Lufthansa Shuts Down Super Star Project – March 15, 2018
 

Well this takes the cake.

Lufthansa Board of Directors has decided to pull the plug on the Super Star (L1649A) project in Auburn, Maine. The restoration was begun in 2008 and, after spending a reported $200M on the project, the board has made the misguided decision to end the project, which was nearing completion.

Full article here.

Constellation News

$200 mio ? Wow that's quite a budget... Was there anything special about that specific airframe? I am pretty sure that one can get a fly worthy Connie for much less...

Just realized it was a L-1649A Starliner (the last evolution and indeed rare).

Still 200 mio...

Hope someone else takes it on.

Knowing Lufthansa, they will make sure it is prepared for storage properly so that the next person can continue where they left off but the cost of actually storing the plane would be high. Hopefully it doesn't get put outside when the rent-cheque doesn't come on time!

Anilv

Do you have a link to any official news?

I'm almost sure there's a Constellation in the Science Museum Wroughton outpost.

Yes, as I posted previously in the other LH Connie thread:

Lufthansa's reveals the cost of trying to restore their Lockheed Starliner
 

Sounded simple, buy three old Starliners ( Connies), use them to restore one and then fly it to Europe and operate it as a celebration of their Super Star airliners they once operated... Project started 2007...Project cancelled in 2018, dismantled and brought to Germany meaning it will never fly again..

Total cost all in for this failed restoration?

150 MILLION Euro's !!!!!!!!!

Admittedly not all of their money, but 150 MILLION ????

https://www.aerotelegraph.com/en/fai...-million-euros

Wow

Interesting, only on the English Site of aero not on the German Site.

Oh please, this is a professional pilots forum..

It's about ‘professional pilots’ exchanging news, comments and other such offerings that affect our professional life’s in what right now is a very nervous industry..

Or have I got it completely wrong?

Ad..

Might be better to use one of the existing threads on PPRuNe rather than start a new one:

Lufthansa pulls the plug on their Super Star

Lufthansa L-1649A "Super Star" Project Alive and Well

Lufthansa Shuts Down Super Star Project – March 15, 2018

1 x Engineer/Year = EUR 0.2M (Cost, not salary)
5 x Engineer /Year = EUR 1.0M
50 x Engineers, various hangers on/Year = EUR 10M
11 years x EUR 10M = EUR 110M
Buy some aircraft and spares = EUR 20M
Do some travel and schmoozing = EUR 20M

All made up of course, but it doesn't take much to get to a number of that magnitude.

The Idea was to use it for carrying fare paying passengers..

"Now Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr answered a question to the cost at the Group’s General Meeting on Tuesday (May, 5): «The total cost of the project from 2007 to 2019, after we have stopped the project and brought the aircraft back to Bremen, is 150 million euros.» A large part of this, however, had been borne by external donors and sponsors."

So where exactly is the problem .. ?

The fundamental problem is they tried to recreate a 1940’s design to meet 2010 certification standards. Everything was the gold plated over the top and over thought, like deciding that cabin doors had to have certified slides, which meant a huge amount of engineering and certification work to incorporate a system never envisioned for this class of aircraft

Also virtually every piece in was tested and tested until it failed some sort of inspection, and then since there are virtually no certified spares had to be manufactured from scratch at ridiculous cost. Everyone involved had never worked on anything that wasn’t factory new from Airbus and did not have a clue how to return a 75 year old big piston pounder to safe limited service.

They would have been far better to engage one of the well respected US restoration firms to do all the work. They would have spent much less and have an iconic flying aircraft......the whole thing is very sad.

Indeed very sad.

Am I correct that there are no more fly worthy Connies?

There are several airworthy Connies but the get by barely as money and knowledge are in short supply. Gooogle Constellation Survivors for a point of reference.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...QA37Dc0nWMt9-3

It did not help that the Lufty boys demended a gold plated replica of the 1649A

Columbine 11
 

By coincidence I’ve just been reading a US publication in which it details the ongoing restoration to flying condition of Lockheed VC-121 48-610 Columbine 11 owned by Karl Stoltzfus the founder of Dynamic Aviation, Bridgewater, Virginia. The aircraft was previously stored until 2016 at Marana Regional Airport, Az. and had been in danger of scrapping.

The completely new digital flightdeck must have absorbed a significant stack of cash as well. The plan looked fantastic, a shame that it didn't work out as it would have been great.