Daring Tales of a Flying Museum

Scouting for Russian fighter planes and surviving risky exploits aboard a Cold War-era spy plane fuel the stories James “Moe” Movinski likes to share with others on the air show circuit.

The next mission for Movinski, 62, and the rare EC-121T Warning Star Constellation he served on as an Air Force intercept control technician, gets underway today at the Camarillo Air Show.

Saved from a scrap heap in the mid ‘90s by the Moorpark-based Global Aeronautical Foundation, the plane is the only combat Warning Star Constellation still able to fly.

“She is very significant,” said Movinski, who lives in Carmichael. “It really is a flying museum.”

Four other Constellations remain operational but were built as transport aircraft, he said. One of those, nicknamed the “Miss Camarillo,” is also stationed at Camarillo Airport and will provide a unique Constellation double-bill for this weekend’s air show patrons.

“Miss Camarillo”--its interior converted into a museum--will be parked nose-to-nose with its vintage military sister during the air show. More than 850 Constellations, each distinguished by its triple-tail design, were manufactured between 1943 and 1958 by Lockheed. They were to be among the first high-speed, long-range aircraft built for Howard Hughes’ Trans World Airlines.

World War II, however, steered the fleet into military service. During the next 30 years, many of the planes would be used for cargo and VIP transportation, combat reconnaissance and air-traffic control.

Enter Movinski. His 21-year Air Force career aboard various Warning Star Constellations--the predecessor of today’s AWACS electronic surveillance aircraft--began in 1961.

In October 1962, Movinski found himself in the middle of the Cuban missile crisis. The high-flying, unarmed Constellations--with sophisticated radar systems bulging from the domed underbelly--kept searching for Russian MIG fighter pilots.

The Russians were wary of the U.S. reconnaissance planes that were snapping aerial photographs of their Cuban missile outposts. It was Movinski’s job, and others like him, to provide MIG warnings to low-flying reconnaissance aircraft.

“One day we were out there and two MIGs jumped us instead,” Movinski said.

From its high patrolling elevation, the Constellation’s radar equipment picked up two MIG warplanes closing in, Movinski said. The Constellation’s pilot commenced an immediate power dive to 50 feet above the ocean where the aircraft was able to evade detection.

“They tried to get us, but we dropped down ... and just gave her all the power and made it back to Miami,” he said.

Movinski’s 10,000 hours in the EC-121T included six years of duty during the Vietnam War, in which he directed aircraft to aerial refueling tankers and guided rescue planes to downed pilots.

Later, his lookout for Cuba-based MIG fighters would continue when President Richard Nixon would fly south to Key Biscayne, Fla. And to Iceland, to guard the air defense zone, flying side-by-side with MIG fighters on their way to Cuba and back.

The last batch of Warning Star Constellations had their final service in 1977. Many were ripped asunder for scrap metal, Movinski said.

“That was the year I retired,” he said.

His military career behind him, Movinski would not step onto another Constellation until early 1995 when he was contacted by the late Wayne Jones of Moorpark, who had purchased the EC-121T from the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, where the aircraft was waiting to be scrapped.

Jones, 71, who died in June, founded the nonprofit Global Aeronautical Foundation to help fund the cost of showcasing the EC-121T at air shows.

Visitors will be able to enter the EC-121T cockpit and walk the length of the plane. Movinski will be on hand today and Sunday to describe the aircraft’s sophisticated equipment.

But how much longer Movinski will chronicle his life aboard the aircraft in Camarillo is in question.

Lois Jones, widow of Wayne Jones, wants the plane to be on permanent display at the airport. The details have yet to be worked out.

“I might have to sell it or donate if I can’t find a sponsor,” Jones said. For this weekend, she said, the focus will be on sharing a celebrated plane that was loved by her husband.

“We’ll open it up at least one more time and let it be a memorial to Wayne.”

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The Camarillo Air Show will be held today and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Camarillo Airport, 555 Airport Way. Admission: $6 general, children younger than 12 free. For more information, call 383-0686.