in late March 2010which involving flight from HARS base at Albion Park, NSW (Wollongong) to Canberra, a 104 mile journey across the countryside.
An airport executive friend of mine have secured a few seats as sponsors so the “unthinkable” of a ride on the Connie is happening! I was excited to count down but also keep an open mind if at the end it doesn’t happen. Nothing in Aviation term is certain until it happened!
Prior to the day, I was disappointed as I have been allocated to fly the DC-3 and Catalina, but not the Constellation. Luckily on the day, HARS were able to accomoadate my wishful request. The final itenary is to fly the Dakota DC-3 one way to Canberra from HARS base at Albion Park, and returning the next day on the Connie!
I used to hate props and devoted my entire interest on wide-body aircraft, in both flying and photography terms. Because of having this prejudice, I have never flown a DC-3 (or Dakota C-47) until now even there were plenty of opportunity as several DC-3 operators in Australia were still active in late 90s and early 2000.
Both C47 and Constellation been towed outside of the hangar and ready to board!
There were only 5 passengers onboard this flight to Canberra. The interior of the plane is similar to military plane, with a long bench across the aisle facing each other. Of course, no IFE , no inflight service but a lot of history. The pilot later told me VH-EAF was the longest serving plane in the Royal Australian Air Force for almost 50 years before retirement and now operate by HARS.
The ride was very smooth onboard the DC-3. It was a sunny afternoon to fly across the country. I have taken some window shots from the small square window. We reached crusing level of 6000 feet with air speed 145 knots and after 30 minutes, top of descent to Canberra. You can stand behind the pilots during flight cruise .
Photos through the tiny square window of C-47
Landing was particularly interesting as the Dac keep its nose high and gently touch down on Canberra Rwy35. You do get a slight feel of rolling down from the front to the rear of the aircraft due to the design of the gears
Cockpit Re-visited after landing
Yours truly posing in the cockpit!
Meanwhile, some of our group is arriving on the Catalina right after us. Although the Catalina took off before us,it took 20 more minutes to reach Canberra due to the slower speed. We overtook them!
The flight on Lockheed Super Constellation “Connie” VH-EAG Built 1955
Connie is the absolute pride and flagship of HARS. I am not sure how many airworthy L1049G is still around in the world. At the end of the airport open day around 2pm, we line up to board the Connie via the rear stairs. Opportunity were given to take photos inside the aircraft and a free seating policy is adopted.
Total 19 pax today , mostly are HARS engineers and volunteers but include 5 lucky aviation enthusiasts.
Ready to board around 2pm
Boarding via rear stairway
Walking up to the front
Frontal view of the L1049G Constelltion
The Rear Toilet. Pretty sure it is non-pressurized!
The Cockpit , 4 man operating
Immediate behind the cockpit, there is bunk bed, suppose this is original configuration for trans-ocean flights on L1049G.
Settle down with "Exit Row" seat. Note the window frame is open and door removed for some fresh air!
Another view from my seat. Free Seating today with a total of 19 pax only!
At 14:20pm, all doors closed to depart
An interesting feature is the engineer have to climb up via stairs to the cabin, after closing its cargo doors before departure.
The 4 engines start one by another, it was rather smokey start which this video link best illustrate the scene
You can see there are flames coming out of the exhaust of the engines. As i am used to fly on jets, I wasn’t expecting seeing any flames so I was alarmed and worried for a moment. Later on I realise this may be due to the combustion of oxygen. The flames were gone when the plane reach higher cruising altitude. The takeoff and climb was rather slow and gentle.
Once reaching cruising altitude, soft drinks and lollies were served and everyone is free to roam around the cabin. You can visit the cockpit by standing behind but it is quite small, narrow and dark. Only the pilots seats slighter higher gets a good view of the window.
The Constellation cruise at 5700 feet, with 200 air speed, in a very short time, the top of descend begins coincide with some stormy activity near the coast.
You can see the flames out of engine again as the plane descends to lower altitude!
At 3:15pm local time, the Connie arrived home base at Albion Park/ Wollongong regional airport.
After a very smooth landing, the Connie gets towed next to the hangar and passenger deplane and our joyflight came to an end.
You can see the cargo door is under the belly.
To conclude, I am extemely satisfied with both the C-47 and L1049G Connie Constellation flights. 2 flight memories that I treasured and became fonder and fonder each day it goes by. The 2 type entries are also well regarded on my logbook! I have never wanted to fly these props so much as jets, but looking back I have to tell myself that I am very lucky to have the chances given. I was told normally these flights only taking HARS volunteers and members but no general public. I am very proud of being flown in a Constellation in 2010.
HARS is a wonderful non profitable organization. Thanks again to all the organizing parties for this to happen!
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1620 posts, RR: 42 Reply 1, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 14872 times:
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Hello Sam, awesome report! Thanks for sharing. I have my fair share of DC-3 flights so I know what you're talking about, however I can only dream about flying on the L-1049. I love how the camera microphones cant handle the roaring sound of the mighty engines.
113312 From United States of America, joined Apr 2005, 537 posts, RR: 1 Reply 2, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 14534 times:
Sam, you are one of the BEST photographers. But please, less use of the fisheye lens. You're giving me a headache.
lychemsa From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 905 posts, RR: 3 Reply 3, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 14427 times:
It's a shame the inside cabin is not the same as existed originally. Window curtains etc.
ClassicLover From Ireland, joined Mar 2004, 4524 posts, RR: 25 Reply 4, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 14229 times:
You are indeed extremely lucky - there are only something like 5 flyable Constellations in the world, with the HARS example being the only one flying today (per their web site). You are indeed lucky lucky lucky!
Thanks so much for sharing the report - really really appreciate it! Great photos - as always!
[Edited 2010-09-11 10:42:59]
I do quite enjoy a spot of flying - more so when it's not in Economy!
N178UA From United Arab Emirates, joined Jan 2001, 1626 posts, RR: 69 Reply 8, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 13520 times:
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 1): I love how the camera microphones cant handle the roaring sound of the mighty engines.
Haha yeah, that roar sound is quite something. Haven't heard that roar for a long time travelling...
Quoting 113312 (Reply 2): But please, less use of the fisheye lens. You're giving me a headache
Good news, getting a new 14-24mm, hopefully fisheye will be retired soon.
Some of the photo is actually taken with Canon 18mm non-fisheye lens
Quoting ClassicLover (Reply 4):
Thanks so much for sharing the report - really really appreciate it! Great photos - as always!
Quoting EC001 (Reply 5):
VERY NICE TR! It isn't very common to see such a report taking place on a Constellation!
Great report. Good to see the insides of this aircraft, as I have seen it fly at Avalon etc.
Quoting cpd (Reply 7):
While I knew one of the people involved with Connie, I haven't been fortunate to fly on it. (Though I've been in it). You are a lucky person!
Thanks guys. Hopefully I get time to write more .
Cheers
The777Man From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 6088 posts, RR: 56 Reply 9, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 13496 times:
Hi Sam!
Very nice report with great pictures! You are very lucky to get to fly on a L-1049 ! I've flown on a DC-3 in Sweden in 1990 and I'm curious how the DC-3 compares to the L-1049 regarding speed, climb performance etc ?
The777Man
Need a Boeing 777 Firing Order....Further to fly....GA, T5, CI and LX 777s
henkybaby From Netherlands, joined May 2008, 593 posts, RR: 4 Reply 10, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 13355 times:
Excellent read and definitely a unique report. It is always great to fly something so majestic. I love the Connie.
Quoting 113312 (Reply 2): less use of the fisheye lens. You're giving me a headache.
I could not agree more. A fish-eye should be used with great discretion and even then you should really consider correcting the distortion. You can use Capture DX for that if you are a Nikon man. It makes for incredible shots.
I see you are thinking 14-24mm. Try an 11-16mm instead. If you use Nikon, Tokina makes a really great one that is not that expensive! Look forward to seeing more.
N178UA From United Arab Emirates, joined Jan 2001, 1626 posts, RR: 69 Reply 11, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 13315 times:
Quoting henkybaby (Reply 10): I could not agree more. A fish-eye should be used with great discretion and even then you should really consider correcting the distortion. You can use Capture DX for that if you are a Nikon man. It makes for incredible shots.
I see you are thinking 14-24mm. Try an 11-16mm instead. If you use Nikon, Tokina makes a really great one that is not that expensive! Look forward to seeing more.
Thanks Master Henkybaby. my apologies for the fisheye distortion effect and hopefully one day I will get better in the fields of wideangle photography.
Correcting a fisheye shot may defeat the purpose using fisheye lens for wide angle at the beginning. I leave this to the photographer forum expert to debate
But for now, I am afraid my Connie TR photos are fisheye mostly and I apologize if this offend anyone else beforehand..
One more Fisheye (and non correction TR) of Fiji Island Hopping to come!
triple7man From Thailand, joined May 2005, 681 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 12874 times:
Quoting N178UA (Thread starter): You can see there are flames coming out of the exhaust of the engines. As i am used to fly on jets, I wasn’t expecting seeing any flames so I was alarmed and worried for a moment. Later on I realise this may be due to the combustion of oxygen. The flames were gone when the plane reach higher cruising altitude. The takeoff and climb was rather slow and gentle.
Constellations do produce flames on takeoff. They diminish as the plane climbs higher and needs less power.
In 1962 I flew DCA-EWR-DCA on Eastern Airlines Air Shuttle which at that time used Super G (or maybe Super C) Constellations. I sat on the front row and experienced what you did. The return flight was a night flight and you should have seen the flames on takeoff at night.
Glad you got to experience a flight on a Constellation. It was at one time probably the most elegant plane in the sky. I miss the Eastern and TWA Constellations for sure.
cpd From Australia, joined Jun 2008, 4879 posts, RR: 44 Reply 15, posted (2 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 12565 times:
Quoting N178UA (Reply 11): But for now, I am afraid my Connie TR photos are fisheye mostly and I apologize if this offend anyone else beforehand..
No problems here. The fisheye effect is part of the great thing about those lense - much more dynamic looking images.
You should try to get some night time photos of Connie powering up - that can be extremely spectacular with a lot of fire. Almost but not quite afterburner effect.
ronerone From Jordan, joined Aug 2004, 1541 posts, RR: 54 Reply 16, posted (2 years 8 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 12172 times:
Excellent TR Sam!
You are indeed very lucky to fly L1049!! It is way before our times that i know almost nothing about it! The engines look so powerful, lean, and mean! haha
Thanks a lot for sharing mate!
Cheers,
Roni
A Stop Away From One-Stop, Is Non-Stop : Airbus A340-500
henkybaby From Netherlands, joined May 2008, 593 posts, RR: 4 Reply 17, posted (2 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 11942 times:
Quoting N178UA (Reply 11): Correcting a fisheye shot may defeat the purpose using fisheye lens for wide angle at the beginning
I would love to show you how fantastic that still looks. But agreed, sometimes the shots (like in the tubular hull) do benefit from the fisheye distortion and the cockpit shots are fantastic. Look forward to more!
NZ107 From New Zealand, joined Jul 2005, 5672 posts, RR: 40 Reply 18, posted (2 years 8 months 1 week 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 11684 times:
Hi Sam,
Thanks for bringing to us such a special and rare report! What an experience!
Interesting to see the DC-3 in an army-type interior. The one in NZ is fitted with a civilian cabin which I really want to try sometime.. Too bad the Lockheed Constellation sounds too far fetched.
Having been in the DC-3 cockpit before, it really is quite small! I couldn't imagine being a pilot back in those days..
Quoting N178UA (Thread starter): The Rear Toilet. Pretty sure it is non-pressurized!
I wonder if it has a storage tank..
Quoting N178UA (Thread starter): You can see there are flames coming out of the exhaust of the engines.
It's pretty cool! There are some extraordinary pictures on A.Net of this too!
4 man cockpits in this day and age.. Wow..
What an adventure! I'm sure you would have liked to spend a bit longer in the air than a short flight like CBR to Wollongong.
Aviopic From Netherlands, joined Mar 2004, 2681 posts, RR: 46 Reply 19, posted (2 years 8 months 1 week 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 11404 times:
Quoting N178UA (Thread starter): The Rear Toilet. Pretty sure it is non-pressurized!
It sits in front of the rear pressure bulkhead so it would have been if the aircraft flew pressurized in the first place.
My Connie experience is limited to only 1 aircraft which didn't to keep fatigue in check, in fact the whole pressure cabin has been removed.
Below 6000ft there is no point in pressurization anyway so better to preserve the airframe.
Not sure what the HARS status is though.
Quoting N178UA (Thread starter): I wasn’t expecting seeing any flames so I was alarmed and worried for a moment. Later on I realise this may be due to the combustion of oxygen.
Actually no, it's fuel.
Fuel burns red/orange and oxygen blue.
During startup and critical flight phase(T/O, Land) the mixture is on full rich(or auto rich) causing the orange flames as not all of the mixture is burned in the cylinders.
During cruise the mixture will be leaned according altitude, required power(bmep), cylinderhead temp etc..... turning the flames from orange to blue which usually remains unseen in daylight, you will in the dark though.
Quoting N178UA (Thread starter): The 4 engines start one by another, it was rather smokey start
A Connie doesn't smoke, she just makes her presence known........... to anybody within a 5 mile radious
Quoting N178UA (Thread starter): You can visit the cockpit by standing behind but it is quite small, narrow and dark.
Quoting lychemsa (Reply 3): It's a shame the inside cabin is not the same as existed originally. Window curtains etc.
Think it is pretty much original for a military C-12x version.
Quoting The777Man (Reply 9): I'm curious how the DC-3 compares to the L-1049 regarding speed, climb performance etc ?
Depending engine variations, altitude, power settings etc you are looking at a difference in cruise speed of about 50kts.
180 kts is safe and easy for a Connie, historical organizations tend to care about their engines(and aircraft).
A DC2 will sit somewhere in the middle between the two(about 20-30kts faster than DC3).
Quoting henkybaby (Reply 10): Try an 11-16mm instead. If you use Nikon, Tokina makes a really great one that is not that expensive! Look forward to seeing more.
The Tokina 11-16/2.8 is great but meant for aps/c(cropped frame).
Quoting cpd (Reply 15): that can be extremely spectacular with a lot of fire.
Don't know what you are talking about
Nice reading Sam.
Think you did miss out on one option though
Always look backward in a Connie.
The truth lives in one’s mind, it doesn’t really exist
N178UA From United Arab Emirates, joined Jan 2001, 1626 posts, RR: 69 Reply 20, posted (2 years 8 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 11175 times:
Hi Willem
Thanks for the correction and I am glad to find out the correct answers to my guess!
Your photos of night engine start looks great. Wish I get that opportunity to capture it sometime
cpd From Australia, joined Jun 2008, 4879 posts, RR: 44 Reply 21, posted (2 years 8 months 1 week 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 11091 times:
Quoting Aviopic (Reply 19): Next time ask them to turn on the lights Sam.
Last time I was in that plane, I had the problem of my lens not being wide enough to get the image I wanted - and it was so dark (inside the hanger with all the other nice toys, like those two beautiful Neptunes).
There was no power available - so it was pretty difficult. Need a 6mm lens to get what I want.
Quoting Aviopic (Reply 19): Don't know what you are talking about
Oh wow - you are indeed right. That's not afterburner effect - that's F111 DUMP AND BURN EFFECT!!
CairnterriAIR From United States of America, joined Jun 2008, 339 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 9302 times:
I can't tell you how envious I am of you after reading this.....fantastic. While I have flown aboard plenty of DC-3's around the Carribean, I would kill to ride aboard any Constellation! The DC-3 you flew aboard indeed looks like a well flown example...though every one I ever was aboard looked the same...part of their charm and appeal. That Connie looked pristine inside and out. Question for you....that ladder leaning up against the nose gear in the first picture...is that leading to a cockpit access door along the lines of a B-29 layout? Or was the ladder left there for a preflight check of the wheel well?
American 767 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 3322 posts, RR: 14 Reply 25, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 9122 times:
I don't read all the trip reports but this one is definitely worth reading. If you don't have much time, that's the one to pick up.
Great pictures. The Constellation is definitely one of my favorite prop liners, for its beauty. I wish I could fly on one, but I don't think I ever will. Thanks for sharing this out of the ordinary experience.
There was one preserved in Greenwood Lake (New Jersey, USA), but I don't know if it is still there. I remember seeing it there when I used to fly myself as private pilot back in the 90s.
Ben Soriano
"Aimer jusqu'a l'impossible, c'est possible". Tina Arena.
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my apologies for the fisheye distortion effect and hopefully one day I will get better in the fields of wideangle photography. 
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