Lockheed L-049 Constellation, N90831 / 1970, Pima Air & Space Museum
This picture is © Martin Laycock and may not be used or published without permission.
Registration: N90831
Construction Number: 1970
Model Lockheed L-049 Constellation
Operator: Pima Air & Space Museum
Airport: Tucson - Pima Air and Space Museum, USA - Arizona
Photographer: Martin Laycock
Date Taken: 10/1992
Date Submitted: 16/07/2009
Originally built as a C-69 for the USAAF and operated by them from June 1945 to March 1946, this Constellation was transferred to TWA in October 1948 who named her 'Star of Switzerland'. She was sold to the Hacienda Hotel in April 1961 who operated her as the 'Desert Queen'. She was leased out to various airlines including World Wide Airlines, Consolidated Airlines, and Standard Airways, before being sold again, this time to Trans World Insurance Brokers in December 1964. McCulloch Properties acquired her in December 1965 and used her to ferry potential house buyers to Lake Havasu City. After passing through a couple of holding companies she was traded to the to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in September 1970 for a Grumman HU-16 Albatross and was loaned by them to the Pima County Air Museum in 1971. Restoration began in 1977 by volunteer TWA personnel and she was handed back to the Pima museum in February 1980. She is the only surviving C-69 in the world.
Picture ID:1182292