Those are the numbers I’ve been hearing as well. I also heard there were about 90 flying Mustangs left in the world. And to think they were pushing them off of aircraft carriers at the end of WWII bc they were too plentiful. Damn.

The Chino Boys are world experts on Mustangs, so I’m not surprised you saw 10 of them in one place.

I would guess there is only a handful of Constellations left.

I think a couple of worse aircraft destruction scenes was brand new Lockheed P-38L Lightnings in the Philippines being bulldozed into a trench and burned right at the end of WWII.

Also of the 555 P-51H models, most were cut up for scrap.

Dan

Literally nauseating to see those P-38 pictures.

Arthur Godfrey in a Super Connie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6VfkKjlhXs

"Climb checks complete, time for a Chesterfield!"

As the number of these irreplaceable relics diminishes, we should stop flying them. I'm still bummed about the last B17 crash.

I think a couple of worse aircraft destruction scenes was brand new Lockheed P-38L Lightnings in the Philippines being bulldozed into a trench and burned right at the end of WWII.

Also of the 555 P-51H models, most were cut up for scrap.

Dan

That's like shooting the animals at the zoo and taking the bodies to the taxidermists to hang them on the wall.

The Evansville Wartime Museum bought a flyable P-47 just to park it in the museum and not fly it.

Sad.

Mike C.

We had EC-121 Constellations at Korat.

There were some concerns we would be accused of chemical warfare due to them leaking oil all over the countryside.

I couldn’t disagree more. And I have a personal connection to that horrific B17 crash.

If we can go into space and return safely we can fly these birds on special occasions but it will take a similar level of commitment. Both financially and with personnel. I also don’t want to tell someone else what to do with their airplane. These things were made to fly, let them fly and if one is fortunate enough to see or hear one overhead, count your blessings.

How does owning and operating an 707 compare to a Constellation?

If anyone finds themselves in Johannesburg with time to kill, $2.50 gets you into the Military History Museum alongside the Johannesburg zoo, that has some extraordinary aircraft: radar equipped Me-262, 2 x Bf-109, Fw-190, Hawker Hurricane, Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5, de Havilland Mosquito, Spitfire, Hawker Hartebeest, Mirage III, Blackburn Buccaneer, Impala as well as a range of other amazing military equipment from the Boer War on.

The zoo is actually fun too, you can easily spend half a day or more wandering around a beautiful part of old Johannesburg.

I sort of agree with the sentiment, but it's not realistic. The only reason we have these to admire is because people with the money to restore them, want to fly them. If they couldn't fly, they wouldn't exist at all.