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The Legendary Lockheed ConstellationBy Stephan Wilkinson | Aviation History | 8 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post The Army Air Forces took over Constellation development and production in 1942, and that was, at least for awhile, the end of Howard Hughes’ grandiose plans and the unmasking of his “secret” airliner. The military needed big troop- and cargo-carrying transports, and the Constellation looked as if it would fill that bill. Subscribe Today
The Connie’s temperamental Wright engines quickly killed the deal. Powerful but cranky and prone to pyrotechnics, the R-3350 so dismayed the Army Air Forces that it stopped C-69 production at just 13 (plus the prototype) and turned to the Douglas C-54 for its dependable airlift capability. The C-54 had Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines of not much more than half the R-3350’s horsepower, but they ran forever and the C-54 was economical to build. The USAAF preferred that Lockheed concentrate on P-38s and Hudson patrol bomber derivatives anyway, and the R-3350 needed to be optimized for the upcoming B-29, forget about getting it to run in some damn airliner. When the war ended, TWA quickly bought back from the government all the C-69s it could, and the Constellation finally went into airline service—though with Pan Am, in a flight from New York to Bermuda in February 1946. Three days later, TWA started Constellation service between New York and Paris, and a month later between New York and Los Angeles. In those days, Connies cost from $685,000 to $720,000, depending on equipment; in today’s dollars, that’s $7.6 million to $8 million—the price of a midsize bizjet. TWA and Pan Am, however, managed to buy four war surplus C-69s for $20,000 each and another two for $40,000 apiece. Though the Boeing 307 was the first pressurized airliner, it was returned to service after the war with its pressurization system disabled, so for awhile only the Connie offered a high-altitude cabin. During its first two years of airline operation, however, two people were sucked out of Constellations in flight, thanks to the primitive pressurization system. One was a navigator lost when his astrodome popped off while he was taking a sextant shot; the other was an Air France passenger sitting next to a cabin window that failed. Amazingly, brave passengers continued to board Connies. In 1946 a Pan Am Connie en route from New York to London had an engine fire soon enough after takeoff that the airplane was able to return and belly-land on a 4,500-foot grass strip in Willimantic, Conn. There were no injuries to the crew or passengers, which included Laurence Olivier, his then-wife Vivian Leigh and other members of the Old Vic repertory company. The fire had burned through the engine mounts by the time the airplane was back over land, and the big radial and its prop dropped off entirely and fell onto a farm field. Fortunately for all on board, Lockheed, obviously aware of the flammability of the Wright engines, had designed the Constellation’s nacelles and stainless steel firewalls to encapsulate even a raging fire for 30 minutes. When the airplane was repaired, it took off from the grass strip lightened as much as possible and with minimal fuel. Still on three engines, it was airborne in 2,000 feet. Back at Pan Am’s LaGuardia maintenance hangar, the remains of the number-three nacelle were removed, the hole in the wing was faired over and the Connie flew back to California for major work. Until the advent of the Boeing 727, it remained the world’s fastest trimotor. By 1948, it looked like the Connie was done. Airline economics were lousy, and Lockheed didn’t have enough Constellation orders to keep the line open. Game over? Not quite. Out of nowhere came an order from the U.S. military for C-121 multiuse transports and from the Navy for PO-1 long-range patrol planes (“Po-Boys” they were quickly dubbed). Lockheed had been saved by the bell. It had already developed the Model 649 and 749, with higher-horsepower engines, far more comfortable cabins with rubber isolation mounts between double skins for noise suppression and a number of other improvements. These were really the first true Constellation airliners, the L-049 having been essentially a military transport converted to civil use. The government order allowed the 649s and 749s to stay in production, and 131 were built for airline use. One went to Howard Hughes (he would eventually also have for his personal use two Hughes Tool Co. L-1049Gs and a TWA L-1649A Starliner), and 12 went to the military. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: Aircraft, Aviation History, Flight Technology
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8 Comments to “The Legendary Lockheed Constellation”
This article bought me fond memories of riding my bicycle out to the Tampa airport and spend hours watching the planes land and take off. There was a back way onto the airport property and we would ride through the woods and sit right by the runways. Often we would sit on the end of the rinway so that the planes would be right overhead. never gave a thought to being crushed. This was back around 1957. I always thought the Connies were the coolest thing built.
By Gene on May 17, 2009 at 10:11 pm
In 1971 while on the Civil Air Patrol International Air Cadet Exchange I flew into Berlin in a “Connie” with the seats facing backwards. The plane was fitted with a bar and a steward…however being cadets the bar was closed to us.
By Ltcol on May 29, 2009 at 2:01 pm
…those of us who flew in the USN versions, called R7V’s and EC-121’s, were very fond of our “Connies.” One R7V (444) made so many belly-landings due to landing gear problems that she earned the nicknames “cripple-4″ and “flying w-ore” for being on her belly so often…but they flew well and usually reliably.
…those of us who flew in the AEW/CIC “Warning Star” versions, called WV-2’s and EC-121K, P, etc., served our country during both the ‘Cold War’ (flying Pacific and Atlantic seaward extensions of DEW Line) and Viet Nam war…as night surviellance for the 7th fleet, ECM/Countermeasures all over the far east, or as weather (”Typhoon Trackers” and “Hurricane Hunters”) reconnaissance.
By Earles on May 31, 2009 at 6:05 pm
In late ‘69 or early ‘70 a group of Spanish speaking gentlemen taxied up to the rear of the Capitol Airways hangar where we were beginning to dispose of our “Connies” and offered to buy one. The deal was made, the “Connie” flew off to ???? Several days later there was a news report of an “Connie airliner” bombing Fidel Castro’s palace in Havana with 55 gallon drums rigged like Molotov cocktails. Anti-aircraft fire failed to bring down the aircraft which disappeared into the night according to news reports. The ex-Capitol Connie?????? Who knows, but we were quite good at maintaining and operating the much loved “Connie”.
By Jerry on Jun 1, 2009 at 5:33 pm
We took Connies over to Southeast Asia in 1967 for Igloo White, McNamara’s Electronic Battlefield. Ours were EC-121R’s, and there were a few EC-121S models at Korat, as well as Warning Star models. Ours were festooned with antennae like porcupines.
By George Kamburoff on Jun 17, 2009 at 4:19 pm
As a small boy, my family would go to the airport to meet my grandparents, when they departed or returned from a trip. TWA was the carrier at the time, and all boarding and deplaning took place using outside stairways. We could see everything, from the passengers and flight crews, to the ground crews checking out the aircraft. But the best part, was watching the Connie’s engines start, belching the smoke and fire that they were famous for, seeing the wheel chocks pulled, and then seeing her swing around as she began her taxi for takeoff. The air blast from the big props was what I lived for, and all of this occurred as I stood with my father, behind a 3 foot chain link fence. It was definitely a simpler time back then.
By Bob Weber on Jun 27, 2009 at 2:36 am
As one who has restored, flown, and performed maintenance on a Connie, I can truthfully tell you what a magnificient airplane it is. Back in the early 90’s, I was involved with a group of volunteers who restored a very sorrowful eye sore that was stored at the Camarillo Airport in Camarillo, CA. The group was the Constellation Historical Society, and how we transformed this airplane to flying status is a true testimony to the hard work of its members, and after five years of this hard work, N73544, Lockheed c/n 4175, took to the air again in June of 1994. It was a very emotional thing to watch pilot Frank Butorac and Flight Engineer Jimmy Jones put Connie through her paces that day, and I still get emotional when I think of that flight. Afterwards, we put N73544 on the air show circuit where she was always a welcome sight, and we did that for almost eight years. I’ll never forget that time, and it became a family affair with my wife and I associated with Jerry Steele, Flight Engineer and his wife Joyce, John and Cheryl Arp, pilots Chuck Grant and Pat Farrell. Today, N73544 flies the European skies for the Swiss group Super Constellation Flyers Association as HB-RSC, and she still looks as beautiful as she did when we flew her in the United States.
By Del Mitchell on Jul 1, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I flew Connies with AEWBARRONPAC out of NAS Barbers Pt Hi and NS Midway Island from 1962 to 1965.
We used R7V’s (straight Connies) for training flights. My favorite story is when I made a ONE engine landing. We were downwind to Runway 4 at BBP simulating 2 engines out (3 & 4 at idle or “zero-thrust” ). Just prior to the “180″ “brrrrrp” “Fire Warning No. 1″ OK “Feather No.1, execute fire emergency procedures,. “Checkpool 07 cleared to land R/W 4″ .
We fx’d #1, held the gear until lined up, and landed…but forgot to bring up 3 & 4!
R7V’s were very sweet. The Wv-2″s on the other hand were another story. As one instructor pilot told me in the landing pattern… ” It’s like a helping a sweet old lady to cross the street…just don’t be rough on the controls or she’ll lean back…hard.” Those 300 gallon wingtip tanks made her quite slugish in roll and the flow around the upper radome required you to use “top rudder” in turns.
Nice article…brought back lots of memories.
Jim Swift
By Jim Swift on Nov 14, 2009 at 1:40 pm