In the 1950s, my cousin Doyle Mattson (now deceased) worked as an engineer for Lockheed. He knew of my interest in aviation so he sent me company photos of the aircraft you will find in this section. In August of 2004, my wife and I had the pleasure of spending time with Doyle's two sons and that event reminded me of the need to publish these photos, to share them with others who enjoy aviation as much as I do. To be sure, this is a vintage selection, including some (well, one for sure!) that I would guess you have never seen. If anyone has answers for the questions posed in the copy, I would certainly be happy to hear from you.

Here you see an early version of the Lockheed Constellation, the "Flagship Copenhagen" of American Overseas Airlines. You'll see this same plane again in the next photo, as well.

Here is "Flagship Copenhagen" once again, and I assume that it is flying over Los Angeles because the Lockheed plant was located in this area. The markings are clearly those of what we know today to be American Airlines, but there are also markings for American Overseas Airlines. Can anyone provide some background on that other name for American?

In this view of the area where the finishing touches were made on the Constellations, we can see three Pan American and two American Airlines positioned on the apron.

This shot, taken in the same assemply area as the preceding photo, shows "The Flying Dutchman" of KLM Airlines. Isn't it interesting that the name given to the plane is more prominent than the name of the airline itself? I wonder if they did that only with Constellations — at that time, certainly the company flagship — or if they applied that same title to smaller aircraft, too?

Here you see one of the rarest aircraft in this collection: the R6V Constitution (Model 89). Only two such models of the double deck Navy transport were built in 1946. It had four 3,000 hp Pratt and Whiney R-4360-22W power plants. The span was 189' 1", the length was 156' 1", and loaded it weighed 69,425 pounds. The smaller plane positioned at the wingtip is a Lockheed Electra Junior L12. (Thanks to Michael A. Murphey of Boeing for that identification.)

The rarest of them all in this collection, you are looking at the only Saturn (NX90001) built. One view shows it posed on the tarmac, and the other shows it taking off for a flight. Built in 1946, it was powered by two 525 hp Wright Cyclone engines. It had a span of 74', a length of 51' 6", and it weighed 4,366 pounds when loaded. Lockheed documents indicate that the Saturn was projected as a feeder transport. Perhaps most interesting about the construction, they write that it had "unique right-left interchangeable components [such as] gears, tail surfaces, outboard wings, etc."

I enjoy aviation as much today as I did when my cousin sent me these photos. I hope you will enjoy this bit of aviation history, too, when you come to the K&BH for a bit of railroad news. Keep your eyes peeled for more items of aviation interest in the future.