Last year we teased a Constellation (or 3) were heading our way.
We just wrapped up an exciting phase of a special project processing three Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations in Virginia. The aircraft had spent years serving as parts donors in support of the restoration of Columbine II, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Lockheed VC-121A and the aircraft associated with the first use of the call sign “Air Force One.”
Our work involved reclaiming previously cut fuselage sections while preserving several historically significant structures, including the cockpits of two notable Warning Stars. USAF 53-0535 was built as an RC-121D and later converted/redesignated as an EC-121H, serving with the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing. U.S. Navy BuNo 141292 served through the WV-2, EC-121K/P and NC-121K configurations and flew the U.S. Navy’s final operational Constellation mission in June 1982. We also preserved the aft fuselage section of 54-4062 / BuNo 131636, originally built as a Navy R7V-1 transport before being transferred to the U.S. Air Force as C-121G 54-4062.
All surviving material from the three aircraft is now being transported to our Pensacola, Florida boneyard for preservation, storage and future projects.
