New livery for historic Lufthansa aircraft Lockheed L-1649A Super Star

The fuselage, wings, the characteristic triple tail unit and over 290 wooden crates of the legendary Lockheed L-1649A Super Star were stored in a Lufthansa Technik hangar at Hamburg Airport. After assembly and overhaul, the aircraft was transported in individual parts to Münster/Osnabrück Airport. Altitude Paint Services (APS) carried out the work there, with Hamburg-based paint manufacturer Mankiewicz providing around 500 liters of special paint free of charge. Painting the legendary parabolas, a central element of Lufthansa's design at the time, was a particular challenge. The paint job was carried out using historical documents from the company archive and the precise paint planning of the Graphics Solutions department at Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg.

Painting of individual aircraft parts

As the aircraft was transported by road in individual parts, it could not be painted as a whole, as is usually the case. The painted parts were then transported to Frankfurt Airport by heavy transport and reassembled there. This meant that the paintwork of the individual parts had to match exactly. Just in time for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first Lufthansa, the Lockheed L-1649A Super Star, together with the legendary Junkers Ju 52 D-AQUI, will be the main attraction of the Lufthansa Group's new conference and visitor center from spring 2026. In 1957, the Lockheed Super Star joined the Lufthansa fleet and for the first time was assigned the Senator class as the most exclusive type of travel. Its main focus was the connection to New York; non-stop across the North Atlantic. The aircraft was therefore also a technical masterpiece. With its four piston engines, it closed the chapter of the classic propeller aircraft. These flights, which lasted up to 17 hours, took off from Hamburg, where the maintenance base was also located. The Super Star is 35.42 meters long, has a wingspan of 45.18 meters and a height of 7.12 meters.