|
Description
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed | |
| Base model: | C-121 | |
| Designation: | EC-121 | |
| Version: | M | |
| Nickname: | Super Constellation | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1925-1962 | |
| Basic role: | Transport | |
| Modified Mission: | Special electronic installation | |
| See Also: | ||
Specifications
| Not Yet Available |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Kellee Bradley redmond, WA | My father, Lt. Commander Walter S. Bradley, Jr. flew the Warning Star EC121 and was supposed to be on that flight the North Korean's shot down over the Sea of Japan on April 15, 1969. My maternal grandfather was dying and we came back early. Lt. Commander James Overstreet took over the mission and lost his life, along with 30 other brave men. My father was devastated, and to this day I believe he thinks he could have done something to prevent the crash. We'll never know, but it was a dark day for my father. 05/27/2013 @ 09:09 [ref: 67841] |
| Kevin Jarrett Wichita, KS | The description of the EC121 crash described by Larry Gibson in DeKalb, MS sounds exactly like the EC121 crash I observed when I was stationed at Danang, Vietnam in the spring of 1970. 01/31/2012 @ 18:49 [ref: 52306] |
| Larry Gibson DeKalb, MS | I landed an R4D just minutes before this crash. We landed on the "west" runway, heading north, the same runway the EC-121 was approaching. The tower warned me that there were workers near the end of the runway and to be sure to clear them, which I did. We turned left off the north end of the runway and taxied southward back to our squadron area. While walking back to the hangar I observed the plane making a normal approach to probably around 80 feet of elevation, then apparently beginning a waveoff. However, the nose kept rising as it simultaneously began a right turn. The angle of bank continued to increase as it climbed to perhaps 500 feet, the angle of bank ever-increasing. It eventually was at about 90 degrees angle of bank when the nose fell through the horizontal and the plane crashed into the tops of the hangars. 08/24/2011 @ 20:23 [ref: 48175] |
| Steve Wright Cookeville, TN | My navy time was up close to c 121's. My duty first with vp-30 in Pax River for 20 months. We shared a huge sea plane hangar with VX8 who would fly the Ice out of new Zealand, I was ATN2 there but was fascinated by the big sleek birds and enormous engines that they would turn up on the deck in "check" etc. Worked graves shift and the fire from those manifolds over the wing seemed 100 feet long.Volunteerred for Vietnam and wouldnt you know-wound up next to VQ1 at FASU DANANG,69-70. Got to transport back and fourth to Philippines a couple of times on Super Connies--numerous times on our Navy DC3 total 45 daze--but thats another sea story-I saw the VQ1 crash at Danang and met the CPO in the tail who survived-Anyway--last flight for me in a "Cadillac of the air" was a scary night landing in Cavite, PI, outside Manila.We were on instruments, in heavy september rain 7 or 8 of a Sunday night---me and 3 shipmates to run check on our little DC3 in a day or so. In the glide path 15 sec estimated or LESS from touchdown--suddenly she went full power and stood on the Port wing tip. I was manning the window and saw several HANGARS planes and building flash by---close enough to TOUCH Pilot said he grabbed for the balls(4throttles) and they were already to the wall by the crusty Master Chief Flight Engineer. He and that nimble sweet bird saved our lives. Pilots and MCPO went to the tower for a "word" with OIC-THEN "fraternized" with us at the ACEY_DEUCEY club (we were E-5-and 6) All got hammered and had 2 steaks before we hit the beach--glad to be alive and young. 1970 PI, 2010 Tennessee--SBW 11/21/2010 @ 19:48 [ref: 33332] |
| Mike Harris Huntingtown, MD | In 1959, while working summers during college at MIT as a civil servant in the ECM branch of Electroncs Test Division at Pax River, I was assigned as a test engineer for a newly equipped WV-2Q fresh tricked up with ECM sets by Martin Aircraft. I spent the summer rounding up flight crews an ECM operators flying all night antenna test patterns,next day reducing data and hand plotting antenna pattern curves - this was the day before computers and hand calulators for such tedious tasks I wen through huge stacks of polar graph paper.
This tired and elderly aircraft was subject to many mechanicals. This air craft BuNo 131390 was later transferreed to VQ-2 at Port Lyautey, an subsequent was transferred to Rota. Later Crashed near Wiesbaden, Germany22 May 65 with many hours (5 years of active duty over the Med on the air-framed (26 fatalaties, tail broke off.Unfortunat loss. for a picture of this stalwart aicraft, go to http://www.portlyautey.com/VQ10%20-%20J15.jpg Mike Harris, PhD.....ReTIRED 08/10/2010 @ 05:54 [ref: 28712] |
| Gearold Batson Hampstead, NC | I joined VQ-1 when VW-1 & VQ-1 combined at Agana Guam in 1971. I continued to fly weather until the navy lost the weather commitment. I thought I was out of a job, but soon found myself on a VQ crew sitting at Misawa Japan in a snow storm sweeping snow off the wings. Only about three or four flight engineers from VW-1 continued to fly the Q birds: Neil Tennison, Sweet William Blouth, and Ed Witt are the ones I remember. Rosy Weaver was flying the R7 131654 called the E-8 Express. 09/10/2008 @ 13:13 [ref: 22658] |
| Paul Lavoie Londonderry, NH | Stationed Rota, Spain VQ-2 from March 1967 to July 1968.
Logged over 900 hours on the EC-121M. Key deployments, Boca Chica NAS, Athens, Greece. Also logged over 800 hours on the EA-3D, Three carrier detachments (America (CVA66), Saratoga (CVA60), FDR (CVA42) 50+ carrier landings and takeoffs. Also 60+ missions from DaNang over the Tonkin Gulf and into North Vietnam. EC-121 was a great, slow plane. When at Boca Chica, we flew around Cuba almost every day. Average flight length, 10-14 hours. Landed at Gitmo about once a week. After I was discharged, I was horrified to find out that one of VQ-1's EC-121M's was shot down by the Chinese in 1969. I believe the pilot was LT-CMDR Overstreet. He was my Ops Officer when I was in DaNang. 06/08/2005 @ 12:09 [ref: 10432] |
| Allan \"Putt\" Prevette Camarillo, CA | The EC-121M was strictly a Navy varient of the Lockheed Warning Star. In the early 1960s there were eight aircraft taken from storage and modifed at Baltimore, Maryland to electronic counter measures. Four of the aircraft went to VQ-1 (Atsugi, Japan) and four went to VQ-2 (Rota, Spain) At that time they were designated WV-2Q. Later, in 1962, they were redisignated EC-121M.
These eight aircraft and those that followed provided valuable electronic reconnassiance during the Cold War and the Vietnam Conflict. The history of the EC-121M is marked with tragedy. One EC-121M aircraft from VQ-2 had the tail section separate over Germany in 1962 killing all on board. In 1969 North Korean Migs shot down one aircraft from VQ-1 in the Sea of Japan with the loss of all hands. In 1970 an EC-121M from VQ-1 crashed at DaNang, RVN Airbase, killing most on board. Lockheed made a "Gem" with the Constellation and the EC-121M was the "Crown Jewel!" 01/25/2005 @ 20:27 [ref: 9261] |
Recent photos uploaded by our visitors
