1/144 Super Constellation L1049 by Revell
Lucky to have found this 1986 vintage kit at an old hobby shop in Hillsboro Oregon. I’ve great
childhood memories of flying an Eastern Connie – Chicago MWD to Miami MIA in the late ’50’s.
The build, a typical Revell was simple & straight forward. Passed on the kit included Lufthansa decals &
ordered Eastern Airlines livery from Vintage Flyer Decals. Especially love building models in which I have some personal connection
Craig Abrahamson said on October 31, 2018
Turned out well….you DID take more than one pic, right..? 🙂
Stu Brown said on November 1, 2018
Thanks – working on few more photos soon . . .
Terry Schuler said on October 31, 2018
Stu, I really like this, I always thought the connie was really cool looking. I too would like to see some more pictures !
David Mills said on October 31, 2018
Great build Stu.
An iconic aircraft do you have any more photos please?
Jeff Bailey said on October 31, 2018
Stu, like the others, I wish for more pictures. Your Connie is beautiful, my friend! Great job on that Eastern Airlines livery. I’ll bet it took a lot of weight to keep the nose down!
I flew on a Super G constellation (like your model) from New York to Port of Spain, Trinidad, then on to Rio de Janeiro where we went on (by DC3) to Vicosa where I lived for the better part of a year. Coming back, we flew in a brand-new Caravelle to Rio, then we got back into a Super G Connie and flew back to NY (again stopping in PO Spain, Trinidad) where I finished my journey. To ME, the Super G Constellation was the absolute PRETTIEST airliner ever made. There are plenty of aircraft scholars who will tell you that the Connies were plagued by engine troubles. It is true. During my flight home (the first leg) we lost an engine. The pilot explained that we could VERY safely fly to Trinidad on 3 engines – which seemed true. However, a few minutes later, we lost ANOTHER engine! Well, we still were flying just fine, but since we were less than halfway to our 1st stop, we went back to Rio, got on another Supper Connie and made the flight to NY without any further mechanical incident. I’ll never forget looking out the window and seeing a beautiful blue substance coming out of the wingtip tanks. The pilot explained that he had to dump fuel, to get less weight to help fly back to Rio … on 2 engines. Apparently, the AvGas for these high-performance engines (100 octane?) is a light blue color. It was all a great adventure for me as I was only nearing my 8th Birthday. I even got to sit in the Pilot’s seat and “fly” the aircraft! Of course, I had not yet heard of auto-pilot, but it was a wonderful experience for me, this former “Gringo!” I still have the signed certificate from Varig Airlines certifying the fact that I had crossed the Equator. (Hey, Navy men; does this mean I’m no longer a “pollywog” and am now a “Shellback?”)
Most of my photos show a Super G Constellation (which is different from the original Lockheed 1049s (pic #7) by adding fuselage length and the wingtip fuel tanks, among other alterations), a Caravelle, and a DC3 of Varig airlines. I’m pretty sure the 1st Connie is the one I flew in on one flight. These are somewhat NEWER pictures, not some that I took … had I been camera savvy! LoL! The other pics are from various airlines.
Stu, @superocean9 I hope you enjoy the photos of this beautiful airplane and that you’ll forgive me for adding all this to YOUR post showing your beautiful Connie!
PS – I’d like to thank Jim Sullivan @bentwing for providing the 2 B&W pictures of the Connie. The rest of the photos are from my Internet surfing. Thanks, Jim!
Now, back to our regular posting …
9 attached images. Click to enlarge.
David Mills said on October 31, 2018
A great aircraft, My wife’s relatives flew from Amsterdam to Auckland by KLM Superconstellation – it took a week apparently!
Amazing – the world was a bigger place then.
Stu Brown said on October 31, 2018
Jeff, thanks for your story & photos of Connie’s
Jeff Bailey said on October 31, 2018
You’re welcome, Stu!
David, that’s some trip! I seem to recall that my flight was started in the morning and finished that evening, but not too late. To be honest, I wasn’t paying attention to time. I was just so excited about getting to “ride/fly” in an airplane!
Peter Hausamann said on October 31, 2018
Great looking model. Brought back memories of a young child.
Thanks for showing.
https://qfom.com.au/tag/super-constellation/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-16/qantas-super-constellation-plane-restored-in-longreach/9962624
https://ashet.org.au/constellation/
Jeff Bailey said on October 31, 2018
Good to see a Constellation restored and put where others can admire it!
Stu Brown said on November 1, 2018
Thanks for the praise, it’s appreciated.
Stu Brown said on November 2, 2018
Thanks Peter, great Connie “Links” thank you .
Greg Kittinger said on October 31, 2018
Always thought the Connie was one of the best looking aircraft in the air! Nice job.
Jeff Bailey said on October 31, 2018
On another note, I heard about this bit of information. Put a Connie model (or photo from the right angle) on the floor (or somewhere similar) then from directly above it, look carefully at the shape of the wing. THEN do the same with a P38. You’ll see that Lockheed used the same shape wing for the Connie as they had used on the Lightning. Or the other way around. I don’t remember which aircraft was designed/finished first. Maybe the P38 wing is the same as the Constellation. The point being they are essentially the same wing.
There’s your Lockheed history trivia for today. Boo!
Tom Cleaver said on October 31, 2018
Connie had a P-38 wing Jeff. Definitely the best-looking airliner ever. Unfortunately that beautiful fuselage was its downfall – far more difficult to build and pressurize properly than the “aluminum tube” of the DC-6/DC-7.