Dear members
hereby some pictures of the Dutch Constellation N749NL
in the paintshop at KLM hanger 14 at
Schiphol International Airport during the last weekend.
roll out date is not known yet.....?


http://members.lycos.nl/javelinodyssey/fourphotogalery57.html

greetings

Michael,

Excellent pics - looks like they're wasting no time repainting it.

Do you have any idea why one of the engines is missing?

And do you know whether there will be any arrangements made for people to view the airplane over the winter whilst its at Schipol - I'd take a trip over to AMS if I knew it was accessible.

Andy

Hello Andy

I called the Aviodome this morning.
It was hard to determine when the painting is going
to be finished. I asked if they were going to
orginize a photo shoot for aviation photographers.
Again they could not promise anything.
The aviodome depends on the work schedule of the KLM
paintshop.
I guess if you need more information it would be best to call them direct.
greetings Michael

Check also http://www.aviodome.nl for the latest pictures of the Dutch Connie N749NL in the paintshop. This site will follow the progress of the Connie renovation.
Unfortunately untill now only in the Dutch version, but the pictures sure tell the story! Just follow the links under the red typed parts to get on the Dutch Connie's Comeback page.

You know, the unpainted Dutch Constellation, inside the gigantic KLM Royal Dutch Airlines hangar is a thing of great beauty even without propellers. The aircraft as it rests there, is really very much a sculpture of grandure and grace.

I also must thank the person who took all additional photographs including those of the East European made aircraft. Thank you especially for the interior photographs of the cockpits including one engineers section. That is the first time I have seen the cockpit of the An 124 and of the other smaller transports. Again, my thanks....and I hope we can see more of those aircraft on this site.

Doug Vernon

I also have a wish to hear from our East European airliner fans. Also, fans from all over the planet. The more international comments the better this site is going to be.....so, Eastern Europe, China,
Japan, Turkey....and others in Asia...Russia and the rest of the planet, let us hear from you and your comments on the older transport aircraft of the world....propeller driven or jet driven.

Best to all,

Doug Vernon

On almost a daily basis I return to the photos of the Dutch Connie, warm and dry in that gigantic KLM
Royal Dutch hangar. What a beautiful sight she is.
Can anyone describe the hangar to me? It has to be one of the largest maintenance hangars in existance. It is unbelievably huge! It appears to be big enough to store forty Constellations in there. I take it that it was designed to hold forty 747-400!

Doug

Hangar 14 is the latest new hangar of the KLM.
It has three bays all under one roof. One bay for D-checks of the Boeing 747, the second for special projects like modifications to older planes and the third bay for washing and painting of the planes. They also repair there about everything on a plane there like wheels, brakes, parts of the interior, windows, synthetic panels etc.
Here I found a picture of hangar 14 when it was just build.

John.

John,

Thanks very much for the information on the new KLM hangar.....it is gigantic!

Best,
Doug

Gigantic! Watch the cars parked in front of the doors! If there would be a draught they would have been blown away

You're welcome!

John.

You can find them at http://www.aviodome.nl. (follow the dutch links under the red typed parts)



Connie is standing in the corner of bay three of hangar 14. An Airbus A340 of Virgin is being painted. Now templates for Connie are being made for the logo's and the text.

John.

See http://www.aviodome.nl/connie/aankomst.htm for direct news (in Dutch) or http://www.aviodome.nl/connie/ediary17.htm (in English).

There is a difference between this pages. See how Connies make-up will be...!

best,
Frank

Hi Frank,

The new or should I say old KLM Royal Dutch Airlines livery should be pretty well completed by this time.
Any further updated photos to share?

Doug

Doug,
At this moment there is no new information about Dutch Connie. Aviodome reports that the painting takes place at night, a 'new' engine will be placed and the search for other props goes on. Aviodome is closing at the end of this year; a complete new museum is opened in Lelystad, approx. 30 km's from Amsterdam. The opening will be about july, next year, I think. Connie will be THE star there; I expect that she will fly about that time again. Due to the coming winter there will be no flights in the next four months. It's better to stay inside: the humid air will stimulate corrosion. There is no garanty that Connie will fly often after then. There is no Dutch crew available and training for a Connie asks a lot of time, so the Connie MATS-crew is very welcome in the next spring (those Dutch tulips are very beautiful, escpecially seen from the air )

When new pictures of the painting and upgrading are available I'll report that to this Discussion Page. If anybody else finds them, please report! Follow also the aviodome-pages!

best,
Frank

Hello Frank,

Each morning the first thing I do is check on the Dutch Connie including checking Aviodome.

Thanks for the information. However, I do hope a Dutch crew does get qualified to fly the beautiful 749. It would be a shame not to. Perhaps they can get qualified by the MATS or Airline History Museum crews. But of course they fly the super Connies. Airline History flies the 1059. Well, anyway I will keep hoping.

All the best,
Doug

John and other Connielovers,

Great picture!
As if she's new: N749NL in the KLM-hangar. The missing engine will be prepared (Aviodome bought one, I understood), the biggest problem now are the props. See the item 'The propeller issue' on http://www.ruudleeuw.com/con-n749nl-his.htm (scroll down and read the article of Michael Prophet) about this urgent problem. Anybody who knows some of these props, please contact the Aviodome!

Aviodome has some volunteers (all pilots) who are interested in learning to fly the Dutch Connie in the next years. They'll learn this flying in the Netherlands or USA, Aviodome told 300 visitors of the Connie-night, last November 29th in Amsterdam Schiphol.

best,
Frank

I noticed on the these last photos taken in the huge KLM hangar, that the main cheatline is white between the blue inner and outer line. Was this the case on that particular KLM livery of the fifties?
I found only photos where it's bare metal between those two lines...

Any comments from our Dutch friends.

Fernand

I received and answer from Aviodome regarding my remarks on the cheatline outfit. They also noticed the error and this will be rectified during futher painting.

Fernand

Good for you Ferdinand. Nice call. From now on we will call you "Eagle Eye".


Best wishes for the Holidays.

Doug Vernon
San Diego, California

That L749 is sure in good hands.

Any company that can take a 747-200 and give it the extended upper deck of the 747-300 as an "in house" job, (as KLM did to some of their 200's) can be trusted to look after a valuable airplane such as the Dutch Connie.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

Hi everybody!

Does anyone have some news from the dutch team? Are they finished with painting the Connie?

Cheers

Richie

Hello Richie,

I was in the hangar yesterday and she looks the same as the pictures of Dec 10th. Only now the blue parts are covered so the aluminium part can be sprayed.
It seems KLM is very busy painting there own KLM aircraft in the new ugly paint scheme.

Regards

Henk