Ralph Pettersen has announced on his website that the three Lockheed L-1649A Starliners owned by Maurice Roundy (two in Maine and one in Florida) are to be auctioned off on December 18, in Maine. Apparently Maurice has been unable to come up with a viable plan to either display or restore the Starliners. It would be a shame to see these once proud propliners fall under the scrappers axe. I sincerely hope that someone with the means to restore and display them, if not return them to a flying status, gets them.

Walt

The auction is on December 18. Has anyone heard any rumors? Is there a chance that they could go to the scrapman? Is everything going to be sold off as a package, or will there be small lots auctioned off. I have been to auctions like this before and things can go very cheap, like under $5000 for a KC-97 a few years ago.

There will be four separate lots that can be bid on...the three aircraft plus the spare parts. Here's a link to the auction house with details..Keenan Auction Co
Rumor has it that Carlos Gomez, a German group and Kermit Weeks (N974R only) are interested. The aircraft represent a considerable value in scrap so I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few bids made by scrappers.
Ralph

Okay the day is here has anyone risen to the challenge to save these ladies of the air.......In the UK we only have one TWA Connie, its in a hanger and will never fly, so its up to you guys over the pond to save this heritage.

To save is a good thing....but the wrong time.
The U.S. dollar is tanking, people can't pay to keep their homes, we can barely keep automobile fuel tanks half full, prices on everything are going up and our government is falling apart...not to mention we are in debt to the tune of trillions of dollars because of a war.
To try to get up enough cash to fuel a "Starliner" just to taxi let alone fly...and to say nothing about oil, hydralic fluid and other little items to keep the aircraft operating smoothly is very near an impossibility even for one who may have deep pockets.

We all want to save our classic aircraft, cars, trains and buses...and to operate them...but I fear that static display, for now at least, is our only answer.

Best,
Doug

Doug,
The German group was the successful bidder for the three Starliners and the spare parts.
Ralph

Does anyone have details on the German bid winners? I hope they can pull this massive task off. We all owe a huge thanks to Maurice Roundy and his wife Jane for devoting much of their lives and financial resources to preserving these historic and beautiful aircraft. May the coming years see a fully restored 1649 take flight.

WOW!

The planes, along with a third Starliner owned by Roundy, which he kept at an air museum in Florida, were purchased at the auction for a total of $748,000 by a division of Lufthansa, one of the world's largest airlines.

Hopefully at least one of the Starliners will be put in flying status for air shows.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1313113

I am concerned though, about the recent years flurry of overseas/European efforts to buy and preserve propliners and Constellation type aircraft in particular. With the current situation at the Airline History Museum, it is looking ominously like most if not all of the flying Connie type aircraft will be in countries other than the United States. That would be a real shame.

Hopefully we will see a Connie or a Starliner flying in the U.S. soon.

Here's a link to my website for an update on the sale of the three aircraft.

The link...Starliner Sale

I was the copilot on N974R out of Ft. Lauderdale (as Ralph knows!) and then out of West Palm Beach back in 1988. It is my hope that Maurice Roundy will be heavily involved with the Lufthansa Technic restoration. He is certainly the most knowledgeable and capable pilot, flight engineer and mechanic I have ever known. He and his wife Jane have also been good and loyal custodians of the Starliner's for many years and deserve this opportunity. As an A&P and IA, as well as years of current experience on the Starliner's (rescuing them from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Stuart Field in New York and Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida... not to mention the countless trips to junk yards, Alaska and various airports to collect the huge number of spare parts needed to start a restoration like this) he has all the needed qualifications to help get one (or more) of these beautiful Starliner's flying again. He is also rated as a Constellation flight engineer.

N7316C is ex. TWA, N8083H is ex. TWA and N974R (D-ALAN) is ex. Lufthansa and West Germany's former "Air Force One". The two TWA Starliner's are up in Lewiston/Auburn Airport and the Lufthansa Super Star (as Lufthansa called them) is at Kermit Weeks, Fantasy of Flight Museum. Kermit Weeks certainly deserves some credit for helping to save N974R as he has provided a safe place for the aircraft to reside since 2001 and helped to make it possible to ferry her there.

This is nothing but good news for the airplanes as they really needed someone to step in with the finances to make it happen. I have no doubt that Maurice would have done it himself had he found the money to do so. Let's hope it all happens as planned now and we get to see at least one of these gorgeous birds in the air again on a regular basis!

The current plans call for one of the Starliner's in Maine to be restored (at the Lewiston/Auburn Airport), probably N7316C (ex. TWA) as it is in the best shape of the three. There is always the chance that Lufthansa will restore two out of the three but it is probably a long shot... still, not my call to make, so you never know!

FYI, the South African/Trek Starliner will never fly again as I believe its fuselage or wings were twisted/cut during transportation a number of years ago. However, the South African contingent has an excellent working relationship with Maurice Roundy, having been over here many times to work on them. They have a wonderful museum in South Africa and are a great bunch of guys.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer them as best I can.
Philip Kemp
pjk1649a@aol.com

Mr. Kemp, as a member of propliners...and as one who supports the salvage and restoration of commercial aircraft, I thank you for the tremendous information you've placed on the site. I too hope that Lufthansa will do what is needed to save the three Super Constellations. My thoughts are that possibly one aircraft may be restored to flying condition, a second to static display and the third held for spare parts...possibly two aircraft for spares.

My thanks to Lufthansa for coming to what I do hope is a rescue.

Best,
Doug Vernon

Thanks Philip for the information and encouraging words concerning Maurice Roundy and his recently auctioned Starliners. Your knowledge and insight as a co-pilot of these great airplanes is exceptionally valuable.

Hopefully at least one of these airplanes will become a flying example. In addition regarding a potential initial ferry flight (whenever that might be), this will hopefully be well publicized so that we vintage propliner enthusiasts will at least have the chance to view it in action.

Another enthusiast on the Warbirds Information Exchange/WIX "Vintage Aviation" forums was nice enough to post the following link to updated information on Lufthansa's restoration plans for one of the Starliners:

http://www.amtonline.com/publication/article.jsp?siteSe...=1&id=4942&pageNum=1

It appears that this will be a very serious restoration project, and hopefully we will get updated information over the next 2+ years that will allow the possibility of seeing some of the proving flights and/or the beginning of the ferry flight before it returns to Germany.

Wow! Extrapolating from what is written in that link, sounds like Lufthansa wants to set up the Starliner to take sightseeing passengers, like their JU-52.
If that actually comes to pass, I will be dragging my wife off to Germany in a few years!

Pete - I'm with you. If Lufthansa does sightseeing tour flights in the Starliner in Germany in a few years - that would be a perfect excuse for a European vacation....

Maybe the Dollar will be in better shape by then, too!

Ralph Pettersen has updated his website

Connie sale

to include the latest on the sale to Lufthansa and their plans. Other than the eventual relocation of the restored Starliner to Germany, it's all good news.

Walt

Great Information on the Starliner restoration plans. Thanks very much Ralph for keeping us updated!

(And thanks for bringing the updated website to our attention, Walt).

This is going to be one heck of a project. Ralph please keep up periodically updated, so that we will know when to expect flights in the 2009/2010 time period to hopefully get a chance to see it in action.

Ralph - thanks for the Wall Street Journal link from your Connie Survivor's website.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121357457537975947.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone

I can't wait to see this beauty back in the air.