Lockheed Constellation
A History
Graham M Simons
- **This
- illustrated
- history
- “**recounts
- the
- unusual
- and
- sometimes
- dramatic
- development
- and
- operational
- career
- of
- one
- of
- the
- twentieth
- century’s
- most
- iconic
- airliners”
- (Aviation
- History
- Magazine).Clarence
- “Kelly”
- Johnson’s
- design
- for
- the
- Lockheed
- Constellation,
- known
- affectionately
- as
- the
- Connie,
- produced
- one
- of
- the
- world’s
- most
- iconic
- airliners.
- Lockheed
- had
- been
- working
- on
- the
- L-044
- Excalibur,
- a
- four-engine,
- pressurized
- airliner,
- since
- 1937.
- In
- 1939,
- Trans
- World
- Airlines,
- at
- the
- instigation
- of
- major
- stockholder
- Howard
- Hughes,
- requested
- a
- forty-passenger
- transcontinental
- aircraft
- with
- a
- range
- of
- 3,500
- miles,
- well
- beyond
- the
- capabilities
- of
- the
- Excalibur
- design.
- TWA’s
- requirements
- led
- to
- the
- L-049
- Constellation,
- designed
- by
- Lockheed
- engineers
- including
- Kelly
- Johnson
- and
- Hall
- Hibbard.Between
- 1943
- and
- 1958,
- Lockheed
- built
- 856
- Constellations
- in
- numerous
- models
- at
- its
- Burbank,
- California,
- factory—all
- with
- the
- same
- distinctive
- and
- immediately
- recognizable
- triple-tail
- design
- and
- dolphin-shaped
- fuselage.
- The
- Constellation
- was
- used
- as
- a
- civil
- airliner
- and
- as
- a
- military
- and
- civilian
- air
- transport,
- seeing
- service
- in
- the
- Berlin
- and
- the
- Biafran
- airlifts.
- Three
- of
- them
- served
- as
- the
- presidential
- aircraft
- for
- Dwight
- D.
- Eisenhower.
- After
- World
- War
- II,
- TWA’s
- transatlantic
- service
- began
- on
- February
- 6,
- 1946
- with
- a
- New
- York-Paris
- flight
- in
- a
- Constellation.
- Then,
- on
- June
- 17,
- 1947,
- Pan
- Am
- opened
- the
- first-ever
- scheduled
- round-the-world
- service
- with
- their
- L-749
- Clipper
- America.With
- revealing
- insight
- into
- the
- Lockheed
- Constellation,
- the
- renowned
- aviation
- historian
- Graham
- M.
- Simons
- examines
- its
- design,
- development,
- and
- service,
- both
- military
- and
- civil.
- In
- doing
- so,
- he
- reveals
- the
- story
- of
- a
- design
- which,
- as
- the
- first
- pressurized
- airliner
- in
- widespread
- use,
- helped
- to
- usher
- in
- affordable
- and
- comfortable
- air
- travel
- around
- the
- world.“Simons
- makes
- good
- use
- of
- black-and-white
- and
- color
- photographs
- of
- Constellations
- in
- various
- airline
- markings
- and
- includes
- colorful
- airline
- brochures
- and
- marketing
- posters
- featuring
- the
- aircraft.”
- —Air
- Power History
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