Old Airplanes

[IslandDreaming]

I put this in Off Topic in error, many more viewers here Mods, please delete other thread (Off topic) if you like

Anyone recall Lockheed L-1049's? I think the last one flying with Dominican airlines (Not sure which) was sometime around 1992-93

 

[beeza]

There are the remains of this old Super Connie at SDQ

 

[IslandDreaming]

There are the remains of this old Super Connie at SDQ

I'm surprised no one has has put this thing back together There was one in poor condition in Lewiston Maine only a few months ago, Lufthansa bought it and put it on a ship for Germany where it will be completely rehabbed I think one of the best looking planes ever designed Heard the biggest problem was engines, turbo-compound apparently had severe cooling issues

 

[SKY]

I jumped out of a Connie in a Skydiving event called the World Freefall Convention in Quincy Illinois about 23 years ago. As I best can recall there was a side door near the back on the co-pilot side.

 

[USA DOC]

...does anyone know what happened to the P51D mustangs the Dominican airforce had?........

 

[cobraboy]

I'm surprised no one has has put this thing back together There was one in poor condition in Lewiston Maine only a few months ago, Lufthansa bought it and put it on a ship for Germany where it will be completely rehabbed I think one of the best looking planes ever designed Heard the biggest problem was engines, turbo-compound apparently had severe cooling issues

Gonna take a LOT of cheese to restore that bird.

Have you seen the B-29 that went through a full restoration, Doc? Took them 16 years and 170 volunteer man-years to restore it to like-new condition.

It's amazing all the flight controls were cable & pulley, no hydraulics.

 

[bob saunders]

Same engines on the connie as my first aircraft I worked on the Argus. Smoke, oil, and flames on every start. Scary if you weren't ready for it.

 

[porkman100]

...does anyone know what happened to the P51D mustangs the Dominican airforce had?........

There was a P51 on display in front of an armed forces building by the old herrera airport for many years...(in the 70's)..now there are worth lots of $$$...I remember driving by ..it was in pretty good shape ,,

 

[IslandDreaming]

I jumped out of a Connie in a Skydiving event called the World Freefall Convention in Quincy Illinois about 23 years ago. As I best can recall there was a side door near the back on the co-pilot side.

wow Never knew anyone jumped out of one How slow were they able to get her?

 

[cobraboy]

wow Never knew anyone jumped out of one How slow were they able to get her?

Not to mention expensive, at 480 gallons per hour fuel consumption.

I read a Continental Vso is 87kts. That's actually pretty slow for a large airplane.

 

[beeza]

Not to mention expensive, at 480 gallons per hour fuel consumption.

I read a Continental Vso is 87kts. That's actually pretty slow for a large airplane.

Yikes! And 100LL is close to 7 bucks a gallon here!

 

[bob saunders]

Actually used 115/145 but the distributors could be adjusted to use avgas 100. https://documents.techno-science.ca/documents/CASM-Aircrafthistories-CanadairCL-28Argus.pdf Differnt aircraft, same engine. Spent my first two years in the RCAF working on these.

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

...does anyone know what happened to the P51D mustangs the Dominican airforce had?........

By 1984--when they were retired from service--the DR had only 10 (of the original 51 aircraft) airworthy P-51s remaining. Nine were sold to private collectors (and, from memory, there was some scandal attached to that episode) and one was kept by the Dominican Air Force and put on display. There could still be bits and pieces of P-51s scattered the the air force base.

The Haitians had six Mustangs given to them by the US. The P-51s were gradually withdrawn from service until the last Haitian P-51 was retired in 1974.

Four of the planes were sold to the DR for spare parts. Three of the planes had already been cannibalized by the Haitian Air Force for spare parts to keep the last one flying, so I doubt there was much left of them when they were sold to the Dominican Air Force.

The other two Haitian P-51s were purchased by an American collector (both were in extremely poor condition) and were fully restored in the United States and are flying again.

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

There are the remains of this old Super Connie at SDQ

The government should restore it to it's Trujillo Era glory. It could become a tourist attraction at an aviation museum. The DR has an extremely aviation history.

 

[cobraboy]

The government should restore it to it's Trujillo Era glory. It could become a tourist attraction at an aviation museum. The DR has an extremely aviation history.

You are talking years and many millions of $$$.

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

You are talking years and many millions of $$$.

I remember reading something about a retro Pan Am lounge at JFK. I think a 1950s-60s retro Compañía Dominicana de Aviación lounge would be interesting. The waitresses could wear retro flight attendant uniforms and serve Dominican fare in an Art Deco lounge.

As for the plane, it doesn't have to be made air worthy, just restore it cosmetically so that people could walk through it and see what it looked like.

 

[cobraboy]

As for the plane, it doesn't have to be made air worthy, just restore it cosmetically so that people could walk through it and see what it looked like.

Like Elvis' Convair 880 and Jet Star at Gracelend?

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

Like Elvis' Convair 880 and Jet Star at Gracelend?

This is an airliner. I think it would be much more interesting to view--even from the outside.

 

[cobraboy]

This is an airliner. I think it would be much more interesting to view--even from the outside.

Elvis' Convair 880 is an airliner, state-of-the-art at the time, that he converted into his style. It sits at Graceland where tourists pay for the privilege of seeing how a simple country boy can decorate a modern airliner with fashions and materials from K-Mart.

 

[Tashi Siu's Dad]

Elvis' Convair 880 is an airliner, state-of-the-art at the time, that he converted into his style. It sits at Graceland where tourists pay for the privilege of seeing how a simple country boy can decorate a modern airliner with fashions and materials from K-Mart.

Both of the planes are rather tacky by today's standards. I suppose at the time, they were state-of-the-art. They do coordinate with his mansion decor, though....