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Description
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed | |
| Base model: | C-121 | |
| Designation: | RC-121 | |
| Version: | D | |
| Nickname: | Super Constellation | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1925-1962 | |
| Basic role: | Transport | |
| Modified Mission: | Reconnaissance | |
| See Also: | ||
Specifications
| Not Yet Available |
Known serial numbers
Recent comments by our visitors
| jon richardson Deer River, MN | Reported in to the 551st wing in mar 56, spent 6 or 7 months in the radar shop and an opening came up for flying status and I leaped at the chance. I was given the title as second radar tech and flew 3 missions and on my 4th I walked into the briefing room at the 961st and the A/C came up to me and said, Tonight you are first radar tech. The person scheduled had gotten very sick and was in the hospitalThe A/C said can you handle it and I said "YES SIR"
As soon as we got airborne I was having severe doubts about how smart I thought I was. The 2nd tech was on his second flt.The flt went very smooth and no problems that a good kick to the corner of the console wouldn,t correct. My other incident was the Aps 20 developed an RF leak under the Rad TECHS POSITION. I was laying under the table and streched to get at the waveguide and laid my head on330 Vdc on a terminal strip that some body had left theterminal cover off.Love seeing and hearing those old R3350 engines 03/26/2016 @ 12:56 [ref: 69544] |
| Ed Davis Viginia Beach, VA | I was at McClellen AFB in 1957-58-59 with 552EARLY WARNING.Iwas 18years old in Wing ops where we scheduled coverage of the stations in the Pacfic.I remember some the pilots Capt.Bradley who always had a story to tell.Capt.Vicory,Capt Ed Ferry.Lt.shue,Capt. Mc Bride.I know there were many others but these were impressive to me.Can't forget old tripple nickle 555.These were good years for me .Whene I left Calif.I went on to two more years in France at C hatteroux. 03/13/2016 @ 16:02 [ref: 69515] |
| Leon V. Preston Jr Paso Robles, CA | Yes to question from Lewis about 53-555. I was in 964th - Sacramento. That Connie was enroute to Hickam AFB to support Mercury Program. 12/16/2015 @ 10:50 [ref: 69367] |
| Arthur E Lewis Tustin, CA | No one has said the Conies were fased out due to satalites. The Conies were greate. I was a Airman third at Sacramento from 1958 to 1960. Went on to the Azores (MATS). Has anyone heard the story of A/C 555. Lost a prop beond point of return. Flew on with a great pilot and crew. I heard the story when we change the rt deicer boot and plane was turned into a Generals plane. Last tree no.555 12/03/2015 @ 17:40 [ref: 69344] |
| Ron Larson Newbury Park, CA | I was one of the first Radar Techs to fly on the Cs and Ds. Reported in Oct 1953 from the Mill Valley, Mt Tam radar site. Soon went to the Navy radar school in San Diego and Lockheed, Burbank Ca. Flew as Sr radar tech as a 7 level A/1C till I made S/ Sgt. Participated on a test flight using a B-47 as target varying antenna tilts and altitudes and one testing performance over polar regions, flying out of Alaska.took a Connie to Ent, now Peterson to show Gen Chidloe. Had 2 Generals and a British Air Marshall aboard, As I opened the door, stood eyeball to eyeball with him. He just said Hi son and walked on by. Had lots of hardware aboard for Navy fleet operations, not useable to us, we had passive detection ECM equipment, radar relay ART-18', ARR-28, radar relay with range too short for us, there was a "Rube Goldberg " Polaroid system mounted on one display for MTI use. One A/C had a test hot food oven aboard but we ate box lunches. Still recall when the APS-20B RT unit cover removed, the eerie purple glow of the 18 inch tall Hydrogen Thyratron PFN discharge tube. 11/07/2015 @ 06:25 [ref: 69308] |
| don maxham roseville, CA | I was with the 965 AEW from mid 1958 to Jan 1960. I have about 15 hours in the RC121D. I have had prostate cancer twice. I was a radar operator for all four years in the AF. I have never connected my cancer to my time in the Connie. It is interesting to learn that others have made that connection. 10/21/2015 @ 05:52 [ref: 69280] |
| John Attebury Lusby, MD | Joined the 963rd in July 1956. Flew as a Navigator/Controller until June 1960. during that time I worked on the Discoverer project in Hawaii, an attempt to recover a nose cone from space until I went to pilot training. Returned to the 965th in 1961 after completing pilot training. I was in the 965th until 1968 when I was transferred to the 4353rd training squadron at Otis AFB, where we trained crew members in the "Clean Connie" no radomes. Think they called it the R model and used Batcat in SEA. I remember Dick Haug, mentioned earlier, very well from the 963rd. 09/18/2014 @ 14:07 [ref: 68661] |
| Walter Wade Roseville, CA | I grew up about 3/4 of a mile north of McClellan AFB and remember the RC-121 aircraft coming in to land on Runway 16. Those 3350 Turbo-Compound engines would really pop and snort during the approach. At night, blue tinged flames would streak out of the exhaust system. Years later I met a former USAF pilot who flew RC-121s in the 552nd AEW&C unit. His name is Bob Dunn and he took a lateral into the USCG and retired as a CAPT (O-6) from that branch. I think he was a Captain (O-3) when he lateralled to the "Coasties." Anyone remember a Lockheed Tech Rep by the name of Donald Massey? I lost track of him over the years. 03/31/2014 @ 10:59 [ref: 68449] |
| R Pena , CA | Had the privilge of pre qualifying the RC-121 while working at Lockheed in the early fifty's..The actual testing was performed at Locheed Services facility.. Pre-tested the WV-2 pre-Navy version also..Each unit had the Aps-20 and Aps-45 Radar System's. The large belly antenna was Dalmo-Victor and the Dorsal fin was General Electric..It was state of the art at that time.. Fun to work on. Long time ago.. 03/01/2014 @ 08:27 [ref: 68382] |
| Curt Drouin Kingston, NH | My dad Capt. Maurice (Jack) Drouin was a pilot on the RC 121 in '56-'57 out of McClelland. He died of cancer in 1970. After reading an article about low level radiation about 30 years ago I became convinced he contracted cancer from flying this plane. I don't imagine there could be to many of his crew mates still around, but I would be glad to hear from anyone who knew him. He also flew the "Hump" during the war and was a command pilot in the Berlin Airlift. He was on the last ship back from Corregidor before Pearl Harbor, and I think he joined the Army Air Corps soon after that. 09/16/2013 @ 05:16 [ref: 68066] |
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