Lufthansa Shuts Down Super Star Project…..

So where is she now? Shipped to Hamburg?

In some german forum it was claimed the FAA didn’t want to accept the LH new designed “DC-10”-style cockpit intended for the renovated bird as one of the reasons they halted the project – aside from extreme costs.

…for possible “interested parties” who missed that petition;
it is here:

https://www.change.org/p/support-this-petition-to-lufthansa-ceo-carsten-spohr-convincing-him-to-complete-the-restoration-of-the-lufthansa-super-connie-in-auburn-maine

A lot of signatures will at least show to Lufthansa management that their decision
regarding the Lockheed L-1649 Starliner has not gone unnoticed… :rolleyes:

They should mothball it so the wing doesn’t have to be cut to keep the airworthy restoration as an option for the future. Moving it to Germany might destroy the wing now that so many structural parts have been restored to top condition. I can understand that Lufthansa had to pull the plug after costs ran out of control.

Really frustrating if there were some folks slow rolling the project to keep their good deal going. Living on per-diem, good salaries, company cars…. Reminds me of a certain big cold war jet project where some folks seemed to turn it into quite a good deal for themselves. I’m not against folks making a living off historic projects, good on them as paid staff can do things you cant do with volunteers, but fleecing benefactors and the public, that’s another level.

There is already two flyable connies in Europe : the “Ex-Breitling” one battling for funding to be kept airworthy after the end of the sponsoring and the one at the Aviodrome in the Netherlands, not flown by decision made after the Aviodrome bankruptcy few years ago.

I was always a bit sceptical about the business plan of the Lufthansa one : a very, very costly restoration with a modern avionics and the plan to fly it worldwide ? I’m not sure how many peope will be able to afford a long range flight and wanting to do so in the 1950 comfort.

Leave the Condor where it is! The guys in Bremen are doing a very good job. Most of them are retired Lufthansa engineers. One of them is doing the annual checks on my aircraft. They are restoring the Condor to a very good static status. More will not be possible. If you saw what happened to the old girl after she left the water, it is a myracle that she will be standing on her wheels in one piece. I am shure that we will see a Ju87 and a He 111 flying one day, but a Condor would be more than a wonder. By the way, they are on a good way with the static restauration. You can see the progress on the dbls homepage.

Flying Magazine is speculating that a contributing cause is a lawsuit on wages filed by one of the employees in Auburne which LH Technik lost:

https://www.flyingmag.com/super-star-lockheed-constellation-project-moving-to-germany

I read elsewhere that disassembly for a move to Europe will effectively preclude an airworthy restoration. And exactly this puzzles me: An aircraft which is on its way to airworthy condition is dismembered such that all of this work and money is negated, only to move it for museum display where it will inevitably end up outdoors and rot away. And there are already two Constellations on public display in Germany (Munich Airport and Hermeskeil in Rheinland-Pfalz).

As for another owner, wouldn’t it be a great idea if Red Bull acquired it? Can’t think of any other organization in Europe with the (financial) wherewithal to complete such a project.

Hi All,
Here’s an outside the box thought with the Breitling Super Connie nearing completion after their Repair/Restoration that featured in (April Flypast)
What are the chances that team already having the indepth knowledge will be tasked to complete the project if the aircraft is shipped in restored components ? Either at their home Breitling base or just coming to wherever it ends up with Lufthansa Germany if the Connie is coming to Europe to be completed.

Having suggested the above it appears there is a petition to keep the Connie being restored at the Auburn Maine to finish what they started on the SCFA
Facebook page below or you can sign it directly here:-https://www.change.org/p/support-this-petition-to-lufthansa-ceo-carsten-spohr-convincing-him-to-complete-the-restoration-of-the-lufthansa-super-connie-in-auburn-maine?recruiter=864014018&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_petition

https://www.superconstellation.org/index.php/en/news-en/711-2017-11-27-neuer-vorstand-e

https://www.facebook.com/groups/31869117445/?fref=ts

Geoff.

I’ll tell you what, send Oxcart and I the $200 million and we’ll do both the Condor and the Hali!
Sound like a plan?

If you need a project to get some training, why don´t you start with the Halifax in Hendon? If you compare this hulk with the remains of the Condor after it´s `recovery`from the water more than ten years ago, it should be much easier to to convert this part of British history to the status which it deserves.

The Condor is being rebuilt to static condition

Just send me $200m, K5054NZ and I’ll see what I can do!

What a terrible thing that would be. Where do I sign up? 😀

Wouldn’t it be just awful if some bean counters came in with no knowledge of aircraft and got the Condor flying by mistake!??

There was also a lawsuit from some workers claiming back pay for unpaid overtime hours.

At least two of the guys on the project have mentioned the fraud. Personally I couldn’t care less. Not my monkeys/circus.

1) “Lufthansa closed Hamburg”? Google “Lufthansa Technik” and be proven wrong.
2) So a major airline, in today’s competitive environment, sinks 200 mil. dollar (or 300? – that’s a huge difference) into a project without keeping tabs on its progress and/or viability? Sorry, I just don’t believe that. Quite apart from the fact that the work done doesn’t equal that amount of money…
3) The Constellation in Switzerland flies passenger rides in Europe, also in Germany.
4) The Lufthansa affiliate that operates the Ju 52 is rebuilding an Fw 200 Condor. Hamburg is the location of Airbus Germany and Lufthansa Technik. The skills are certainly there.

Maybe they have indeed pulled the plug – but I have the suspicion that if so, it’ll be on other grounds.

This was posted on FB yesterday by a former worker on the project:

They bought like 30 cars on the company dime. Every time a change would be working they’d change things up to slow production. Then bought tooling that nobody used. They made parts that weren’t needed. They would make a part that was fully conforming, scrap it, and make it again.
Lufthansa closed Hamburg. The Germans onsite were all from that facility. They didn’t want to go home to nothing, and didn’t want to go to Sophia to keep their jobs. They were living on the company dime, and driving Mercedes Jeeps and Corvettes that the company bought.
The American managers are all at the end of their careers. And none of them were quite ready to retire. It was in their best interest to drag this it as long as possible. They didn’t want to finish.
Lufthansa dumped nearly $300m and 10 years into a plane that isn’t even close to flight. I’ve never worked anyplace that was so totally predicated on fraud.

For Lufthansa or indeed any group to return this aircraft to airworthiness would be a hard task requiring money and enthusiasm.
But what further conditions would be applied by the authorities to allow it to display, let alone carry fare paying passengers ?
The DC-3, DH-89 or Ju-52 is one thing, aircraft that have been in almost continuous commercial use for 80 years and carry no more than a dozen people.
But a complicated type that has not had a certified passenger flight for god know how long. Are any of the Lockheed Connie’s allow to fly with passengers, what chance a Star Liner ?