Qantas Constellations Obtuse Colour Question
 

This is a question for the aviation buffs - Does anybody know what colour the seats, cockpit lining and panels were of the Qantas Constellations. The only photographs around are B&W which is not all that much use. There is a cutaway of a display model in the Qantas museum of the interior which shows tan seats, brown carpets and wood panelling. The question arose in the realm of simulated aviation.

The original Constellations had a darkish lime green colour throughout the cockpit area and some had white control wheels and trim wheels.

Yep, we know about the HARS Connie but is a converted E121 and has the standard grey and black set up of military Constellations. The question relates to Qantas operated 749's and 1049's.

Any contributions appreciated.

Try running the images through this site
Colorize Black and White Photos ? Algorithmia

Thanks, I tried that the algorithm does not do it properly but rather comes up with sepia hues, for example the fire extinquisher and fuel dump controls on the roof were placarded in red but they show as black. The lufthansa cockpits were the standard dark lime green with black panels and blue seat covers, I guess Qantas were probably the same. It seems the grey paint was a military spec as only the converted EC 121's and others have it. Though I must admit the early white control wheel and trim lever does have a sporty 1940's look to it but they disappeared with the 749 and were replaced with black.

Try contacting the HARS engineers. While Connie is ex military, a lot of the older LAMEs worked on the real Qantas aircraft.
Wunwing

Have you had a look in the book titled "Queen of the skies - The Lockheed Constellation". From what I can see, most of the pics are black, white and grey, but technology may be your saviour.

Bendy

Have you had a look on airliners.net

Here's an image of a Capitol Airways L-1049H from 1962:

L-1049H N5402V

There are also quite a few of the Airline History Museum's 1049H N6937C which is presented as a TWA L-1049G. It's not an ex-military aircraft so it might pay to contact them to ask if they researched the colours prior to the restoration.

Rgds

There are some cockpit videos of start ups of The Airline History Museums L1049H N6937C on YouTube that show the cockpit panels are green. The museum claims it is the only airworthy civilian Connie, the others all being military ones originally.