What some believe is
the most beautiful airplane ever built will be returning to EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh in 2006, as the Airline History Museum's "Star
of America" Lockheed Super Constellation makes its first appearance
at the event since 2004.
EAA AirVenture 2006, the 54th annual fly-in convention of the
Experimental Aircraft Association, will take place July 24-30 at
Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.
The Super Constellation will be at the event throughout the
week, parked on the AeroShell Square showcase ramp. The return of
this airplane also marks its first appearance at EAA AirVenture
since an engine fire grounded the aircraft last September. Interior
tours of the airplane will be available during AirVenture, hosted
by its crew from the Airline History Museum in Kansas City, Mo.
Proceeds from that tour help finance the continued maintenance and
operation of the aircraft.
"The graceful lines of the Lockheed Constellation have made it
one of the most popular aircraft to participate at EAA AirVenture
over the past decade," said Tom Poberezny, EAA president and
AirVenture chairman.
"This airplane's restoration also shows the same spirit
demonstrated by many EAA members, as volunteers spent thousands of
hours bringing the 'Connie' back to airworthy condition and into
the showpiece that it remains today."
The restoration of the "Star of America" began in 1986, when a
group of Kansas City-area aviation enthusiasts began searching for
a Super Constellation to obtain and refurbish. The group discovered
one of the last Constellations that came off Lockheed's assembly
line in 1958, but it had been parked in an Arizona "boneyard" for
nine years. After a nine-week effort to make the airplane flyable,
the group was able to ferry the airplane to Kansas City to begin a
full restoration.
The resurrection of "Star of America" was aided greatly by a
corps of retired employees from TWA, the airline that flew Super
Constellations extensively. With talented specialists from every
aspect of this aircraft's operations working tirelessly, the group
needed only 18 months to complete the original restoration and
begin nationwide stops on the air show circuit. In the late 1990s,
employees from TWA's Kansas City maintenance base donated a new
paint job in the original TWA colors.
Along with its appearances on the air show circuit, the "Star of
America" has made numerous movie and television appearances over
the past 15 years, including the 2005 blockbuster film "The
Aviator." It is one of the few Constellations or Super
Constellations still flying anywhere in the world, and the only one
flying that did not begin its life as a military aircraft.
"Only at EAA AirVenture can someone walk around, beneath and
through a legendary airplane such as the Lockheed Super
Constellation, plus meet the crew and share the experience with
other aviation enthusiasts, right next to hundreds of other amazing
aircraft of every size, shape and vintage," Poberezny said.
"It's why AirVenture is known as aviation's family reunion and
another reason that to truly experience it, you've got to be
here."
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