Lockheed Constellation at YYZ moving to Seatle

[teacher]

LOCKHEED SUPER CONSTELLATION AT YYZ

The Museum of Flight at Seattle has acquired title to this proud bird and crews are busy dis-mantling the aircraft at the north end of Toronto Intl. Airport. The aircraft fuselage will be moved to the Air Canada paint hangar to be re-done in original Trans Canada Air Lines scheme before shipment to Seattle. This is the Connie that was once a restaurant on Derry Road.

I'd prefer to see it stay in Canada but what can you do, it was just a matter of time before the money down south got it's hands on it.

[Clodhopper]

Its wonderful that the aircraft will finally be treated properly, I always hated driving by and seeing it get worse and worse with each passing year.

Why wouldn't the GTAA (or Air Canada) take it, paint it up in TCA colors, and mount it out infront of the new Terminal, or the new Rapid-Transit-Line. That would look stellar up on a stand. A great way to welcome people to the airport and into Canada/Toronto.

[Rubberbiscuit]

I'm with teacher. I love the Super connie and thought it was a crying shame watching it just sitting there, corroding away! Sounds like she's found a good home

[TorontoGuy]

I drove by her today. She looks very clean, if she was very looking down at mouth. And they have her standing on her own wheels. There was a crane nearby, and a few workers around her even on a Sunday morning, so things are afoot.

[oldtimer]

It is always nice to see a bit of Canadian and/or world history preserved. The old Connie was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever designed. I was luck enough to actually see and hear one fly when Trans Canada Airlines flew one in to Regina on service in 1959. Great old bird. I was very saddened years ago when one of the last surviving Avro York's, parked in a display area by the highway outside The Pas Manitoba was set ablaze by vandals before a permanent display could be built. I wonder what ever happened to the Bristol Argosey's that Transair of Winnipeg operated? Also, does anyone know if a copy of the old YS11, operated by Transair, was ever saved? I have always wanted to visit the museum in Winnipeg but just never got around to it. I visited the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa years ago and my only disappointment was to see the only display of the Norseman aircraft was of an RCAF Mk.V1. I think I would have prefered to see a civilian version. Say an old Superior Airways machine with Porky Weiben in the cockpit. Maybe I should retire as a pilot and become a curator in an aviation musuem. I am after all getting to be a museum piece myself.
Can you imagine someone like Cat Driver as a guide through a museum.
"Back when I was a young pup, this old bird was an old relic then" or something to that effect. Would add credability to the display.
What do you think ., something to pursue?

[TorontoGuy]

It's a pity that the museum at Downsview Park here in Toronto is such a non-event. No money, from my understanding. Virtually nobody knows it's there.

[Cat Driver]

" n you imagine someone like Cat Driver as a guide through a museum.
"Back when I was a young pup, this old bird was an old relic then" or something to that effect. Would add credability to the display.
What do you think ., something to pursue? "

Soon they will be putting me in a muesum oldtimer, however for some reason they still think I have most of my marbles and I just got an e-mail yesterday confirming that all my flight authorizations are valid again in Europe and they want me there on Mar 16...I'm sure you are aware that I fly for a museum in Holland.

http://www.aviodrome.nl/

Anyhow we also have a couple of jobs to do for Yanks Air Museum in Chino to deliver a Super Cat from Moses Lake Wa. and then to get a Super Connie serviceable for a delivery flight to Chino.

Anyone here able to fly a Super Connie ( type rated? )

Cat

[. ._]

Is this the one you're talking about?

[Cat Driver]

istp, I don't know all I know is it is somewhere in California and we have been asked if we will get it servicable to fly to Chino.

I will be in touch with Clive soon and will ask him if that is the one.

Cat

[TorontoGuy]

I sent a note to the Toronto Star and they've assigned a features writer to check out what's up with the Toronto Connie for a possible story.

[teacher]

Sounds like a chorus of support is building to keep the plane in Canada:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Conten ... 9267414354

[TorontoGuy]

Yes indeed. Large story in The Star and a beautiful half page pic of this particular Super Connie landing at Malton in 1954.

It seems this Super Connie is the last passenger liner of her era left in the country.

Air Canada retired employees association has started an online petition to keep her in Canada, at the aerospace museum in Downsview. See story for the url.

Feds still have not been asked for the proper export permit yet. It's something the owner has to seek, and so far, the owner remains a mystery -- at least The Star can't find out who owns her, which is very, very odd.

The aerospace museum does want her and has even (previously) received federal approval to lodge her on the grounds.

This ain't over the border yet.

[Hedley]

What a gorgeous aircraft. Too bad it can't be maintained in flying condition - the sound of it thundering overhead would be a real treat for any Canadian airshow!

[TorontoGuy]

I believe that even the US has only one in flight and it lives in Arizona. It was a TWA liner.

[TorontoGuy]

What a gorgeous aircraft. Too bad it can't be maintained in flying condition - the sound of it thundering overhead would be a real treat for any Canadian airshow!

It also makes me think...people used to ride in Constellations, Vanguards, Viscounts, China Clippers, Stratocruisers, and other liners with glamorous, adventurous-sounding names. Today, we ride the bus.

[2R]

The museum in Seatle is a Great place to visit and it will be well looked after there ,they have many great airplanes there and it is not that far from Vancouver.
I flew into the museum once and thay opened the gate to let me park my airplane inside .
It has found a nice home with nice people who will love her and you can't ask for more than that ,and hey the coffee ain't that bad in Seattle.

[TorontoGuy]

A few posts up, there's a big white space with a rant in it, starting with a "bugger off for stealing my bandwidth" headline. What was originally in that space was a photo of the Connie.

The same guy has written to The Star today, saying he tried to save her for several years and got no interest from any aviation museum or group in the country.

Seems like Canadians have once again missed the boat in preserving things out of our country's history and once again the Yanks will pony up and pick up where we refused to carry.

Sigh. Here's his letter to the editor today:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Conten ... 8350116895

[CD]

Toronto Aerospace Museum Expresses Disappointment as Ottawa
Grants Export Permit for Canada’s last Lockheed Super Constellation
Airliner

TORONTO, March 30 – The Toronto Aerospace Museum (TAM) today expressed its
disappointment at the forthcoming export to a US museum of a rare airliner that was once the flagship of the Air Canada fleet in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Ottawa’s issuance of an export permit for the 1954 Lockheed L-1049C Super Constellation airliner earlier this month effectively ends a 16-month national effort by Toronto-based TAM and a broad coalition of Canadian aviation enthusiasts, aviation heritage groups and airline retirees to keep this aircraft in Canada for future generations.

The former Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) “Super Connie” (Registration CF-TGE, later CFRNR) will now join the collection of the Museum of Flight of Seattle (MOF) in Washington State after 53 years in Canada. TCA was renamed Air Canada in 1964.

“We are greatly disappointed by this outcome, since the Super Constellation represents an important chapter in the development of air transportation in Canada,” said Robert Murphy, Chairman of the non-profit Toronto Aerospace Museum. “Our museum’s top priority moving forward is to secure the critically needed financial and community support to ensure that heritage setbacks such as the loss of the Super Constellation don’t happen again.”

“Aviation has been an important instrument of Canadian nation building,” said Murphy. “Preserving and celebrating Canada’s aviation heritage requires the broad-based support of individuals, corporations, institutions and governments.”

A critical review of recent events has revealed weaknesses in the structure and administration of the very government programs that are designed to level the playing field for Canadian institutions seeking to retain or re-patriate moveable cultural properties.

The Canadian campaign to retain the aircraft hinged on the provisions of the federal Cultural Property Export and Import Act, the purpose of which is to ensure the preservation in Canada of important examples of Canadian heritage.

In late 2005, the Toronto Aerospace Museum, in concert with The Air Canada Pionairs retirees’ organization, the Retired Airline Pilots Association of Canada (RAPCAN) and the Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society petitioned Ottawa to add the Super Constellation to the Canadian Cultural Property Export Control List because of its historical significance.

In September 2006, the Cultural Properties Export Review Board (Review Board) designated the aircraft of "outstanding significance and national importance" and delayed the issuance of an export permit until December 20, 2006 to create a window of opportunity during which interested Canadian institutions were invited to attempt to re-purchase the aircraft from its exporter.

The Review Board uses its control over the issuance of an export permit for “moveable cultural properties” as its primary lever to create a Canadian home for artefacts destined for export

In October, 2006, the Chairman of the Toronto Aerospace Museum flew to Seattle to meet with Museum of Flight representatives to see if there was an opportunity to negotiate a ‘made in Canada’ solution. In response, the MOF representatives expressed their continued resolve to bring the aircraft to Seattle.

After the meeting, TAM’s made an initial purchase offer of US$100,000 for the Super Constellation. After this was rejected by the MOF, in mid-November the Canadian museum requested the Cultural Properties Export Review Board's direct assistance in determining the amount of a "fair cash offer value" for the aircraft. One of the roles and responsibilities of the Review Board is to help determine such values.

In response to TAM’s request, the Review Board requested written submissions from both museums within two weeks for an early December decision, but the MOF’s lawyers requested and were granted a three-month postponement for their submissions.

This action by the MOF delayed the determination of the amount of a "fair cash offer value" of the aircraft until the Review Board’s next-scheduled meeting in March 2007.

When the Museum of Flight originally applied for an export permit in 2006, they claimed a value of US$1.2 million for the aircraft, and later a value of US$865,000 in January 2007, both of which TAM believed were well above the MOF’s purchase price for the aircraft and the value of comparable 1950s-era airliners in non-flying condition.

The Toronto Aerospace Museum has experience restoring large four-engine aircraft in similar condition. In 1999, it began the restoration of the City of Toronto’s rare Avro Lancaster bomber, FM104, which was on outdoor display near the Canadian National Exhibition for 34 years. The extensive conservation work required for this aircraft includes the almost complete dismantling the airframe, panel by panel, to arrest and treat the extensive corrosion found in the fuselage and wings, and then reassembly.

After it made its original offer, Toronto Aerospace Museum conducted an in-depth review of the market for such artefacts and consulted several experts in the field. Only a few Super Constellation aircraft had changed ownership in recent years, and most of these were fullyrestored aircraft in certified airworthy condition with working systems and operational engines.

In February 2007, Toronto Aerospace Museum received permission to send an experienced aircraft appraiser and a retired Transport Canada airworthiness inspector familiar with airliners and vintage aircraft to inspect the dismantled Super Constellation at a locked storage yard near Lester B. Pearson Airport.

The two experts, with 110-years of combined experience in the aviation business, reported the Super Constellation to be in extremely poor physical condition after 40 years of outdoor exposure. In their report they observed extensive corrosion, cannibalization of parts, and damage caused by the aircraft’s frequent disassembly, moves and its 1990s conversion to a restaurant.

Toronto Aerospace Museum’s specialists also examined the appraisals submitted by the MOF to Ottawa in January 2007 and discovered several significant material flaws which called into question the assumptions used in their valuations.

For example, Seattle’s appraiser wrote that the logbooks of the aircraft had been inspected when they computed the value of the aircraft, but the MOF’s lawyer later confirmed that there were no surviving logbooks or technical records for the aircraft. An airframe without logbooks or technical records ceases to be an aircraft in the eyes of most regulatory authorities and no part of the aircraft can be considered ‘airworthy’, since the engineering history, utilization and provenance of the parts are unknown.

In addition, the MOF’s appraisers claimed the aircraft had flown only 5,000 hours during its lifetime, but Transport Canada records from 1967 indicate it had actually flown 19,800 hours six months before its permanent retirement --- a discrepancy of 400 percent in its operational use.

The combination of non-existent logbooks and technical records, high total flying time, extensive corrosion and structural damage (especially at the wing attachment points) as well as innumerable missing parts and engines led TAM to conclude a value closer to US$50,000, which is the figure that TAM put forward in its own valuation submission to the Review Board in February and at which it stood ready to bid for the aircraft.

The physical inspection also revealed that the time and cost of restoration would be far more than first estimated. Based on its extensive experience with the Lancaster restoration, TAM recognized that the associated Canadian fundraising efforts for both the Super Connie aircraft and its restoration would, in turn, be more protracted.

Late in the course of the proceedings, documentary evidence was revealed which confirmed that the MOF had actually agreed to pay C$329,000 for the aircraft in monthly instalments over a five-year term. The sales figure ultimately formed the basis of the "fair cash offer value" selected by the Review Board on May 7, 2007.

Since the “fair market value” was only determined after the “export delay period” had already expired, due to the MOF requested extension, TAM was placed in a position where it had to bid C$329,000 immediately (even if it was willing to pay this price) after the Review Board announced the dollar amount, or see the export permit be granted to the Museum of Flight.

In the end, the US purchaser was able to delay the most critical part of the process by three months, but corresponding adjustments were not made to the Review Board’s schedule to give a Canadian institutions any time to fundraise to meet the “fair market price”, once this was determined.

TAM respects Review Board’s conclusion that the most recent price paid for the aircraft in an arm’s length transaction represents an appropriate basis for a fair valuation, but was startled by the high price actually paid by the MOF, and believes the US museum grossly overpaid.

The Toronto Aerospace Museum is appreciative of the widespread public support it received from the aviation and heritage community to try and keep this aircraft in Canada. Efforts by the Air Canada Pionairs were particularly important to build public awareness of the important role that Trans-Canada Airlines and the Super Constellation have played in Canadian nation-building.

While TAM is grateful that this aircraft is at least going to a reputable institution that is able to guarantee its preservation, there are important lessons to be learned from this heritage campaign.

• If determinations of fair cash offer values by Cultural Property are to be ultimately linked to purchase price alone, then the inevitable result for Canada and its Museums is that they must be prepared to compete on an international stage.

• If Canadian institutions must outbid their deep-pocketed foreign rivals in order to keep Canadian cultural heritage within our borders, then Ottawa must provide adequate export delay periods in order to permit Canadian institutions with the opportunity to fundraise.

• The grants available to Canadian institutions for the purchase or re-patriation of movable cultural properties should also be reviewed, along with the tax benefits for corporations and individuals who donate towards such fundraising campaigns.

In spite of this outcome, the Toronto Aerospace Museum remains committed to securing artefacts that are important to Canada’s aviation and airline heritage and displaying them in a setting in which they can be viewed and appreciated by Canadians.

The Toronto Aerospace Museum is a non-profit charitable organization developing Toronto’s first air and space museum and educational centre. Founded in 1997, the Museum is one of the fastest growing aviation heritage organizations in Canada. Its collection includes a full scale replica of the famous Avro Arrow, Canada’s first supersonic aircraft, early de Havilland Canada-built aircraft, and a rare 1945 Malton-built Avro Lancaster Mk. X bomber, under restoration.

The museum is located in Canada’s oldest surviving aircraft factory, established by The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. at Downsview, a suburb of Toronto, in 1929. The museum building is the birthplace of the famous de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk trainer in 1946 and DHC-2 Beaver bush plane in 1947, and were Canada’s first spacecraft, the Alouette I
satellite, was assembled in the early 1960s.

This aviation heritage site is now an integral part of Parc Downsview Park Inc., a Crown corporation federally-mandated to develop about 600 acres of the former Canadian Forces Base Downsview into a National Urban Park. For further information in the Park, see
http://www.pdp.ca .

The Toronto Aerospace Museum is located at, 65 Carl Hall Road, Downsview Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3K 2E1. For special event information, hours and driving directions, see http://www.torontoaerospacemuseum.com

Contact: Paul Cabot, Curator/Manager
Tel: 416-638-6078
E-mail. tam@bellnet.ca

[linecrew]

They did some nice work on the old girl! Taken on April 17th.

[CaptainHaddock]

Looks pretty sharp