“C” is for Constellation – ABCs of Homeschooling

Yay! I’ve been waiting to write this post; however, I wasn’t sure how I was going to work it into the alphabet.  I bet you think I’m going to write about stars, don’t you?  Nope, I’m going to write about an airplane.

The weekend before last, our family took a day trip up to the Grand Canyon.  When we decided to leave in the afternoon, we took Hwy. 64 through the South gate toward Williams, AZ.  As we drove through the little town of Valle, we saw something that we had never paid attention to before.

We decided to stop in.  I must admit that I really didn’t expect much, but I was certainly surprised.  Since this post is about the Constellation, I will concentrate on that particular airplane.  However, if you would like to find out more about the museum, please click here.

This particular airplane is one of the 10 Constellations ordered by the U.S. Air Force in 1948.  They were designated C-121As.  Shortly after delivery, 8 of the C-121As (including this one) were involved in the Berlin Airlift.  {Lesson plans about the Berlin Airlift from the Truman Library here}  The 8 C-121As flew over 5 million miles during the Airlift.

After the Airlift had concluded the C-121As were removed from service and converted to VIP transport.  As part of this conversion process, extra windows were added, and weather radar was fitted into the nose.  The C-121A was the first type of U.S. Air Force aircraft to be fitted with weather radar.

After the conversion was completed, the aircraft were assigned to various VIPs.  The plane that we got to tour was assigned to General Douglas MacArthur and was used by him during his time as the Supreme Commander Allied Powers during the Korean War.  He named the aircraft, Bataan, for the peninsula in the Philippines that was the last stronghold of General MacArthur’s troops in defending the islands against the Japanese in 1942.
So, let’s start the tour in the cockpit.  I was amazed to hear that the controls are all original, except for one blue dial.  If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the faint blue dial near the point of light on the left side of the front control panel.  That dial is the artificial horizon that the FAA required the museum to install before flying the plane to Valle.  Yes, you read correctly…  This plane can still fly.  I was told that a maintenance crew from their sister facility in Chino, CA comes in to service the engine and start it up occasionally.

Going towards the back from the cockpit is the navigation area.  It is also the only seat that we were allowed to sit in.

This is still in the navigation area and just behind the picture with DS8.  The kids were allowed to look through the equipment that looked out beneath the plane.  That piece of equipment is in the bottom half of the above picture (just above the “e” of Pixie).  The kids said that they could see out into the parking lot.

Just towards the back from the navigation area is the galley.  It sure looks advanced for the time.

Beyond the galley is the seating for the non-VIPs who might fly with the General.  On the other side of the bulkhead that you see near the back of this picture is…

the chair where General MacArthur sat.  A large picture was displayed…

showing General MacArthur viewing the battle areas from his chair.

At the back of the plane is a VIP private room that contained a toilet on the left with the sink on the right.

After General MacArthur’s career ended, the Bataan was assigned to the ranking Army General in the Pacific and was based in Hawaii.  Another interesting note about this aircraft is that it served as Air Force One twice.  Our tour guide told us that it was Air Force One 3 days for President Eisenhower and 1 day for President Nixon.

The Bataan was retired in 1966 and sent to Tucson, AZ for storage, but she was eventually assigned to NASA for use with the Apollo space program.  When the Apollo program was cancelled in 1970, this aircraft was sent to a museum in Alabama for display.  After sitting outside on display for over 20 years, The Air Museum Planes of Fame gained possession of the aircraft and restored her to flying condition and refurbished her with an exact reproduction of the original VIP interior.

If you ever head up to the Grand Canyon and would like to see a lot of aircraft history (much more than is listed here), don’t forget to stop at The Air Museum Planes of Fame in Valle.  The original Planes of Fame Air Museum is located at Chino, CA and also has a wide variety of aircraft.

NOTE:  The information for this article was taken from the tour, as well as, a flyer obtained from the museum.