Anyone who knows it - many of the older ones among us experienced it in their youth and adulthood - there are only a few in the aviation scene who are not familiar with it - will probably have their hearts racing on January 17, 2025 at the Lufthansa aircraft yard in Hamburg!
Lufthansa's Super Star Constellation, type designation Lockheed L-1649 as the last technical masterpiece of the Constellation series, affectionately known locally as "Connie", ventures onto the apron of an airport on its own wheels for the first and probably the last time after restoration. This sentence may sound puzzling, but if you look back to December 2007, when Lufthansa acquired three Lockheed Super Star Constellations in an auction in Auburn, Maine/USA, with the aim of making a symbol of Lufthansa tangible for the period from 1955 onwards, to this day - some explanations are required here.
First of all, the "Connie" is considered by many to be the most beautiful aircraft ever built. One may argue about taste, but anyone who has ever seen them live, anyone who has ever EXPERIENCED them, will not be able to avoid a feeling of admiration. ... And those present at Hamburg Airport on January 17th must have experienced this feeling.
In order to be able to understand this feeling, especially among the numerous people involved in Lufthansa's L-1649 project, we need to look back - told in key words.
The "Connie" is constructed in an unusual way. It immediately stands out with its shape of the fuselage. No two frames are the same, resulting in a streamlined dolphin-like shape that elegantly ends in the tail unit at the rear, which looks unusual but majestic! A tail unit with three vertical tail units, which some people perceive as a crown! The background to this striking construction is quite simple. The Constellation series commissioned by Howard Hughes for his TWA was intended to be the first to be able to fly non-stop across the USA from east to west. A correspondingly powerful engine was required, - so a very large vertical tail in the event of an engine failure was needed. However, the airlines' usual aircraft hangars did not have the required door height. Therefore, three smaller tail units were built on the rear of the "Connie", which became her globally known trademark.
The Term "Diva" Also Needs an Explanation.
The "Connie" requires a lot of attention when flying! The work of the flight engineers is at least equally demanding, as they constantly keep an eye on the four 18-cylinder Curtiss-Wright double star engines and operate them from their position in accordance with the requirements of the flight situation in consultation with the pilots. The complexity of these radial engines required careful handling. The term "best three-engine aircraft" is somewhat derogatory in the aviation scene This results from the number of engine shutdowns during flights. In reality, the engines are not as vulnerable as their reputation suggests. What is usually only known to insiders is that, in contrast to today's engines, the generators could not be disconnected from the Connie engines during flight. This means, that if there was an electrical problem with a generator, the engine had to be switched off in order to avoid consequential electrical damage or even a generator fire. The cause of the engine stopping was not obvious to outsiders or the passengers.
The Constellation's air conditioning and pressurization panel is also highly complex in design and operation.
"Indispositions" in the technical systems and the flight handling led to the critical, but also loving and respectful term "diva of aviation". You value them very much, but be prepared for "surprises".
Why Lufthansa Bought the Connies at Auction
In 2007 there were only two flying Super Constellations left in the world, the L-1049 type, the penultimate series of Constellations. The HB-RSC from the SCFA in Switzerland and the sister aircraft VH-EAG from the Australian HARS. (Details can be found on their websites on the Internet.) These two aircraft will be important again in the course of this article.
The final and most complex development stage of the Constellation is the L-1649. Even more powerful engines with 3,450 hp each, a slimmer wing stretched from 37m to 45m are just a few of the features. This version was Lockheed's last salable offering of radial engines before jet engines replaced them in commercial aviation.
There was no flying example of the L-1649 series anywhere in the world. Lufthansa had four of them in operation in the 1950s and 1960s. Just on time the Lufthansa delegation arrived after a ride from Boston to Auburn through a snowstorm, where three remaining Super Star Connies were auctioned off as a complete lot in Auburn in December 2007.
Lufthansa's Ju52 D-AQUI symbolizes Lufthansa's entry and the development of world aviation from 1926 and was a successful ambassador for Lufthansa on 2 continents from 1986-2018. It was the first passenger aircraft to be awarded the "Flying Monument" title in 2015.
The background to the commitment to the "Connie" that began in Auburn in 2007 was the idea of establishing a flying museum, symbolic of Lufthansa's re-entry into international aviation in 1955. A demanding project given the fact that the three aircraft purchased had not flown for more than 20 years and had been exposed to wind and weather ever since. They were aware of a large amount of work, which involved the FAA and LBA right from the start.
"Make One Out of Three"
This gave rise to the hope of having enough parts that could be overhauled to "almost new" in order to be able to restore ONE aircraft and make it airworthy.
The goal was to be able to present itself in flight, analogous to Lufthansa's Ju52.
During the "Connie era" Lufthansa was able to cross the North Atlantic with passengers non-stop for the first time.
Lufthansa introduced the Senator Class with one of the four Super Star Constellations at the time. Originally designed for around 90 passengers, the "Senator-Connie" contained around 40 seats with sleeping accommodation, lounge and bar - an exclusive flight experience awaited the guests.
The cabin interior for the Super Star Constellation, which was to be restored, was planned in a similar style. But not only special long-distance adventure trips with a single L-1649 flying around the world were planned. In order to be able to do justice to many enthusiastic aviation enthusiasts, more affordable flights such as Hamburg-Munich or to other nearby European cities were also considered.
The Restoration
In Auburn, the airport first had to build a hangar, that could be rented by Lufthansa Technik. Started in March 2008, this hangar was inaugurated on November 8th of the same year and work on the selected of the three aircraft began the same day after the celebrations.
The goal of the restoration was ambitious. Ultimately, high standards had to be met for this operation.
A complete restoration that should allow for more than 20 years of use. Meeting the equipment requirements of modern airspace while preserving the style of the original cockpit as much as possible. Squaring the circle! If parts had to be replaced and the original materials could no longer be obtained, alternative solutions had to be found including evidence supported by the authorities. Anyone who has ever bought an older half-timbered house and wants to restore it, can imagine that this project would always lead to unpleasant discoveries that made additional and particularly challenging measures necessary. So, both the fuselage and parts of the wings were nearly "made by hand" over the years as a new.
Despite all the technical and bureaucratic obstacles, that had to be gotten over, there were pro-votes and those who were against the project. It must be made clear that the ten-year project has demanded a lot from the technicians and engineers, including new technical ground when overhauling parts.
Starting with former employees who were still actively involved in the "Connie era" and whose experiences were essential for Lufthansa Technic, the work continued with those active today.
Yes, dead ends were reached with various problems, but none of these dead ends stopped the restoration. Ways out and solutions were always found that strengthened the safety of the aircraft.
It will come as no surprise to anyone that such developments ultimately cost more than originally estimated. The fact that it did not lead to a financial collapse is thanks to the tireless collecting zeal of people who, outside of Lufthansa's commitment, managed to ensure that private individuals and large companies in the aviation industry provided financial and material support.
Preparing for Flight Operations
The aeronautical implementation of the operation of a Super Star Constellation was another challenge, done by a specialized an experienced team of nine pilots, flight engineers and an engineer on cockpit adjustments (members of Lufthansa and voluntarily of the German Lufthansa Berlin Foundation - under whose auspices the project ran in the first few years.
By 2012, they had developed a solution for redesigning or rearranging the cockpit instruments that meets today's ergonomic requirements and largely preserves the visual impression of the vintage cockpit. These measures were intended to prevent work errors in the cockpits of the 1950s, that occurred due to the original unfavorable arrangement of the instruments. A donation from a modern instrument manufacturer then led to another, at times controversial, change to the front instrument design with regard to flight guidance - along with the change to all previously revised cockpit procedures. As can be seen, there were many obstacles to overcome here too.
The training of the Lufthansa crews with four captains and three flight engineers on the cockpit-like Super Constellation L-1049 was successful over these ten years. Only the collaboration with the Swiss and Australian colleagues from the SCFA and HARS as well as the aviation authorities of the countries involved made it possible to acquire all the necessary licenses, to maintain them over the years of the project and to deepen the flight experience.
Termination of the Project
In many countries, many people were working with passion to make this unique aircraft operational again.
The discontinuation of the project in March 2019 hit all applied and aviation enthusiasts very hard! The degree of completion was approximately 85%. However, it should not be ignored that there are still numerous necessary adjustments to be made on the electrical side.
The decision to stop the project should not be an issue or discussion here. Those responsible will have thought about the decision.
In any case, the stop was not due to a lack of technical solutions or flight operational problems, as was repeatedly claimed in the press.
What Happened After the Project Stopped?
On Lufthansa's instructions, the Super Star Constellation was completely dismantled and everything was packed. The material would later fill 19 40-foot shipping containers, plus the large parts such as the fuselage, wings and tailplanes. In the fall of 2019, the "Connie" was brought from Auburn to Portland at "flight level zero", where it was carefully shipped to Bremen on a specially chartered freighter. Arriving after a four-week journey, it was initially housed in a hangar in the port of Bremen next to Lufthansa's Ju52, which was already stored there. This was later followed by another ground transport to a hangar at Paderborn Airport, where it was exposed to less humidity than in Bremen.
A Sleeping Beauty seemed to follow, as the future of "Connie" was not foreseeable - also due to events such as the Corona (Covid 19) period.
In October 2022, on the occasion of the rollout of the first Lufthansa B-787, Lufthansa Group Chairman Carsten Spohr announced that Ju52 and Super Star Constellation should be given accommodation worthy of them! Lufthansa will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. In the same year, a new Lufthansa Group Conference and Visitor Center will be opened next to the Frankfurt headquarters, in which both aircraft received a permanent exhibition to mark the anniversary.
This ended the "Connie's" resting phase. There was another ground transport for them to the Lufthansa Technik aircraft yard in Hamburg. This was necessary because it first had to be fully assembled again and prepared in order to keep the set-up times in the new accommodation as short as possible later in Frankfurt.
A team of current and former Lufthansa Technik employees has been working on completing the "Connie" since the end of 2023, under the leadership of the last project manager in Auburn.
On January 17th the time had come. Not yet in the final Lufthansa design of the 1950s, nor in the subtle green of the primer, the rollout took place under the eyes of the technical staff and the press to take it to another hangar.
"With The Past Into the Future!"
Anyone who has read these lines up to this point will understand even better the emotions that those involved and aviation fans experienced during this event! Heart palpitations and joy that a "second best" solution has now been found and that the two iconic aircraft will be made available to the public again in Frankfurt next to the Lufthansa Group headquarters. In a building that preserves the historical past and in which the future of passenger aviation is to be further forged by Lufthansa.
Until then, the Super Star Constellation will have to be transported to a paint shop at Munster-Osnabruck Airport this year after it has been dismantled into transportable large parts in Hamburg. It then begins its final journey to be finally rebuilt in Frankfurt in all its beauty. She will be joined there by Lufthansa's Ju 52, D-AQUI.
Even if the two aircraft are not flying, it is reason enough to be proud of their restoration in this excellent condition and that Lufthansa is making their history come alive again on their 100th anniversary. There will be numerous events in which the history of Lufthansa can be included.
Jan Frieben
January 2025
Photo Credits: Lufthansa, Jan Frieben, Guido Gottschalk, Jorg Hennig, Paul Zogg, Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Howard Mitchell, Franz Peter, Ralph M. Pettersen
