Columbine II Executes 29 Minute Test Flight
Recently, we reported that the team working in Marana, Arizona to restore the Lockheed Constellation, ‘Columbine Two’, to airworthy condition was nearly ready to ferry the plane to its new home in Bridgewater, Virginia, where the restoration will be completed. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s, ‘Columbine Two’, was the first presidential airplane to use the call sign, ‘Air Force One’.
Things must be progressing well because it’s reported the Connie just made a baby hop of 29 minutes on Sunday in preparations for its flight to Virginia. The Columbine II was the third airplane in a line of special service military versions of standard airliners to be used for presidential transportation.
The first airplane assigned by the military for President Roosevelt was a custom version of the militarized DC-4 that did not have an official name, but it was commonly referred to as the ‘Sacred Cow’. President Truman’s customized version of a DC-6 was named ‘Independence’, but neither of these aircraft carried the call sign of ‘Air Force One’.
According to the company's founder, Karl D. Stoltzfus Sr., this was only possible because of the on-site leadership of Dynamic's Brian Miklos and the generous contribution of others, in particular Scott Glover and his Mid-America Flight Museum, of Mt. Pleasant, TX.
"The team has not only prepared the aircraft for a ferry flight, they have gone to the effort of bringing it back to airworthy status and will fly it to their home base, Bridgewater Airpark, Bridgewater, VA, as a certificated aircraft. All systems have been thoroughly gone through; brakes overhauled and new tires installed; many engine accessories overhauled, and much more. At Bridgewater it will be restored to its former glory and prepared for the air show circuit."
Columbine II was mostly intact including its 2500-HP, Wright R-3350 engines and much of the original interior, instruments, avionics, and other important historical details, but was at risk of being scrapped because of the complexity and cost of preparing it for flight.
The ferry flight to its future home seems imminent... According to the Mid-America Flight Museum Facebook page, "Post flight inspection of Columbine II just completed including check of 4 engine oil screens and all looks good! It is a go for us to depart Mount Pleasant at 8:00 AM tomorrow Sunday the 20th in our B-25 "God and Country" with myself, Frank Glover Jr, Matt Bongers, Tommy May, (and) Erik Johnson, for the flight to Marana. We will leave Marana around 9:00 AZ time for the flight back to Mount Pleasant on Monday the 21st. (The) B-25 will be (t)he lead ship carrying a great team of talented photographers.... My best guess is we will land in Mount Pleasant on Monday between 3:00-4:00 PM... I Hope we can have a large welcoming party for Columbine II and its crew plus the Dynamic aviation team when we arrive in Mount Pleasant TX..... Columbine II will remain overnight in Mount Pleasant and depart for Bridgewater VA Tuesday Morning..."
We at ANN are pleased to see this important piece of aviation history take to the sky again.
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