Benny's CONNIES

ONE MAN'S DEDICATION TO SAVING A CLASSIC AIRLINER

Not many men would undertake the restoration of an airplane as large and complex as a Lockheed Super Constellation. Daryoush Younesi, known to his friends as Benny, doesn't shy away from a challenge and has been involved in the restoration of four ex-military Super Constellations during the past 22 years. Benny said good-bye to the last of his brood on 26 April 2004, when C-121C N73544 departed Camarillo for Switzerland and the European airshow circuit.

Benny has over 30 years of aerospace industry experience and is President of Aerocon Engineering is Company, a Van Nuys, California-based, aerospace engineering firm. Born in Iran, Benny first became interested in airplanes at the tender age of eight and began his aviation career in 1978 as an A&P mechanic in Logan, Utah. In the years since, Benny has added IA (Inspection Authorization) to his A&P credentials along with hachelor and master degrees in aeronautical engineering.

In 1982, he formed Aerocon (www.aerocon.org) which has grown to over 20 employees and provides aircraft engineering support to a broad base of customers including Boeing, L3 Comm, Airbus and EADS. Benny is one of a small number of FAA Designated Engineering Representatives (DER) who are appointed to certify, approve and substantiate aircraft designs/modifications on behalf of the FAA.

Benny's first Constellation "project" began in the early 1980s when he joined Classic Air. Ascher Ward formed Classic Air during the summer of 1981 with the intent of flying Japanese tourists on 90-minute sight-seeing flights to the Grand Canyon from Van Nuys Airport. Ascher traded an historic Lockheed Lodestar to the US Air Force (USAF) and, in return, took delivery of C-121C N1104W in August 1981. This aircraft was delivered to the USAF as 54-177 in March 1956 and went on to serve with Mississippi, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania Air National Guard (ANG) units before being retired to Davis-Monthan AFB in November 1977.

Bill Conner joined Classic Air shortly thereafter and his ex-US Navy C-12IJ N27189 arrived at Van Nuys on 11 June 1982 to join the C-121C. N27189 was delivered to the US Navy in April 1954 as BuNo 131654 and was operated for 20 years by the Navy before being retired to Davis-Monthan AFB in September 1974.

The pair was to operate the sightseeing flights under FAR Part 125. Although Ascher and Bill had managed to purchase two ex-military Super Connies and get them moved to Van Nuys, they did not have the expertise to navigate the technical and bureaucratic maze required for certification. Benny, who had recently purchased C-121C N73544, joined the group and was responsible for preparing the aircraft for passenger operations. This involved modifying the aircraft and completing the paperwork necessary to satisfy the FAA requirements for issuance of a standard airworthiness certificate. While Benny concentrated on the technical aspects of the operation, Ascher and Bill were responsible for marketing and customer service. They planned on using Benny's aircraft as a backup aircraft but this never happened and it remained parked at Chino and, later, Camarillo, California.

The plan to carry 100 Japanese tourists at a time to the Grand Canyon looked like a good one. Classic Air had an exclusive agreement with Skypac, a Los Angeles-based Japanese tour agency, to make the flights and the two aircraft parked at Van Nuys were certainly capable of doing so. Van Nuys-based American Jet Industries had scrapped nearly a hundred Constellations at nearby Lancaster, California, in the mid-1970s, so spare parts were plentiful and cheap. Everything looked like it was falling into place until the FAA announced that it would not approve a Van Nuys-based Part 125 operation, insisting instead on a Part 121 operation conducted from a larger airport such as Los Angeles International. By this time, Ascher wanted out of the venture and sold his interest.

FAR Part 121 requires that an operator perform 40-hrs of route proving rlights prior to commencing operations. The proving flights cannot be flown with passengers but the regulations don't prohibit carrying cargo. Since the two aircraft were already configured as freighters, Benny proposed starting operations carrying cargo so the route proving could be performed while earning revenue. With the Japanese customer insisting on passenger operations, he was overruled by his partners and conversion of the aircraft to passenger configuration continued. Borrowed money was spent on the conversion and not enough remained to complete Part 121 certification. Without the certification, no flights could be made and the loan was eventually called. The two aircraft were unsuccessfully offered at auction on 12 January 1987, with a reserve price of $116,000 apiece. It was a sad ending to such a once-promising venture. At one time, Classic Air planned six round trips per week to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas and three per week from Los Angeles with operations eventually building to five round trips per day.