The early morning lighting definitely enhances the beauty of the this airplane. She is being readied for the day's activities which were curtailed prematurely after the No.1 engine failure. I wrote about my experiences that day in Propliner issue 70.

Flight engineer's panel.....center of activity on large propliners.

This is the result of a cylinder letting loose on a radial engine. It happened at the worst possible time on one of Avra Valley's relatively 'short' runways. The No.2 engine had been throttled back to simulate an engine failure. As we rotated after a 'touch and go' landing, the No.1 engine failed and, momentarily, both engines on the left side were producing little or no power. Captain Frank Lang brought the aircraft under control and we returned to Avra Valley Airport for a safe landing.

Taxiing past the MATS Connie in N749NL

Can't you just hear the sound of those 3350's?

Very rainy morning....notice the use of a rag on the pilots window to keep the cockpit dry. The aircraft was at Pax River for the training of pilots going through the Navy's test pilot school.

Military Air Transport Service VC-121A of 1254 Air Transport Group on final approach to RAF Burtonwood, Lancashire, in 1955. The aircraft wears the contracted serial 8609 and later became C-GXKO and N494TW and is now preserved in South Korea.

The most graceful airliner ever. This example visited Flying Legends 1998 but did not land. It has since been grounded and preserved in Korea but two of the engines were given to the Aviodrome to assist in returning their aircraft, N749NL to the skies. Inexplicably, though that aircraft could now fly it has been grounded due to a management decision. Scanned from 35 mm negative film.

The MATS Connie departs Avra Valley for the final time on the morning of April 1, 2005.

A sight never to be repeated.....The MATS Connie in the foreground with sistership 48-610 "Columbine II" in the background

Taxiing to runway 30 at Avra Valley for a test flight prior to the long ferry flight to South Korea.

Looking good on a cluttered ramp after a recent polishing.

Massive amounts of smoke as the No.3 engine comes to life!