4-Engine Constellation Official City Plane

Camarillo has long had a city flower--the bougainvillea--and now it has a city plane.

The Constellation Historical Society of Camarillo, a nonprofit group that restored the 1953-vintage four-engine aircraft to flying condition, asked the city to name Camarillo Connie its official airplane. And last week the city agreed.

“It’s a special plane because there are only four left flying in the United States out of 856 built for commercial and military use between 1943 and 1958,” said Del Mitchell of the society, adding that one other is being flown in Australia.

“Prior to the jet age, the Constellations were the epitome of the foremost means of air transportation in the world--they were the 747s of their day,” Mitchell said. “Because of the name Constellation, people started affectionately referring to them as Connies.”

Owner Benny Younese brought the Lockheed Constellation to Camarillo in 1984 with the intention of restoring it. Shortly after it arrived, however, it developed mechanical problems.

The plane sat at Camarillo Airport until 1990, when the nonprofit group united to restore the plane, Mitchell said.

Camarillo Connie is now taken to air shows around the state. It is flown by Chuck Grant, who has flown Connies since 1947.

The plane will soon carry the city seal on each side of the fuselage next to its name.

“Our name and logo will be appearing at air shows and other places the aircraft visits and hopefully people will ask ‘What’s Camarillo?’ or ‘Where’s Camarillo?’ and it will provide some additional notoriety to our area,” said Larry Davis, assistant city manager.

But will Camarillo Connie really lure people to Camarillo?

“We thought we could use it as a promotional vehicle and with only four left in the United States, there seems to be a lot of interest in those planes,” said Councilman Kevin Kildee. “Just how much it will lure people depends, but it seems like nostalgia is in again with vintage automobiles and planes.”