76 FLYPAST April 2018
FROM THE WORKSHOP SUPER CONSTELLATION
Transport Squadron of the West
Virginia ANG.
Replaced by a Lockheed C-130
Hercules, 54-0156 was retired
in 1972 and flown to the famous
‘boneyard’ at Davis-Monthan Air
Force Base, Arizona, for storage
and eventual disposal. In June
1972 the Connie was allocated to
the Smithsonian Institution, for
eventual display by the National
Air and Space Museum (NASM).
Aviation Specialities at Falcon
Field, Mesa, Arizona, had acquired
the last intact surviving Boeing
307 Stratoliner, NC19903, with
the intention of converting it to
work alongside its fleet of B-17
Flying Fortress fire-bombers and
sprayers. The Stratoliner had
long been on NASM’s ‘shopping
list’ and a trade was arranged:
NC19903 is now at the Udvar-Hazy
Center alongside Washington
Dulles Airport, Virginia.
Civil registered as N73544, the
Connie was ferried to Falcon Field.
There it was gutted of military
equipment, a tank was installed in
the fuselage and spray bars were
rigged on the wings. It spent the
next six years as a ‘bug-bomber’
spraying infestations of spruce
budworm in American forests.
In 1982 N73544 was flown to
nearby Chandler Memorial Airfield
where an outfit hoped to operate
it and another example on tours of
the Grand Canyon. Nothing came
of the venture and the aircraft was
flown to Chino, California, in 1983.
There it was purchased by another
operator which intended to use it
to haul tuna from the Philippines
to Tokyo. This was another non-
starter and the Connie remained
on the ground at Chino.
In January 1984, N73544
was flown to Camarillo, also in
California. As it approached the
airport, one of the R-3350s caught
fire and another had to have its
propeller feathered. The Connie
was pushed to a remote end of the
field and left there. Its condition
went steadily downhill.Atlantic crossing
In 1991 the then owner formed the
Constellation Historical Society
and gathered a dedicated band of
volunteers who eventually brought
N73544 back to airworthiness.
Their hard work came to fruition
in June 1994 when it completed a
successful test flight and became
a ‘regular’ on the US airshow
circuit.Negotiations for a purchase
of N73544 by SCFA began in- They reached a successful
conclusion two years later when
the Connie crossed the Atlantic
and arrived in Switzerland. Since
then it was flown at airshows in
Switzerland, across Europe and in
the UK with only one break, in 2012,
because of an engine change.
Star of Switzerland is well known
in Great Britain for its appearance
at Duxford’s Flying Legends Air
Show in 2014. Many hundreds of
visitors took the opportunity to
walk through the cabin of this
beautiful airliner, and on both days
of the show HB-RSC gave a superb
flying display.
Today, SCFA has four captains,
one first officer and three flight
engineers all type rated to fly the
Constellation. If everything runs
well with the repairs, Sierra-Charlie
will take to the skies again soon
so that crew training can begin by
June. After that, this magnificent
machine has a busy schedule
ahead of it, including events in
Switzerland and other European
venues.
http://www.superconstellation.org“The Connie was pushed to a remote
end of the fi eld and left there. Its
condition went steadily downhill“
Right
The seating has been returned to the cabin
Below right
An undercarriage leg awaiting refi tting.