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Description
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed | |
| Base model: | C-121 | |
| Designation: | EC-121 | |
| Version: | D | |
| Nickname: | Super Constellation | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1925-1962 | |
| Basic role: | Transport | |
| Modified Mission: | Special electronic installation | |
| See Also: | ||
Specifications
| Length: | 116' 2" | 35.4 m | |
| Height: | 27' | 8.2 m | |
| Wingspan: | 123' 5" | 37.6 m | |
| Wingarea: | 1,654.0 sq ft | 153.6 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 80,611 lb | 36,558 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 143,600 lb | 65,124 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 4 | ||
| Powerplant: | Wright R-3350-34 | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 3400 | ||
Performance
| Range: | 4,600 miles | 7,407 km | |
| Cruise Speed: | 240 mph | 386 km/h | 208 kt |
| Max Speed: | 321 mph | 516 km/h | 278 kt |
| Climb: | 845 ft/min | 257 m/min | |
| Ceiling: | 20,600 ft | 6,278 m | |
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| United States Air Force Museum | Wright-Patterson | Ohio |
EC-121D on display
United States Air Force Museum |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Steve Murray North Providence, RI | Served at Otis AFB from 1957 to 1960. Was in the FMS electric shop and later transfered to the Auto-Pilot and Compass repair. Remember cold winter nights changing landing gear switches and trying not to get your hand stuck to the landing gear struts. I was there when 123 burned. I liked what I did with the Connie and enjoyed my work. Sorry to see the old bird retired. Glad that 555 is saved for others to see. 04/22/2008 @ 12:50 [ref: 20680] |
| Anita Hamman Taylor Seminole, FL | My husband Teck Sgt. Gordon O Hamman lost his life on April 25th 1967.He was station at Otis Airforce base.He came from Calf with the Connies to Otis
He loved the Airforce and The Connies.He was just six month of retirement from the Airforce. I know he loved them EC-121D and if he had to leave this Earth that is the way he would of wantd to go with any of them Big Flying Birds . God Bless All . 04/13/2008 @ 10:52 [ref: 20534] |
| Jon H Richardson Deer River MN 56636, MN | Arrived at Otis in Apr 56 with wife and 3 month old son on a Sat nite. Stayed in the old guest house on the second floor and early Sun was looking out the window and here come my first look at a Connie taking off. My class at Keesler didn,t have a chance to see a Connie because the familarization trip to Keesler had been canceled. I reported in to EM Sqdn and went to work in the Radar Maintenance and somehow got involved with the Set Control and if you were a Radar Tech you know can remember what it was like working on the 2nd panel of the SET Control, it was A nightmare. After 6 months in the shop I went on Flying status. What a thrill that was. I would have done it without the Flt Pay. On my 3rd Flt, The 1st Tech didn,t show up and they asked me if I could handle 1st Tech. I told them as long I could hear that Maggie singing I would be ok. By the way the 2nd tech had less flying time than
me. All went well and 8 years later I was transfered out with a little less than 3000 hours Flying Time. 03/03/2008 @ 12:11 [ref: 19847] |
| Jon H Richardson Deer River MN 56636, MN | Arrived at Otis in Apr 56 with wife and 3 month old son on a Sat nite. Stayed in the old guest house on the second floor and early Sun was looking out the window and here come my first look at a Connie taking off. My class at Keesler didn,t have a chance to see a Connie because the familarization trip to Keesler had been canceled. I reported in to EM Sqdn and went to work in Radar Maintenance and somehow got involved with the Set Control and if you were a Radar Tech you can remember what it was like working on the 2nd panel of the SET Control, it was A nightmare. After 6 months in the shop I went on Flying status. What a thrill that was. I would have done it without the Flt Pay. On my 3rd Flt, The 1st Tech didn,t show up and they asked me if I could handle 1st Tech. I told them as long I could hear that Maggie singing I would be ok. By the way the 2nd tech had less flying time than
me. All went well and 8 years later I was transfered out with a little less than 3000 hours Flying Time. 03/03/2008 @ 12:08 [ref: 19846] |
| Paul Lindsey West Melbourne, FL | I was an Airborne Radio Operator with the 965th AEW&C Sq, McClellan AFB.1963/64. Those were the days. A lot of long missions and those zero take offs in that Ca fog. 01/27/2008 @ 14:27 [ref: 19439] |
| Charlie Priest Tewksbury, MA | Hi All, I was at Otis in the 551st AEW&C Wing from 1956 thu 1958. Spent most of that time in the 551st EM Squadron as a Radar Tech and then to the 551st Operations Sq. Wor5king on the "T2" training trailers. I have been to the museum at Wright Pat and the RC-121D (Tail # 555) was a lovely sight. They changed the designation to EC-121D after I got out. Brought back a lot of fond memories--
Have a happy and Prosperous New Year. Kindest Regards, Charlie 12/15/2007 @ 12:52 [ref: 18928] |
| CMSgt Ken Witkin, USAF (Ret.) Fort Washington, MD | I was assigned to the 964th AEW&C Squadron, McClellan AFB California as an EC-121D airborne radio operator from November 1963 to July 1966. Our Squadron Commander was Sam Tidwell and our first sergeant was Art Cole. George Popham was the NCOIC of Radio Operations. Our mission was to fly an active air defense (AAD) orbit off the coast of California & Oregon seven days-a-week. The normal EC-121D mission was 14 hours. There were about 20 airborne radio operators assigned to the 964th Radio Operations Section during the time I was stationed at McClellan---including a certain TSgt by the name of Walter Huddleston who later became the radio operator on Speckled Trout--the USAF Chief of Staff's VC-135. It was a great time to be an airborne communicator. 12/11/2007 @ 07:57 [ref: 18878] |
| Lee Solaroli , MA | The EC-121 pictures in Thailand were taken in 1972 on Korat Air Base. The unit was the 552nd. I was an Avionics Maintainence Officer. The unit was commanded by Lt. Col. Elliot Powers. We flew in Northeast Thailand and The Gulf of Tomkin. Support was given for MIG-CAP, Inflight Refuel and Rescue. Also, tail # 425, shown in one of your other pictures, was in the unit. The smaller aircraft to the left of the Connie is a B66 equipped for Electronic Countet Measures(ECM). 11/13/2007 @ 10:15 [ref: 18524] |
| James Zalanka Aurora, CO | I was with the 552 AEW&C Wing from 73 thru the time they chopped them up. Our team had an EC-121T. The mods involved emulating the Semi Automatic Ground Environment system for automated air interceptions involving the F101B/C and F106 series interceptors. Ah-the smell of hot vacuum tubes and soldering irons. Gross weight went up to 144,500lbs. and we lost the #7 rear fuel tank, right aux oil system, the right cabin heat system(as if you needed it) and those hated AN/ARC-20 radios.What we got was the -93A engines with the heated master control units and 3500 HP, a freon airconditioning system which caused the foward cabin flooring to warp and wiggle while it was running,AN/ARC-109 uhf radios, a Singer-Kearcroft Digital Computer with a paper tape reader(vacuum tube-remember!)to load the computer memory, an AN/APS-109 height finder radar, an AN/APS95 search radar(lots of power there)all of which made our sky pig tail heavy. But what a beast it was when rolling down the runway. When our junior bird men were up to the task, they soared. What an excellent cross country machine it was-just vibrated you to sleep. Great way to see the world, too! Just plow along at 145kts forever. Great long range crew seats.
But seriously, our real aim in life was to put our mark on every SAC owned base we could get into. Take Pease AFB in NH. We had a COl. aboard so they wanted us spotted in front of their base ops on their pristine white concrete ramp for VIPs. We said no you don't know what yourinfor. Well, thats where they put us. The AC dropped the flaps during shuttdown, the Engineer hit 1200rpm to scavange the oil from the engines, and plop went the nasty black engine oil hidengin the flap wells at shutdown. We were running the deicer boot a lot that day. We did try to warn them. Great contrast. The ramp looked like diamondcoat before we got there. We nailed KI Sawyertoo, but thats another story. 11/05/2007 @ 17:34 [ref: 18411] |
| Ron Larson Newbury Park, CA | I arrived at McClellan in Oct '53, just before the first connies started to arrive, from the Mt Tam radar site.I was in the first class to go to the NAS in San Diego for maint training on the radar systems.Next I went to the first school at LOckheed for the radar installation training. I got to fly on some of the first flights.Pretty ragged start and living conditions (WW2 barracks) pretty bad.Lost one of first connies on a GCA approach into Hamilton.made an interesting flight to Colorado Spring to show the new a/c to 4star Gen Chidlaw.We took a connie tdy to Alaska for some flying over the artic ice.It was an interesting time. 07/28/2007 @ 06:48 [ref: 17315] |
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