Flown thereafter to the Lockheed factory in Burbank, California, it was the first C-121 to be equipped with weather radar and its engines were modified with turbines to recover exhaust gasses for use in the crankshaft to provide more power. With the conclusion of the Berlin Airlift in September 1949, 48-613 continued to perform routine missions until it was decided to convert the aircraft to become a VIP transport at Olmstead AFB, Middletown, Pennsylvania. This is a black & white USAF photo of General MacArthur’s VC-121A Constellation in Korea in 1950. During the Berlin Airlift, 48-613 was used to transport personnel and equipment from Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts to Rhein-Main Air Force Base in West Germany. In practice, however, the C-121As would usually fly as personnel transports and were fitted with a total of 44 seats. The C-121As differed from their civilian counterparts with the addition of a reinforced floor for carrying cargo and an aft cargo door in the rear fuselage. The Constellation that came to be known as Bataan started life as a C-121A, a militarized version of the L-749 Constellation, being delivered to the USAF in January 1949 for use within the newly-established Military Air Transport Service (MATS). The Connie’s crew was composed of experienced warbird pilots and restorers, Captain Stewart Dawson, first officer Steve Hinton, flight engineer Jeff Whitesell, safety overseer Jim “JD” Dale, and safety observer John Hinton made sure that the test flight was a success. On June 20th, Air Legends Foundation’s Lockheed C-121A Constellation took off on its first post-restoration flight from Chino Airport around 7:30 pm.
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