CAMARILLO : Giant Military Plane Is Crew’s Dream Machine

It flies like a truck.

That’s co-pilot Pat Farrell’s assessment of the Super Constellation, a cargo and personnel carrier that once flew for the Air Force. Today the 40-year-old aircraft only leaves its home at the Camarillo Airport for air shows.

“It’s large. It’s heavy on the controls. It’s slow to respond,” Farrell said. “But it’s a lot of fun. . . . It’s just magnificent up in the air.”

The enormous silver bird, with three tails and red-and-white-tipped propellers, bears little resemblance to a truck as it sits regally at the east end of Camarillo Airport. Tractors pull the hefty flying machine to the end of the runway before every takeoff.

Farrell, a former airline mechanic and a private pilot for 40 years, spends many of his leisure hours with a group of fellow flight enthusiasts maintaining the plane. Benny Younesi of Van Nuys bought the “Connie” in 1982 and established the nonprofit Constellation Historical Society Inc. to pay for its upkeep.

The plane--designated by the military as a Lockheed C-121C--took off Friday afternoon from Camarillo for an air show at Edwards Air Force base. It is one of five remaining Constellations in the world that still flies, Farrell said.

“Probably for every hour you fly, it takes 40 to 50 hours to maintain it--cleaning, polishing, whatever,” Farrell said. The plane also requires about $3,000 in maintenance and between 500 and 700 gallons of gas for each hour in the air.

Jerry Steele worked as a mechanic and flight engineer on Constellations during his 19-year tenure in the Navy. Now the plane is consuming his retirement.

“We started out in pretty bad shape [about six years ago]. I figured I’d be out here a little while, and I’ve been out here ever since,” he said. “It’s always been a fascination of mine. . . . I just love this plane.”

Farrell said the plane, commissioned in 1955, had a fairly routine military history--cargo and passenger hauling, medical evacuation and humanitarian missions. But a few months remain unaccounted for in the flight logs.

“It seems there were a few months that it disappeared, so some of the guys have speculated it was on some sort of CIA mission,” he said.

Donations of time, supplies and funds are needed to keep this Constellation in the air. Anyone interested in the Constellation Historical Society can call 785-2743.