Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its pressurized cabin enabled commercial passengers to fly well above most bad weather for the first time, thus significantly improving the general safety and ease of air travel.
Constellation | |
---|---|
A USAF C-69, the military version of the Constellation | |
Role | Airliner and transport |
Manufacturer | Lockheed |
First flight | January 9, 1943 |
Introduction | 1943 with USAAF 1945 with TWA |
Retired | 1990s, airline service 1978, military |
Status | In very limited service |
Produced | 1943–1958 |
Number built | 856 |
Developed from | L-044 Excalibur |
Variants | L-049 Constellation C-69 Constellation L-649 Constellation L-749 Constellation L-1049 Super Constellation C-121/R7V Constellation R7V-2/YC-121F Constellation EC-121 Warning Star L-1649A Starliner |
Developed into | Lockheed XB-30 (Unbuilt) |
Several different models of the Constellation series were produced, although they all featured the distinctive triple-tail and dolphin-shaped fuselage. Most were powered by four 18-cylinder Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclones. In total, 856 were produced between 1943 and 1958 at Lockheed's plant in Burbank, California, and used as both a civil airliner and as a military and civilian cargo transport. Among their famous uses was during the Berlin and the Biafran airlifts. Three served as the presidential aircraft for Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of which is featured at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.