Mozambique's presidential aircraft was not a common sight in Europe, so its visit to Rotterdam Airport was very welcome. This aircraft crashed near Nelspruit, South Africa three years later, on 19 October 1986. The aircraft broke up and caught fire, killing 26 of the 36 passengers, including President Machel.

A Constellation in flight… Sheer grace and beauty. If only today's boring Boeing/Airbus shapes could be replaced by this...! This is what Miami still used to be like in the early 1990s. This Connie, and another one, then a DC-7 and a Mexican DC-6 would all pass this point on short final runway 09L within 20 minutes… Paradise!

It doesn't show, but this immaculate Skymaster was delivered to the USAAF in June 1945 (as 45-507), which means that when this photo was taken, this beauty had just celebrated its 61st birthday. Roger Brooks purchased this former Arizona-based airtanker (ex Tanker 161) in February 2006. He used it to fly all kinds of freight out of its new homebase at Fairbanks, Alaska. Unfortunately it crashlanded near Nenana, AK on 17 January 2007. The wreck was stored at Nenana Airport and was still there by 2018.

Preserved at Landhotel "Waldperle", right on the edge of the Werdauer Wald. It arrived here in 1969, and 30 years later, on 8 November 1999, it was dismantled and transported to a car dealer near Reichenbach. It was still on display there (as DM-ZZB) by 2017.
This aircraft was delivered in 1956 as the first Ilyushin 14 built by VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden. Its true identity is DM-SAZ. The displayed DDR- reg was painted on the aircraft after it arrived here, but it never flew as such. Interestingly, by 1995 the flag had been removed from the rudder.

Preserved in the "Kulturpark" near the Eissporthalle in Halle. It was put there after sustaining damage in an emergency landing at Leipzig in 1967. Shortly after this photo was made, this VEB-built Ilyushin was dismantled and transported to Pulspforde, followed by a move to the Hugo Junkers Museum in Dessau in 1999.

Withdrawn from use by Interflug in November 1989 and then used as an eye-catcher at the furniture store "Prima Möbel" in Alach near Erfurt. It was nice to see such a large aircraft in the middle of nothing but farmlands. Unfortunately it was completely broken up in September 1999.

One of Independent Air's duo of 707s captured during the take-off from Amsterdam's runway 24. This aircraft was purchased one year earlier (ex TWA N28727), but unfortunately crashed into the Pico Alto mountains, Azores on 8 February 1989. This accident led to the collapse of Independent Air in 1990.

The 1989 Paris AirSalon was the first time this unique aircraft was shown to the western world, only six months after its first flight. After a successful week at the Air Salon, the world's only Mriya is seen here on its way back home to the Soviet Union, faithfully carrying the Buran, the USSR's answer to the Space Shuttle. Hidden away in the big belly of this magnificent beast is the wreck of a MiG-29 that crashed earlier during the show.

This is the General Aviation Freighter (GAF), designed by California-based Hawk Industries. It became known as the Gafhawk 125, and only one prototype was built, which first flew on 19 August 1982. The aircraft never went into production, and N101GH remained the only example of its type. It was initially equipped with a PT-6 turboprop engine, but in the early 1990s this was replaced by this Polish-built radial, which also powers the Antonov An-2. This unique aircraft made an emergency landing in a field in Alaska in 2011, and was abandoned at the accident site with only minor damage. It was still there by late 2017.

Still showing the very faded colours of its former owner Piedmont Airlines, and even its name "Mount Mitchell Pacemaker" can still be seen below the cockpit windows, also very faded. Piedmont used this old TWA aircraft (ex N40439) between 1965 and 1968. It passed through the hands of some brokers before ending up as a spares ship with PBA at Naples, FL in 1977. It was completely scrapped during the early 1990s.

AMSA's "City of Miami" grumbles past on one of its many cargo flights into Miami. This was the second of two Connies on approach to runway 09L within 5 minutes, a wonderful experience! In 1992 this aircraft was damaged when a DC-4 ran into it at Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and it was stored there. Eleven years later, in 2003, the Ramey AFB Historical Association started work to restore her for display at the Ramey AFB in MATS colours. Unfortunately the work was later halted, but this Connie was still there by early 2018.