Connie Startup 8-12-11

[@moneylab2860]

One of the most beautiful aircraft ever built!

[@MrJOHNEBOB]

my dad was a senior Flight Engineer on the EC-121 at Otis then in Korat...I remember as a kid watching the run ups before they headed off on missions covering the DEW line....WAY TO GO DAD !!!!

[@markcantemail8018]

Picket Line .

[@87Wayne]

The GREATEST piston airliner ever. I got to fly in on when I was 8 yrs. old (1958) from Panama to Miami as my father had been based in Honduras at the Embassy and we were returning to the US. I will NEVER forget it. Thanks for this upload.

[@dinkchow]

On the observation deck at CVG in the late '60's watching my USN Uncle Norbert boarding to go home and my Dad (Army '44)and my Uncle giving a snap salute to each other before he boarded,one of my favorite memories of all time.My Uncle was and is my all time best buddy,they don't make them like him anymore.RIP,Dad and Uncle Norbert.

[@rayjsu70]

Thanks for a great memory. When I was a little boy around 10, my parents and I went to the Birmingham, AL airport. A friendly Eastern Airlines crew gave us a tour of the pilot's cabin. Security was not an issue. I wish I could thank them again. It was an out of this world treat for a kid from the country!

[@rcdufffy]

I remember being the ground guy with the fire bottle. The Navy started them in a 3-2-1-4 order, they could dump lots of fuel when they flooded. Quite an aircraft.

[@tplus3017]

One of the most beautiful planes ever built.

[@CaesarInVa]

My father flew EC-121's out of Argentia, Newfoundland (VW-11, 54-60). He loved those birds, something about that long, elegant nose gear and drooping nose. Mind you, he was an old Corsair pilot but the Super Connie always held a dear and special place in his heart. I think he racked up something like 9000 hours in them.

[@CaesarInVa]

Beautiful bird, no doubt about it. There's a great video made by Eastern Airlines starring the late Author Godfrey. I always thought of him as just a b actor from the 40s, but he was also quite the aviation enthusiast. In fact, there was a little field just outside of Leesburg, VA (not far from my home) that was named after him. Back in the day, he used to fly his private DC-3 out of it (it was a cow pasture back then). Anyway, in the Eastern Airlines video, Godfrey is actual at the controls demonstrating the aircraft's capabilities (he was an accomplished Naval aviator, by the way). Check out the video, I'm sure you'll enjoy it..

[@williammaxwell2953]

Great to see the old gal starting, I flew them from Midway Is. back in the early '60's.. They were comfortable for an 18 hour flight to Kodiak Alaska and back. Navy work..

[@SuperSaltydog77]

The music coming from those big radials. The best.

[@SuperScratch1]

+SuperSaltydog77 Amen to that !!

[@MrRonnieG]

The 3-4-2-1- sequence in starting engines originated back during WWII when there were no onboard fire bottles so a ground crewman had to stand beside each engine with an extinguisher. By starting inboards first, on both wings, the crewman with the extinguisher did not have a screw turning behind him which would have been risky. As the years passed the 3-4-2-1- starting sequence just stuck, even though the days of the ground crewman with the extinguisher had long since pasted.

[@wlh227]

Flew on one of these in Sept of 1959 NY to Paris making a stop in Shannon Ireland to re-fuel.

[@DougDaCosta]

When I was a little kid, I used to watch the old DC-7's, Constillations, and Boeing StratoCruisers starting up. The smell of the smoke was something I'll always remember. As crazy as it sounds, that smell was delicious! Nothing like the kerosene exhaust smell of the jets that replaced them.

[@av_fanboy002]

This aircraft was so beautiful!! Great to see her so old and still working😍

[@vmcarre]

I was in the Air Force in 1969 and was stationed at Otis AFB on Cape Cod..we had a fleet of Connie's that were used as early radar detection..they had a bubble on top..used to watch in awe as the took off and landed less than 200 feet away..they had a certain sound when they flew..no other aircraft made the same sound..truly a great airplane in it's day..

[@maxsdad538]

I flew on the EC-121 for 5 years and have 2500 hours on her (552nd & 79th, USAF). She may have landed with 3 turning, on a couple of occasions she did the job with 2. But she always brought us home. And I STILL talk to the ratechs, and the FE's, and navs and pilots I flew with back in the 70's, and there's no finer group of men and women to wear a uniform. BTW, the FIRST "non-medical" (meaning who weren't nurses) combat crew qualified FEMALE aircrew members flew on the Connie with the 79th AEW Sq, Homestead, AFB, 76-78. And women sure looked better in a flight suit than I did. 😍

[@la_old_salt2241]

Dad was an engine mechanic on the 552nd birds at MacClellan. That was 1958 to 1961. He left service in September '61, one week later a buddy of his was supposed to separate, but was mandatory extended one year, Vietnam.

[@peterdekeles.]

When I was a kid my dad would take me down to the flight line in Burbank and let me "Help" him start the engines when they were doing run-ups. thanks for the video

[@earthorganism]

I saw these in operation (Eastern Airlines?) at Tri-State Airport in Huntington, WV in the early 60's. I think I even went into the cockpit of one, as a Cub Scout. A beautiful plane.

[@pixelum2023]

My father used to be a flight engineer on RCAF Lancaster bombers back in the early 50's. His job must have been pretty similar to what we see in this video, except that the engines where V12 Rolls-Royce, if memory serves.

[@Skracken]

Beautiful bird! Love the 1011 in the background also!

[@Hihorse46A]

Howard Hughes was a pretty smart dude! Went around the world on some of these magnificent planes !

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Loved all of those "steam gauges", especially on the engineer's panel (could see them "fluxing" a little bit - might have been fuel flow). Only worked on one Connie (tach gen shaft sheared). Worked on the C-118A's , R-2800's for 4 years, out of the Instrument Shop. Great planes, those Connies and C-118's. N-6395T

[@yamahonkawazuki]

My great uncle also told me this tidbit of wisdom youve posted. it is much appreciated.

[@wizardmix]

It sure is good to see that tri-star in the background. I hope that's being considered for preservation as well.

[@jefferyrightmire9520]

I remember these flying over as a child 50+ years ago. The tail is unmistakeable-

[@Booboobear-eo4es]

I recall reading the pilot would count 8 "blade tips" at start up to clear any oil pooling the cylinder heads. The second engine on the far right (facing out) he rotated over 30 tips. Guess he cleared out the oil.

[@bigbass421]

The radials make music... I grew up in the LaGuardia Runway 4 final approach pattern. EVERY day, these incredible aircraft, and many other radial engined greats like the Douglas DC-3,4,6,and 7's flew over my house on final. I'm a musician by trade, and the sound of Prat and Whitney, and Wright turbo-compound radial engines is as musical as anything I've ever played. For those that didn't get to hear these every day like i did, all I can say is you really missed a rich experience.

[@WitchidWitchid]

I grew up in NYC and I tmember the sound of these passing overhead . So different than the rumble of the jets that came later

[@scottgoodrich5825]

I crewed on these as a radar operator ‘77-‘78 until deactivation.

[@formerice]

Once flew from Boston to Newark on a Lockheed Electra. It was an incredible plane. Imagine the Connie is as well.

[@StatelessPerson]

I may have flown on one of the last of these beauties in domestic commercial service as a youngster. Eastern Air Lines was still running these as extra sections for the DCA-NYC-BOS Shuttle. Flew from DCA to Newark, as close to the deck as a piper cub. A real joy to see one so clean and unneglected, and operational!

[@JohnStorrie]

Had the privilege of making 5 jumps from this Connie back at the World FreeFall Convention in Quincy, Illinois in the late 90's. Getting to fly in this amazing aircraft was a treat indeed. I was allowed into the cockpit and the pilot was gracious enough to let me rest my hand on the throttles for a few seconds. Lots of prop blast on the exit and quite the view. Fun jumps.

[@alextw13jf]

There are tons of video on YT but only a few are really worth watching; this is a fine example of what I mean. Beautiful machine properly filmed. Thanks

[@jetcat120]

Great job, for a minute there I thought engine 4 was not going to start, 1 & 2 started very quickly in comparison.

[@Masternater1000]

I love old Lockheed airplanes, My father flew on the P2V-7 Neptune ASW patrol/bomber with VP-56 in the Navy at NAS in Iceland.

[@Cupra317hp]

Years ago it was the everydayroutine. Now we look at it as an flying museum

[@heartfire451]

All grand old dragons should roar and shoot flame when they start.

[@mjw1955]

I'm proud to have been a member of the crew of 'Camarillo Connie' N73544/54-156. Sure brings back some fine memories.

[@GamePlayWithNolan]

Sounds awesome

[@clflight]

The Connie was an excellent ship. In '85 while at San-Val (Van Nuys, CA) with my A&P, one was parked there allowing me an extensive close-up walk around. A beautiful aircraft...

[@TranscendianIntendor]

I was allowed to fly a DC6 for two hours left seat. I felt honored. The plane feels like a small plane really. A Connie likely feels near the same when trimmed and comfortably rumbling on. I understood the engines were designed for 130 octane fuel which hasn't been available for about 5 decades now. Noted that they started engine number 3 first.

[@maxsdad538]

Standard fuel was 115/145 octane AVGAS, but you could only get 100/130 in mainland Europe during the 70's.

[@clydesuckfinger7097]

Big old radial engines. All that oil down in the bottom cylinders. Makes for a great startup.

[@rsera1]

The longer roll time before hitting the mags-on is to allow oil circulation as well as allowing the lower cylinders of the radial config to clear sediment oil. The flight engineer waits for the guages to show stats before lighting to run. The oil burn off is why the smoke at start up also.

[@track1219]

As complicated to run as an old steam locomotive , and every bit as cool

[@BajaBushPilots]

To answer eldrade's question about start order. The electrical design is part of the choice. Usually you want to start the engine first that is closest to the battery bank that supplies the starting power. On some large aircraft it may be the left inboard and others the right inboard. Once you have the first engine turning then you can rely on generator power to start the others. There will still be a defined starting order for all multi-engine aircraft partly because of safety and always operating identically.

[@theoriginalbadbob]

I LOVE the sound and smell of an R-3350 engine. I used to stand behind an engine, on a P2V Neptune, and suck that exhaust in. I was in heaven.

[@jetfueljp4]

I live in KC hopefully we can see her fly again.

[@planecrazy101ya]

Hey! I got to visit this beautiful bird! Even got to tour the inside... She's so majestic.

[@ecktoeman]

And to think that airplane was absolutely state of the art in 1952. . . There couldn't be a more perfect visual definition of the work "cantankerous" than a video of those engines starting up!

[@taketimeout2share]

Oh, how nice is that TriStar in the background. Such a cute turned up nose. Pretty as a picture. The Connie is just gorgeous too, they both are. Well they're both Lockheed, so they should be.Runs in the family.

[@chuckkirkpatrick6712]

Most beautiful airplane that ever flew. I used to fantasize about winning the lottery, buying a Connie, then hanging 4 turboprop engines on it. Then I discovered the YC-121!!!!

[@ROCKSTARCRANE]

Never has a more beautiful airplane graced the skies.......

[@HeinekenPete]

....radial engines had a lot looser tolerances than liquid-cooled engines since they were harder to keep at a constant temperature when running. Also, some of the 18 cylinders on a radial engine are "upside-down" & oil had a habit of leaking into the cylinder after they shut down & needed to be burned off after start-up. Check out the KZbin clip of the Super G Constellation fly-by to hear this thing in action. Now THAT'S music to my ears...!

[@Nfarce]

And Howard Hughes solo started this thing up from a cold dark cockpit and flew it. Any questions?

[@cutter043]

Howard had some mad skills. Lol

[@johndoogan3712]

She proudly held the 👑 crown of the 👸 queen of the skies, built to challenge the tyranny of distance and cross 🌊 oceans. ❤️ love the smokey fiery engine starts. Her London to Sydney flight time was around 96 hours.

[@Ronin4614]

The “Connies” were beautiful big birds with the three vertical stabilizers. They were the last of the big Recips, IIRC. It took long enough to start those recips, and I kind-a wonder how they were if you needed to restart one at altitude? Thanks for the video, I loved the older birds.

[@ernesthill4017]

The reason they had triple rudders was at the time, those engines were the most powerful piston aircraft powerplants in service. The torque was so strong, a vertical stabilizer tall enough to control the yaw axis would be far too tall to fit into any hangar then existing

[@ernesthill4017]

The reason for the triple tail is because the torque of those 4 engines was so strong, especially on take off. A conventional vertical tail would have been too tall to fit inside the hangars existing at the time. 😊

[@Chuck59ish]

I remember watching a Connie start at Logan Airport in Boston back in the 50s, can't remember the airline, but it was loud and smoky.

[@econley64]

A stunning aircraft she is, I wish I had a chance to fly it.

[@Nfarce]

Outstanding information! Thank you Ron!

[@a-fl-man640]

came back from Japan in one as an AF brat. coming back again years later was on a 707. 67 or so.

[@pauljanssens4449]

When starting up an aircraft was an occasion

[@ryankenyon1996]

Beautiful!

[@chrisnzella]

Great video. Thanks for sharing. :)

[@pianomanmaestro]

Got a tour of this plane in Kansas City.. Pretty Sweet.

[@nuclear944]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks for the upload-keep it up!

[@leneanderthalien]

The smoke comes mostly from burning lubrication oil (SAE100): on radial engines, if stopped, the oil trickle in the lover cylinders , infiltrate in the combustion chambers, this is why the engine is drive a long time to evacuate the most oil and avoid a hydraulic lock, the ignition is only make "on" after the cylindrer drain rotation delay...

[@wazza33racer]

the "power recovery turbines" on those engines added 30% more horsepower to the base engines output...............very sophisticated. Gorgeous plane..........

[@phillipjoseph8768]

What happened to the fins on the back of the cowl?

[@guitrod1]

The Connie had 3350 engines. I was a Flight Engineer/mechanic on them.

[@chuckkirkpatrick6712]

WOuld love to hear any stories you might have to share...

[@jimjonrs3932]

That many? I only counted 4.

[@ruppel1968]

This is sooo amazing...you can see and feel that they really want that Lady in the Air!!! That moment the 4 engines are nearly running synchrone...a big fat wow!!! Let her go!!!

[@derekwall200]

man starting the engines in one of those is like trying to start an old car with half dead battery in winter weather

[@MrFrontenginedragste]

Very similar. The engines appear to turn very slowly during start up. But 3350's have a gear reduction unit on the front of the engine case that causes the prop to turn slower than the engine.

[@derekwall200]

MrFrontenginedragste have you seen the film flight of the phoenix? remember how he starts the engines with shotgun shells?

[@MrFrontenginedragste]

Oh yeah, the scene where the expend the next to the last cartridge in the Kaufman starter just to clean the plugs! Great scene. Too bad that move cost Paul Mantz his life.

[@derekwall200]

MrFrontenginedragste i think he said I'm going to fire one cartridge with the ignition off, to clear the cylinders. but its amazing they were able to rebuild their damaged aircraft with the tools they had and were able to fly to where ever

[@derekwall200]

MrFrontenginedragste the plane used in that film was a C-119 flying boxcar I believe

[@danahan01]

Holy crap, that's a lot of smoke on start up. I assume these engines have not been started in a while and when stored they keep the cylinders oiled up.

[@sierracuban]

My sister and I left Havana, Cuba on an Iberia Airlines Super Connie on January 27, 1962......I was 8 years old, and remember it till this day.....We made a stop in Bermuda for the refueling to Madrid, Spain.....All told the trip took 18 hours.....People nowadays are spoiled rotten.....They want everything fast.....We have not returned to Cuba since that day....Sierra Cuban, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

[@amateurphilosopher]

A wonderful reminder of an era when men were men and flight attendants were stewardesses!

[@ryojitokyo3636]

very nice video - I love connie

[@loveplane737]

yes!

[@macktravels68]

AWESOME! I have actually been on this Connie at the National Airline History Museum. (Static Display not in the Air). Beautiful plane!!

[@kenns9]

thank you sooo much for NOT using a fast shutter speed :D

[@UPGF54860]

Thats N700TS...An L1011-385 formerly owned by the Las Vegas Sands casino and purchased by the museum

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Yes, I think "the usual" is either 9 or 12 blades before the mags (not sure - I only worked on the Instrument indicating systems). N-6395T

[@maxsdad538]

6 blades. I have 2500 hours on the EC-121.

[@albareis]

Yes, thats exactly what it is, and we love it! Any problem whith that?

[@sanfranciscobay]

I assume it's the compression from all the cylinders that slows the prop down quickly? As compared to a turbine which keeps spinning for a bit longer.

[@yamahonkawazuki]

alot of times oil pools in the bottom cylins. hence some extra smoke

[@arnoldberk7686]

I remember an incident as a kid these flew I. and out of the original Chicago O Hare. My grandmother was on one the engines started up and my aunt cried out vey the engine is on fire.

[@friedmanirit]

At First I Thought It Was A Turbo Prop Plane. That Was... Until The First Engine Started,!.

[@douro20]

These are turbo-compounded engines which make over 3000 shaft horsepower each. I'd imagine they must had been a nightmare to overhaul...

[@blown572hemi]

awsome! bird's with soul's and the only plane I've been on. Piedmont used to be the flight of choice here.

[@MatthewAnderson707]

Great! Now if they could only get it flying again, that'd be wonderful.

[@bogomir67]

those things not just did what they where made for - they where made to look great, too!

[@DesertDigger1]

The top of the engine cowlings look like the hood on a Minneapolis-Moline Jetstar tractor.

[@itakeyourphoto]

things have improved somewhat in aviation lol

[@ojsefg]

This is just like in the Movie The lost boys, when grandpa and Sam are in the old car and grandpa starts it and says “Let’s go to town!” And then shuts the fucking car off.

[@jamesmcgowen1769]

Imagine having one of those in the backyard when the boys come around for a drinking session!!

[@tommarck4296]

Great sound from those Pratt and Whitney s

[@WAL_DC-6B]

The Lockheed Constellation series all used the Wright 3350, radial engine.

[@turbocompound]

.....finest engine sounds ever................

[@Nfarce]

And to think Howard Hughes read the manual for a brief period, and did this all by himself...and flew it.

[@loveplane737]

that's cool sound!

[@19mchlrdx]

Geez what was the last time they started that thing

[@vicorly]

Bummer, not going up for a flight?

[@Pushpower1]

what a great sound - that really rocks !!

[@antares4s]

Darn thing belched smoke and flame and leaked oil like a seive. They didn't call it the oily bird for nothing, but it flew like a dream..,perfectly smooth at a speed of 300 mph.

[@Nfarce]

And to think Howard Hughes read the manual, jumped in this bird, and flew it all by himself.

[@bagelboi66]

They sure come to a stop quickly when they're shut down.