Admit it, you too have had dreams of one day coming face to face with a famous actress, or one not so famous but with attributes that made you feel weak inside just thinking about them. Think Pamela Anderson in her early Bay Watch episodes… I most certainly had such dreams but I must also confess that I had dreams also about a different kind of beauty, dating back to the days when the sight of bouncing tits was more cause for giggle than excitement.
I was may be ten when a friend of mine surprised me with a book he found in his grandparents’ attic, entitled “Duel in the sky”. It was a wonderful collection of short stories about aviators in WWI plus a few descriptions of more recent events, among them the story of the historic flight of an Air France Lockheed Super Constellation which was carrying back to Europe the signed copies of the peace treaties terminating WWII. That Super Connie almost ended up in the Atlantic Ocean, treaties and all, due to multiple engine problems… The radio operator on the flight was an ex-pat Hungarian and most of the story was recounted as he saw it from behind his crackling boxes. In the end, they landed safely in Dakar… I do not know how many times I read that story but it must have been hundreds. On each re-read, the Connie crept closer and closer to my heart. We were from different times, never to meet or touch, but she was there all the time.
Then the years passed and, with burning face I have to admit, for a time girls occupied my attention more than airplanes did… Not that much more and only for a time, but still…
Eventually I also learned to accept that those dreams about running into Pamela Anderson on the airport commuter bus were just that, dreams. You do not run into the icons of your dreams in real life. And then it happened…
One of our partner companies called and asked whether I would be available for a small consulting job which entailed visiting a client headquartered at an airport in the Black Forest in Germany. I said yes and we drove to the appointed airport where I was met by my colleagues from the partners. As we climbed the stairs to where the meeting would be held, I realized that we were actually in the office section of the airport hangar and looking down onto the shop floor I saw her!
No it was not Pamela Anderson; it was something much nicer and infinitely more exciting. It was no less than the Breitling Super Constellation!
In a moment I forgot the purpose of the visit, I forgot everything, I felt like any of us would have felt standing face to face with someone we have only dreamed about.
This Connie is six years younger than me, having been born in Burbank, California, on 1 November 1956. Her construction number is 4175. She had had an eventful life most of which she spent in uniform.
In contrast to some of the girls I have known, time has not ravaged her at all. She is as beautiful as she was on the day she was rolled out from the Lockheed plant. Although in the hangar for maintenance in preparation for the summer air show season, she was a magnificent sight in spite of her less dignified surroundings.
As usual, I had my camera with me and so I could make all the photos I wanted… much needed proof also for myself in case I started wondering later whether this was only a dream.
I know now that meeting someone from your dreams is possible, even if you have to wait a long time. The other lesson? Never leave home without your camera. She may not come your way a second time…
I have heard You can find more information about the Connie here.
