In 1951, Lockheed introduced the Super Constellation, which featured “air conditioning, reclining seats and extra lavatories,” as well as unheard-of fuel efficiency. While the community funds the projects, there’s no dedicated workforce to actually build the trails, so Hosking depends on a local volunteer group composed primarily of local retirees called the “Over the Hill Gang.”, “We get about 10,000 hours of volunteer time out of those guys,” says Hosking of the group, which started with four volunteers and now has 60 or 70 active members. There is a parking area designated for trail users on the right. The crew was on a nine-day temporary duty trip for training to orient themselves around Naval Air Station Litchfield Park, now Phoenix Goodyear Airport. “I wouldn’t put it in the same category as Moab. Shade: Very little Family Friendly: Yes The Constellation trail system is a group of trails located in Prescott AZ, and it is a favorite among the locals. The pilots, Navy Lt. j.g. The Greenways Trails are urban trails along Granite and Miller Creeks that run through downtown Prescott. In 14 years, he’s taken Prescott from 24 miles of trails to more than 100. As part of the MATS, precursor to Military Airlift Command, the Navy operated and maintained the aircraft that belonged to the Air Force. The flight headed for Prescott Airport (PRC) where touch-and-goes were performed. “He contacted some of the families of the five airmen who were lost in that crash.”. “They knew their dads died in Arizona, but they didn’t know where or why or what happened, so that was a cool way to put some closure on that whole event for them.”. Near the trailhead, scrub oak passageways filter the sunlight, and as the trail gains elevation, the rock formations become more and more impressive. With rock bars, leverage, sweat, muscle, and grit, the crew cleared an awe-inspiring trail. The trailhead starts you going southwest through a short, unlit tunnel that safely gets you across SR-89. Constellation Crash - Engineer James Miller (GC34KRX) was created by dakotacouple on 9/21/2011. This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Networks opinion as to the cause of the accident. “The nose came up and a roar of power was heard,” the Air Force crash report states. The scenery was great and the trails easy! Solutions for your real estate business. It’s tough to make out much in many of them. Easy access and the variety and number of trails has made this stretch of northern Arizona a hiking and mountain biking destination. So he reached out to Cindy Barks, a reporter at the local paper, the Prescott Daily Courier, who helped him figure out that an airplane had crashed there decades before. It came to rest in flames in a garden and was destroyed by a post crash fire. The trail heads under the highway and you come out in an area where a Lockheed C-121G Super Constellation crashed on February 28, 1959. magazine feature on the unit, VR-7 helped maintain a supply line from California to Asia and the Middle East. “I usually come up with the names,” says Hosking, an avid mountain biker. 1.800.503.5163. “If you went out and off the trails, off into the shrubs and stuff there, you could still find pieces of that airplane even after all these years,” Bauer says. Buckingham Palace is bracing itself for 'shocking' revelations from Meghan and Harry's tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview after teasers for the primetime special were released. He knew then that the community should do something special to honor the fallen aviators. Constellation Trails: Easy hike; amazing views - See 64 traveler reviews, 20 candid photos, and great deals for Prescott, AZ, at Tripadvisor. The airplane operated on a local flight out of Goodyear-Litchfield Park NAS, AZ … Web Design and Development by Hire Jordan Smith. As a journalist and writer, his work has appeared in The American Scholar, The New York Times (At War), Guernica, Narrative, and more. The “Findings” section says, “The primary cause of this accident is undetermined,” and “investigation of the wreckage revealed no material or mechanical failure.” The last line before a redacted paragraph of recommendations says, “the aircraft apparently stalled too close to the ground to effect recovery.”, The FOIA response came with scanned copies of 23 black-and-white photos of the crash scene. While performing an archeological survey to check for Native American ruins and other historic artifacts, he noticed “all these aluminum shards everywhere.”. So he reached out to Cindy Barks, a reporter at the local paper, t. , who helped him figure out that an airplane had crashed there decades before. There were five crew members on board. Also, this is the most scenic trail in the Dells in my opinion.”. , featured the industry’s first hydraulic power controls, cruising speeds faster “than most World War II fighters at 350 mph,” and a pressurized cabin for 44 passengers that allowed the plane to fly above most bad weather, creating a smooth and comfortable ride. “I see Prescott as kind of the whole package because it’s a great place for people who live here, and it’s got a huge variety of very easy trails, and then it’s got very technical trails, and everything in between,” he says. We’re not that, we’re a real town with a great trail system.”, Hosking attributes the success to the area’s excellent topography, a variety of vegetation, and a volunteer work crew “who don’t mind busting their ass to get things done.”.