I got off work early yesterday and headed over to Yanks Air Museum to see some friends and drink a beer or two. Most of the crew was there and after being there for 30 minutes, I got a text telling me that the Connie was out and a large group was assembled around it. He was fairly certain that it was going to fly. The Connie in question is a Lockheed C121A, which was the military version of the Lockheed Constellation. Specifically it is the famous Bataan, which was used to ferry General Douglas Macarthur around the Pacific and back and forth to the United States.
Bataan had previously been owned by Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, CA and was sold to Texas oil man, Rod Lewis. Lewis owns many warbirds from trainers, fighters, bombers and transport aircraft. The crew at Fighter Rebuilders (owned and led by world famous warbird guru, Steve Hinton) has spent the last several years restoring her to flight and anticipation has been at a boil lately. The word was out that she'd make her maiden flight, but hydraulic issues delayed the flight...until last night, that is.
The original target time was 1830, but that time would end up being about 1850. I was at the northwest side of the airport by Joe Yancey's hangar, and was happy to have the sun to my back. I peered through my long lens every few minutes, until I finally saw the P-51 chase plane take off. I believe that SteveO was flying that one and I could clearly see a second spotter in the back seat. By now, the Connie had taxied to the starting point and soon it was rolling! I watched excitedly with Mr. Joe and Mrs. Pat Yancey and it occurred to me that I was sandwiched in between two great historical things; the Yanceys are famous in the engine world and over the years have built Allison V-12s for boat racing, tractor pulls and vintage fighter aircraft.
The big Connie rolled down the runway, the sun gleaming off of her. She leapt into the air and I watched in awe as the landing gear came up. She was airborne! I started taking pictures as soon as I saw her and continued through the first, second and third pass. After the third pass, she flew off south over the mountains, the P-51 and executive jet (I suspect that it was Rod Lewis') following here. I chatted with the Yanceys a while before departing the airport in awe. The Connie will fly to Oshkosh next month, but before it does, she has 24 more hours to put on her and those will all probably end and terminate at KCNO. I'm leaving my camera and big lens in my car these days because I want to be ready for the coming flights. My ultimate shot would be to capture the Connie on final descent as it's flying over my head. I'm determined to get that shot, even if I have to wait for hours to get it.
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