There was a story in the Seattle Times this morning about the restoration of a Super Constellation.
It caught my eye because I have always loved that plane. Now why in the world would I care about a particular plane? Because I remember as a kid, watching my dad slowly disappear into the sky on the earlier Constellation with it's three fins trailing behind. It was at the Bow Lake airfield, which is now SeaTac and it must have been in the late 40's or early 50's.
I got to looking through the videos on Youtube and found this one which you might enjoy watching. Be sure and read the history of the plane next to the video. And just for fun..here is a bit of history of Seattle Tacoma International Airport. I now know why it took me so many years to stop calling it Bow Lake.
After rejecting a possible site on the Sammamish Plateau as too close to the Cascades, the Port of Seattle selected Bow Lake airfield for the new airport, swayed in part by Tacoma’s promise of $100,000 to help pay for a facility that could serve it as well (the new airport ended up costing more than $4 million, so Tacoma got quite a bargain). Planners ignored warnings from longtime residents that the area was prone to thick and persistent fogs and quickly purchased more than 900 acres on the plateau.
Construction on the future Seattle-Tacoma International Airport began in January 1943, but the site proved more challenging than expected. Excavators had to dig as deep as 20 feet into the gritty glacial soil, and hauled away a total of 6.5 million cubic yards of dirt to create a level plateau. Then workers poured 450,000 square feet of concrete to create the main 6,100-foot runway and an “X” of adjoining taxiways. The original airport was officially dedicated on October 31, 1944, and promptly taken over by the Army Air Force to shuttle Boeing B-29s to and from the Pacific Theater. By then, Sea-Tac’s construction had cost $4,235,000, with most of the tab picked up by the federal government.
Limited civilian operations began in 1945, with waiting passengers and visitors confined to a Quonset hut heated by a single potbellied stove. King County voters approved a $3 million bond issue in 1946 to build a modern terminal and administration building. At its opening on July 9, 1949, Governor Arthur Langley warned the eagles and larks to move over, “for we, too, have won our place in the firmament of heaven.”
Construction on the future Seattle-Tacoma International Airport began in January 1943, but the site proved more challenging than expected. Excavators had to dig as deep as 20 feet into the gritty glacial soil, and hauled away a total of 6.5 million cubic yards of dirt to create a level plateau. Then workers poured 450,000 square feet of concrete to create the main 6,100-foot runway and an “X” of adjoining taxiways. The original airport was officially dedicated on October 31, 1944, and promptly taken over by the Army Air Force to shuttle Boeing B-29s to and from the Pacific Theater. By then, Sea-Tac’s construction had cost $4,235,000, with most of the tab picked up by the federal government.
Limited civilian operations began in 1945, with waiting passengers and visitors confined to a Quonset hut heated by a single potbellied stove. King County voters approved a $3 million bond issue in 1946 to build a modern terminal and administration building. At its opening on July 9, 1949, Governor Arthur Langley warned the eagles and larks to move over, “for we, too, have won our place in the firmament of heaven.”
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