Air Force One (the fifties edition)

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:42 am

Is that original '50s footage or has this plane finally been restored? Those Constellations sure were different.

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:28 am

RayThom wrote:Is that original '50s footage or has this plane finally been restored? Those Constellations sure were different.

I was going to say, it would be interesting to know what happened to that old Connie.
Probably scrapped or parked out as a target on a desert live-fire range somewhere, just like "Doc" (one of only two remaining airworthy B-29s) was before it got its reprieve and was rescued.

-"BB"-

datsunaholic · Post by **datsunaholic** » Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:05 am

Both of Eisenhower's Connies exist. Columbine II, which is the bird pictured above, was made airworthy again and is flying east from Arizona to Virginia this week.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/original-air-f ... 2/95280261

The above URL is from Monday.

The other Connie, Columbine III, is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where it is a static display.

kmccune · Post by **kmccune** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 12:03 am

What a great old bird ,the Isreali airforce got good use from these aircraft during the early years .

kmccune · Post by **kmccune** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 12:05 am

One question though, why was the empennage made like that ?

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 4:24 am

kmccune wrote:One question though, why was the empennage made like that ?

The size of the single tailfin that would have been necessary on a bird that big would have been too tall to fit existing storage/service hangars of the airlines of the day. Compare also the height of the tailfin on, say, a B-17 or B-29 with the height of the twin tailfins on the B-24 or B-25; look also how tall the fins are on current planes like the BUFF or the Boeing 747 — but by now they've made the hangars bigger.

-"BB"-

kmccune · Post by **kmccune** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 12:03 am

Makes sense I would hate to fall from the top of a vertical stabilizer on a 747 or other modern aircraft .

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 3:35 am

kmccune wrote:Makes sense I would hate to fall from the top of a vertical stabilizer on a 747 or other modern aircraft .

Don't worry about it; the fall isn't going to kill you.
It's that sudden stop at the end that does it.

-"BB"-

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