Restoration: Grande Dame

摘要

There were Boeing Stratocruisers, Douglas DC-6s, DC-7s, their big radial engines belching smoke, and, of course, the timeless DC-3. But among the handsome airliners on the taxiway in the 1940s and 1950s moved the Lockheed Constellation, shapely as a Bettie Page pinup. During their heyday, more than 800 Connies plied air routes around the world, but today, only about 25 remain. Just five are airworthy, but a sixth, an L-649A Starliner located at Sanford Airport outside Orlando, Florida, will soon join that select group. Owner Maurice Roundy and a handful of volunteers are in the final stages of preparing the old classic to fly again.