Lockheed Constellation - A Star To Remember!

In the race to provide a viable long-range passenger carrying aircraft in the late 1930s, Lockheed appeared to have a sword in the stone with their proposed project aircraft, the Model 44; a four-engined beast that became public knowledge in 1939.

The Model 44 was to be called: The Excalibur! Forward progress by drawing board was to be the only runway ahead as the twin finned, 240 mph, 21 passenger seat aircraft developed into a bigger, wider and faster aircraft with a cruise speed of 268 mph and configured to carry 36 passengers, but this was all just on paper as the Excalibur could churn out these performance stats in theory only.

But there was still much to be enthusiastic about, such as the retractable tricycle undercarriage, and there was even speak of a steerable nose wheel – all new age tech back then! Close attention from airline giant Pan Am boosted development against Boeing’s 307 Stratoliner; essentially an evolution of the B- 17 with a pressurised cabin and supercharged engines, but still a tail wheel.

Shortly after the addition of a (Pan Am requested) third tail fin, and a full scale mock-up being put together, the Excalibur project had the brakes firmly applied; the project was halted following a large injection of investment and an even larger injection of enthusiasm by the one and only Howard Hughes!

A Star is Born!

Hughes; now the majority shareholder of an airline by the name of Transcontinental & Western Air (or TWA) wanted goals beyond that which the Excalibur could deliver; more passengers and a transcontinental coast to coast range of at least 3,500 miles.

The design team were soon busy with Howard’s notes to improve the original blueprint of the Excalibur into his vision for the airliner of the future, although he did like the triple fin idea so that stuck; a method of keeping the tail fin sufficient in surface authority, which by sharing surface area across three fins rather than one, the aircraft height was still within the eaves of existing hangar space, a smart earlier request from Pan Am as a means to utilise existing infrastructure rather than build new hangars or at least – make bigger doors!

The aircraft which would become of course: the iconic Constellation (or ‘Connie’ to its adoring fans), was now longer at 95 ft, wider at (wingspan) 123 ft, and according to the sketches on the drawing board, would carry 40+ persons on board. Howard Hughes was the driving force behind the aircraft’s development and was indeed responsible for much of the funding through his company: the ‘Hughes Tool Company’.

As the design took further shape, TWA placed the largest commercial order in the history of the airline community; 40 aircraft. AND ordered a tight lipped state of affairs in an effort to freeze out rival airline Pan Am from getting in on the action. Hughes (acting as TWA) wanted the Connie all to himself, at least initially.

The aircraft by now had moved substantially forward from its original spec and included such state of the art features as hydraulic boosted controls, de-icing, reverse pitch propellers and a pressurised cabin. The vision of Howard Hughes’ for a transcontinental airline that could get up above the weather and reach its destination in comfort and style, looked to become a reality... but not just yet...

The ‘Wright’ Moment!

With the US now entering the war effort after Pearl Harbor, production facilities were now in a state of firm demand from the needs of the US military and the vision of Hughes’ Constellation was now deemed the C-69; a large military transport plane. Commercial development was put on hold and all aircraft in production were handed over to the United States Army Air Force.

On 09th January 1943, the military version finally lifted off the drawing board page and into the air. Several more assessments were carried out with very positive results, indeed it was found that the aircraft could achieve a higher max speed... than a Mitsubishi Zero fighter!

Several engine issues slowed down progress from the flight test assessment aircraft going into full production but Howard Hughes himself got his hands on one (a C-69 military aircraft) in the spring of 1944 and flew the aircraft from Burbank to Washington DC achieving a max cruise speed of 331 mph! And this he did in an aircraft wearing a TWA livery. Of course, this was a genius publicity move for Hughes and TWA, Hughes’s girlfriend Ava Gardner also joined the flight.

And not one for missing a headline opportunity, on their way back to Burbank who should they pick up? None other than Orville Wright himself. It is said that after he took control and looked out over the wing, he commented that the wing span looked longer than his first ever flight! This would also be the last ever flight of that particular aviation legend.

The Great Pond

As the conflict of WWII ended, civilian production finally got underway and on 1st October 1945 Howard Hughes finally saw his dream of a high speed airliner come to life when TWA took delivery of their first aircraft.

Without any desire to wait for a warmer season; during a cold December 1945, a TWA Constellation found a warm welcome nonetheless as it crossed the Atlantic on a flight from Washington, D.C. to Paris in just under 15 hrs and opened the door to affordable transatlantic travel (at least not requiring a sea plane). And then things really took off...

Just two months later,TWA launched their scheduled service across the great pond. And not long after that (June 1946), Pan Am went one better; they sold a ticket not just across the Atlantic, but a complete trip around the world, known as ‘Pan Am 001’ (with a few stops along the way obviously!).

The Constellation was now firmly established as the star of the skies, aptly named one might say! It was to its passengers; fast, comfortable, and affordable. But stiff competition has a habit of banging on the door of those that are successful, and one big name behind one such door was: Douglas!

But Lockheed embraced the push and released their hugely impressive Super Constellation; an aircraft 18 ft longer than the standard Connie and boasted such special features as: air conditioning, seats that reclined for a little snooze time en route, and extra lavatories to accommodate it’s extra passengers (now over 100!).

The engines were also upgraded from the Wright 749C’s to four 18-cylinder Wright R-3350 Duplex- Cyclones: a ‘turbocompound’ engine that used three Power Recovery Turbines to capture exhaust gases.

It was ground breaking and record breaking. It was the first to make a sustained shift in scheduled commercial non- stop transatlantic air travel, enabling an affordable means to get around the world for the ‘everyday Joe’.

These were coupled to the crankshaft, boosting the hp per engine to reach as much as 3,250hp each, and offered a saving of up to 20% in fuel burn. That’s all a big step from its 2,200 hp predecessor. And what about the propellors you ask?

Each engine powered its respective Hamilton Standard 3 blade air screw, measuring some 17 ft in diameter, that’s 5 meters across! Everything was bigger, except the number on the air speed indicator that is! with all the additions the Super Connie was actually a little slower, but she carried more, flew further and didn’t have a queue for the loo!

TWA could at last offer a non-stop transatlantic service (every flight!) and US president Eisenhower liked them so much that he elected to station a pair as his private mounts, such a prestigious aircraft would from then on be known as: ‘Air Force One’.

In October 1957, a TWA Connie stayed aloft for an impressive 23 hours and 19 minutes on a flight from London to San Francisco setting the record for the longest, nonstop passenger flight on a piston powered aircraft. You can bet they were glad of the extra loos!

A Star to Remember!

And so Connie carried on being great until well into the 1960’s when the commercial jet era was just too overwhelming a competition. And by late in the year 1968, the Constellation had to finally hand her reign as the star of the skies over to newer wonders in the sky; the last commercial passenger flight she took was up in Alaska.

However, like all good aircraft, there were still some air miles left in the old girl yet, for a future of cargo and charter operations beckoned, not to mention dozens of military operators kept this star in the sky aloft!

Between 1951 to 1958 Lockheed rolled out 259 production Super Constellations and 320 of the C-121 military versions, the total Constellations built coming in at just over 850 aircraft (with a lot of modifications, updates and variations along the way).

Like so many aircraft written about in this Historic Section, the Constellation was so much more than just an interesting aviation picture to look back on. It was ground breaking and record breaking. It was the first to make a sustained shift in scheduled commercial non-stop transatlantic air travel, enabling an affordable means to get around the world for the ‘everyday Joe’. Its iconic dolphin shaped fuselage with its triple fin tail is not just a joy to look at but also to fly.

The Constellation was certainly a star in the sky that stood out brightly for all to see!