Constellation de type L.749 (14 sur 24)
| F-BAZR | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TYPE | L749-79-22 - L749A-BIS | CN | 2503 |
| Propriétaire | Air France | ||
| Certificats | Certificat De Navigabilité N°18244 du 30-03-1949 Certificat d'Immatriculation N°B.2210 du 30-03-1949 | ||
| Moteurs | Wright Cyclone 749C18-BD1 | ||
| Hélices | Curtiss Wright Moyeu C632S-A12 - Pales 850 2-C20 | ||
| Prise En Charge | Orly 15/01/1949 | ||
| Mise En Service | Orly 29/03/1949 - Ex Aerovias Guest Mexico | ||
| DATES | ÉVÉNEMENTS | HEURES | DIVERS |
COMMENTAIRE : 1947 Tout premier L.749 de la série, tout en portant le numéro Constructeur 2503 | |||
PHOTO : 06-06-1947 | |||
COMMENTAIRE : 17-06-1947 Premier tour du monde commercial - Vol « inaugural » préparatoire effectué par le NC86520Relaté dans la revue FLIGHT du 19 juin 1947 New York à New York en 13 jours soit environ 33 797 km en 92h 43mn de vol. Parti de New York le 17 juin, il fait successivement escale à Gander, Shannon, Londres, Istambul, Karachi, Calcutta, Bangkok, Shangaï, Tokyo, Manille, Guam, Wake, Honolulu, San Francisco, pour être de retour à New York le 1er juillet.  Revue FLIGHT - 19 juin 1947 ROUND THE WORLD BY P.A.W.A. FLIGHTS round the world have apparently become fashionable again, but Pan American Airways will be the first airline to attempt the operation of a regular service which encircles the world. To inaugurate this service the company are flying the presidents or editors of the leading American newspapers and the Mayor of San Francisco around the route in one of the new Gold Plate model 749 Constellations, Clipper America. They were due to leave New York two days ago, June 17th, and land at London Airport yesterday. After a stay of about 15 hours, the next shop was to be Istanbul and from there in one hop to Karachi, and on through Calcutta, Bangkok, Shanghai, Tokyo, Manila, Guam, Wake, Honolulu, San Francisco and the final transcontinental hop to New York. On June 27th the first regular service will be started and from then onwards it will be run once a week in both directions. The route will be similar to that followed on the special flight except that landings will not be made at Shanghai and Tokyo. The service will be operated in two sections; a Constellation will Ieave New York every Thursday and, flying eastwards, will arrive at Calcutta the following Monday. A Skymaster will leave San Francisco each Thursday and also arrive at Calcutta the following Monday. The Constellation will then return to New York and the Skymaster to San Francisco. Pan American Airways have not yet received permission to operate across the United States and the Constellation which is due to arrive back in New York on July 1st, will he carrying passengers from San Francisco to New York only because of the special nature of the flight. On the inaugural flight the Clipper America will take about ninety-three flying hours over an elapsed time for the trip of 336 hours, covering more than 21,000 miles. The regular flights will take about 120 hours including the trans-continental portion of the route which will be flown by normal domestic carriers. Re-fuelling and change-of-crew stops of 1 ½ hours only will be made on the route. The Gold Plate Constellations are fitted with overload wing tanks and have a permitted all-up take-off weight of 102,000 lb. They have reversible-pitch air-screws, a refrigeration system for cooling the cabin when necessary, and American Clipper is fitted with sleeping berths. | |||
PHOTO : 10-07-1947 NC86520 Chicago Airport 10 juillet 1947 Photographe inconnu | |||
| 06-06-1948 | Aeronaves Guest S.A. Mexico - Vols charters vers Londres pour les Jeux Olympiques puis ligne Mexico Miami | XA-GOQ | |
COMMENTAIRE : 1948 Relaté dans la revue FLIGHT de Janvier 1956 Shown in its original Aerovias Guest colours, this Constellation 749 was the first of its type produced. After only four months' service with the Mexican airline it was traded back to Lockheed for re-sale to Air France; now, however, Aerovias Guest hove acquired two ex-Qantas Constellations of similar type.  Revue FLIGHT - Janvier 1956 The accompanying photograph of Aerovias Guest Connie XA–GOQ is perhaps of special significance, in view of the news of the sale of two Qantas 749s to this Mexican airline. As long ago as July 1948 it was purchased by Aerovias Guest for the purpose of operating regular services between Mexico and Spain. Negotiations for the operation of this service proved unsuccessful; after being in service for only four months with Aerovias Guest (on their Mexico City to Miami routes) it was "traded back" to Lockheed, who later sold it to Air France. It is still flying with the French airline as F-BAZR. This particular Connie (constructor's serial number 2503) was the first Series 749 built. It would be interesting to know the number of hours it has logged with Air France. A CONSTELLATION SAGA WITH the departure of Constellation VH-EAD, operating Qantas flight EM602 from Johannesburg on October 20th, 1955, culminated the remarkably fine record of almost exactly seven years of highly successful L.749 operations by Qantas. Of the original Q.E.A. fleet of six 749s, four were sold to B.O.A.C. in mid-1954—VH--EAA, 'All, 'AE and 'AF (which are now flying as G-ANTF, 'TG, and G-ANUP, 'UR on the famous "Kangaroo" route). The two remaining Connies—VH-EAC and VH-EAD—were recently sold to Aerovias Guest S.A. of Mexico, who will operate them between Mexico City and Windsor (Ontario) via Detroit following permission granted by the Canadian Government to open this new route between Canada and Mexico. Originally named Ross Smith and now R.M.A. Berkeley, VH-EAA was delivered to Qantas at Sydney on October 14th, 1947, having been ferried 7,800 miles from California by a joint Qantas-Lockheed crew in 421 hr elapsed time. This was the aircraft which operated the first Sydney-London Constellation service on October 22nd, 1947; three more aircraft, newly purchased from Lockheed, were all delivered to Qantas in the same month and were placed on the "Kangaroo" route shortly afterwards. The remaining two Connies—VH-EAF and VH-EAE-were later purchased from Air-India International: these two aircraft, previously registered VT-CQP and VT-CQS, were actually the second and third 749s off the production line, constructors' serial numbers being 2504 and 2505 respectively. During the whole of their service with Qantas these six transports logged a grand total of 106,659 hours, made up as follows : Sydney - London: 89,782 ; Sydney - Johannesburg: 6,004 (since Jan. 1950) ; Sydney - Tokyo: 1,579 (since Jan. 1954) ; Charter and test flying, etc.: 9,294 Thus, each of these six Connies in Qantas service logged an average of 2,538 hours per annum for seven years — a comparatively high figure considering the "involved" types of long distance routes and schedules on which they were operated. With Qantas, these six Connies have flown the huge total of approximately thirty million miles without a single fatal accident of any kind, adding another chapter in the proud history of Australia's great overseas airline. The original decision to purchase the type (early in 1947), was due chiefly to the foresight of the airline's founder and its then managing director — Sir Hudson Fysh. It seems that these six 749s still have many more years of reliable and efficient airline service ahead of them. Good luck therefore to B.O.A.C. and Aerovias Guest, both of wham, one feels sure, will continue to operate them as successfully as their original owners. In conclusion, it may be noted that Qantas sold these six Constellations (with spares) for some £4,300,000, which was just about the original market price paid for them seven years ago. LOCKHEED'S graceful "Connie" holds a special place in the hearts of such aircraft historians as Dennis Powell, who has unearthed the following impressive facts about the fleet of six Constellation 749s formerly operated by Qantas Empire Airways. He also provided the accompanying photograph, a "collector's piece" which, Mr. Powell believes, has never previously been published. | |||
| 12-1948 | Revendu à Lockheed | N86520 | |
| 15-01-1949 | Prise En Charge | 1325 | F-BAZR |
| 09-02-1949 29-03-1949 | VP Orly Pesée à vide équipé : 28025 kg | 1454 | |
| 15-11-1949 11-04-1950 | VP + Modifications 107000 lbs - 46 places - Pesée : 27755 kg | 2787 | |
| 14-10-1950 03-11-1950 | VP Orly | 4267 | |
| 16-06-1951 30-06-1951 | VP Orly - Pesée : 28090 kg | 5773 | |
| 23-02-1952 24-04-1952 | RG - Pesée : 28410 kg | 7709 | |
| 06-12-1952 23-12-1952 | GV + 1/4 RG | 9975 | |
| 04-09-1953 13-09-1953 | GV + 1/4 RG - Pesée : 28725 kg | 12365 | |
| 06-04-1954 21-04-1954 | GV + 1/4 RG | 14561 | |
INCIDENT : 03-12-1954 Sortie piste Alger Maison Blanche | |||
| 31-12-1954 18-01-1955 | GV + 1/4 RG - Pesée : 28730 kg | 17042 | |
| 10-1955 | 7,46 hdv pour le compte d'AVN1 | ||
| 28-11-1955 15-12-1955 | GV + 1/4 RG | 20088 | |
| 05-1956 07-1956 | 32 hdv pour le compte d'AVN1 | ||
| 12-02-1957 25-03-1957 | GV + 1/4 RG | 23555 | |
| 03-02-1958 26-02-1958 | Réfection Cabine | 25840 | |
| 22-06-1958 04-07-1958 | GV + 1/4 RG | 26569 | |
| 07-08-1959 25-08-1959 | GV + 1/4 RG | 29017 | |
| 01-02-1960 07-02-1960 | Location Royal Air Maroc 50 hdv | 30021 | |
| 19-10-1960 | Dernier vol commercial Casablance-Orly | 31102 | |
| 20-10-1960 | Retrait d'exploitation Air France | 31102 | |
| 02-01-1962 | Vente à l'État Français | F-ZVMV | |
| 08-01-1962 03-03-1962 | GV + 1/4 RG Renforts structuraux par AF à Montaudran pour la CGTM : Compagnie Générale Des Turbo-Machines | F-ZVMV | |
| 05-02-1963 | Radié des immatriculations civiles | ||
COMMENTAIRE : 05-04-1963  Banc d'éssais volant ou métamorphose d'un Constell' Le Centre de Révision de Toulouse d'Air France remet à la Direction Technique et Industrielle le Lockheed 749 F-BAZR qui a été transformé dans ses ateliers pour permettre l'expérimentation en vol de réacteurs et de turbopropulseurs de grande puissance. | |||
| 12-04-1963 | Convoyage à Istres | ||
| 26-12-1963 | Premier vol d'essais avec les installations de support moteurs | F-ZVMV | |
| 20-12-1964 21-01-1965 | Visite De Vieillissement | F-ZVMV | |
PHOTO : 1965  C. Faure F-ZVMV en cours de vol d'essais Vols pour essais moteurs et dégivrage Turboméca Turmo IIID (Bréguet 941), Bastan VI (Nord 262), Général Electric CF700 (Mystère 20) | |||
| 15-02-1966 | Dernier vol CGTM. Transféré au CEV Istres avec toute l'équipe technique, dont l'ingénieur navigant d'essais responsable du programme | F-ZVMV | |
| 14-03-1966 22-03-1966 | PV | 31376 | F-ZVMV |
| 31-08-1966 20-09-1966 | Visite De Vieillissement | 31389 | F-ZVMV |
| 14-12-1967 01-02-1968 | Visite De Vieillissement | 31536 | F-ZVMV |
| 10-07-1969 23-07-1969 | PV | 31606 | F-ZVMV |
| 12-1963 12-1974 | Vols Test : CF 700 TURMO III ASTAZOU Bastan Turbomeca M 49 Larzac (Alphajet) | F-ZVMV | |
| 19-12-1974 | Dernier Vol Test (Total de 634 vols d'essais pour 1363h 40) | 32471 | F-ZVMV |
| 16-07-1975 | Dernier vol vers le Musée de l'Air du Bourget | F-ZVMV | |
PHOTO : 04-1982  John Kelly Musée de l'Air - Avril 1982 | |||
| 2002 | Dépose des installations d'essais moteur. | F-ZVMV | |
| 07-2003 | Début de restauration... mais arrêt faute de fonds... | ||
PHOTO : 15-12-2006  AirTeamimages - Peter Unmuth Repeint (presque) aux couleurs Air France avec fausse immatriculation F-JAZ pour un film sur Édith Piaf | |||
PHOTO : 21-10-2007  Google Earth À Dugny Le Bourget le 21 octobre 2007 - 48° 57' 15,17" N - 2° 25' 28,37" E | |||
| 01-2010 | Cessation totale d'activité de la CGTM | ||
COMMENTAIRE : 12-2010 Lockheed L.749A ConstellationNotre vénérable Constellation n° 2503, immatriculé F-ZVMV, doit très prochainement subir un décapage peinture afin de revêtir la décoration «Air France» en cours dans les années 1950. Grâce au concours de M. Gilbert Bellotto (ex pilote de ligne Air France), nous sommes aujourd'hui en possession des plans de peinture détaillés au millimètre près (diamètre des rosaces, épaisseur des filets, taille de l'hippocampe, etc...) Le décapage devrait commencer en décembre 2010 ou janvier 2011, avant de subir une restauration d'environ six mois dans les ateliers de Dugny de revêtir enfin sa livrée définitive au cours du dernier trimestre 2011. Revue PÉGASE - Association des Amis du Musée de l'Air | |||
PHOTO : 23-02-2012  Jean-Michel Castagné À Dugny Le Bourget le 23 février 2012 | |||
PHOTO : 07-08-2017  Google Earth À Dugny Le Bourget le 7 août 2017 - 48° 57' 18" N - 2° 25' 19" E | |||
PHOTO : 10-2017  Xavier Audran Dugny - Octobre 2017  Xavier Audran Dugny - Octobre 2017 | |||
| VP = Visite Périodique - GV = Grande Visite - RG = Révision Générale | |||
Fiche de Suivi Technique Avion « Officielle » - Direction du Matériel d'Air France - Sauvegardée par André THOMANN, compilée par Gérard MOUGENOT et collationnée avec les documents DM, carnets de note et la mémoire de Louis ATTENOUX. Anecdotes, commentaires, photos et films ajoutés par Dominique OTTELLO.