Starliner on the move (again)

Lockheed L-1649A Starliner N7361C (msn 1018), owned by the Lufthansa Berlin Stiftung, was recently transported to a new home. The various components of the disassembled propliner were trucked from a storage facility in the harbour of Bremen to a hangar on the airport of Paderborn.

The Lufthansa Berlin Stiftung had envisaged a rebuild to static condition, allowing exhibition to the general public. Financial cutbacks, mostly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, have put these plans on hold. The iconic Starliner will now be stored under the best possible conditions, to allow a rebuild somewhere in the future.

As we reported in SMFB on 18 September 2019 German airline Lufthansa started the restoration to full airworthy condition of Lockheed L-1649A Starliner N7361C in 2008.

This restoration, undertaken in a purpose-built hangar at Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn (ME), was almost a complete rebuild. About 95 percent of the fuselage structure and approximately 85 percent of the wings were replaced by new, state of the art material.

But after spending millions of Euros in this prestigious project, Lufthansa decided to pull the plug from this project in 2018. The project was then shipped back to Germany, arriving there in October 2019. There the once glorious airliner was tucked away in an anonymous harbour shed.

With its recent move to Paderborn, the chances of ever seeing the Starliner again (but unlikely in flying condition) have grown, which is a positive thing!

Photos: KTL Transporte GmbH