Lockheed EC-121 Constellation (HB-RSC)

This is a perfect picture of the best airliner ever built I wish we could see one flying in england

Beautiful. One clean machine.

I have 2500 hours on the USAF EC-121, and she's the finest three engine aircraft ever built. I was fortunate enough to be at Yanks Air Museum (Chino, CA) with my youngest son in 2012 when AC 548 (EC-121T) arrived from Camarillo. It was strange sitting back at my weapons console (ACO 1 for those familiar with the EC-121) after 45 years.

My Favorite Photo of the week Pascal.

Stunning aircraft & Pic

Thank you for your awesome USAF service Bob P.

https://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=37961
(almost positive EC-121 had 4 engines)

The Grand dame of the skies! So elegant. Look up “beautiful” in Websters; this aircraft will be there! Thank you for a wonderful memory!!

Bob P ....3 engines was normal operation ???

Breathtakingly beautiful!

At the end of my active duty in '61, I flew back to the U.S. on a Super Connie chartered by the military. Long time in the air...Tachikawa AFB to Wake Island to Hickam Field to Travis AFB. Enjoyed every minute.

Yep, best three engine aircraft ever built. Redundancy is your friend!

Beautiful aeroplane.

Beautiful

My favorite. A beautiful plane. Air America was still flying them in the early 70s

Was stationed on Wake Is for most of a year and watched these every day. Beautiful aircraft. I was told the body itself had enough lift built in to carry the weight of the landing gear.

Such a beautiful long-legged beauty. And quite the tail end! A true classic from the days when variety in design still existed. All IMHO.

Terry in 1956 I flew the reverse of that, Travis to Hickam to Wake to Tachikawa AFB on a chartered EC-121 and then on to K55 Osan AFB on a chartered C-47.

Hey Bob P, my dad flew the EC-121. I believe it was with the NJ National Guard. Most likely a few years before you. He is 90 now.

Okay, not my desire to start a brawl on a lovely Autumn afternoon, but I don't believe this is EC model. My first duty station out of "A" school in 1967 was VQ-2 Rota Spain. We had EA3-B's and EC-121M's. The EC-121 had radomes both top and bottom and EC-121 was the Air Force designation. The Navy originally designated them as WV-2, weather aircraft. Since I was an ADJ, I rarely had anything to do with the "Willy Victor", but I recall due to their age, obtaining parts could be a challenge. I always thought it was one of the most beautiful designs in aviation, but with no radomes, I don't believe it's the EC model, just the standard 049?

Actual a former USAF/ANG C-121C Super Constellation.

Jim Cochran-

I'm treading lightly here, but didn't the Super Constellation have tip tanks?

Thank you all for your comments

Beautiful shot! No prop strikes with that landing gear!

I remember riding in the 'way back' seat of a Connie many years ago and looking forward to see how the floor (and ceiling) followed that wonderful fuselage contour.

I flew in the C-121 as a Radioman for 2000 hours in 1959-1960. The EC-121 was used for Electronic Reconnaissance by the Navy and the Air Force; we flew passengers and freight on certain flights. We had a lot of time on three engines, but we never caged one to save fuel unless we were in trouble. We landed on Johnston Island with just two turning on the same side. One of those was barely pulling its own weight. VR-7. What a great airplane! Beautiful pic.

Ha! Veteran TWA pilot Bob Buck, in his autobiographical "North Star Over My Shoulder", stated that the two-stage superchargers on these engines were unreliable. They were frequently stuck cruising at the lower altitudes when one of them wouldn’t shift into “high gear”. The Constellation was sometimes called “The world’s best three-engine airliner”, averaging 2-3 engine failures per plane per year.

4-3350s awesome sound on takeoff!

Jess & Brian Long-range patrol missions often shut down one for max time on-station... and yeah that beautiful triple-tail made adverse yaw from even the off-engine being an outboard one a cake-walk.

Bazinga! a&P hours on those beasts were night-mareish. Every time the wheels were planted back on terra firma, you had a GROSS of spark plugs to replace! It was not only a two-stage turbo but a two-stage turbo with a turbo-compound. I thought the engine engineers must have been slaves in a dungeon somewhere trying to get back at their captors.

Excellent catch, Pascal! You even caught the props nearly perfectly synced. I remember working on one as an apprentice at Lockheed. Used to use the old nixie-tube synchronizing box to get those engines synced up. Fun times for a kid working on Kelly's flight line.