Profile – Lockheed Constellation

However, continuing problems with the engines, the pressurization system and the hydraulically boosted controls, discouraged the sponsors and one by one they all withdrew. The DC-4E remained a one-off model and Douglas later came up with the smaller 42-seat DC-4A containing no troublesome hydraulic or pressurization systems. The engines were changed for proven Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasps and gone was the DC-4E’s triple tail, swapped for a single fin and rudder.

By January, 1940, some of the original sponsoring airlines were beginning to place provisional orders for the DC-4A but one which did not do so was TWA. Controlling interest in this airline had been acquired by millionaire Howard Hughes who was insisting on the development of a new super luxury airliner capable of carrying a payload of 6000Ib (2,722kg) non-stop between Los Angeles and New York in eight to nine hours, which could cruise around 300mph (483km/h), was pressurized and was powered by four 2,200hp (1,641kW) Wright R-3350 Cyclone engines. Hughes was also associated with Lockheed, having in July, 1938, flown a Lockheed 14 around the world in a record 3 days 19 hours 8 minutes via New York, Paris, Moscow, Omsk, Yakutsk, Fairbanks and Minneapolis and thence back to New York. Numerous meetings were held between Hughes, TWA’s Jack Frye, Paul Richter and ‘Tommy’ Tomlinson and the famous Lockheed design team of Hall Hibbard and Clarence L. ‘Kelly’ Johnson. From out of their work came the design known as the Model 49 Constellation.

Work on the prototype began in 1940 after Lockheed had received TWA’s initial launch order for 9 aircraft. Pan American ordered 30 on June 11, 1940 and this was later increased to 40 while TWA also increased its total order to 40 shortly afterwards. Following the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the priorities of war for fighters and bombers caused delays in Constellation development because of the restrictions placed upon production of commercial aircraft. The project was consequently taken over by the USMF, the prototype was given the designation C-69 and a contract for 260 production aircraft was signed on September 9, 1942.

By the following November the XC-69 was ready for initial engine tests and taxi trials. Even in the drab olive colours of the army, the plane looked like a thoroughbred. Its circular sectioned fuselage was curved like the body of a fish which ended with a triple tail assembly similar to that of the earlier Douglas DC-4E. There was provision for 64 passengers. It stood high off the ground to give clearance for the large 15ft (4. 6m) diameter propellers and although the fuselage was curved downwards at the nose the front wheel assembly of the tricycle undercarriage stood 9ft (2. 7m) high. Its wings were basically scaled-up versions of those of a P-38 Lightning and they had large, area-increasing Fowler flaps as successfully used on the P-38 and Hudson bomber.

Pressurization and air conditioning were incorporated and all flight control systems were hydraulically boosted – in fact it was the first commercial aircraft to feature such a system. At first the Constellation was to have had a perfectly streamlined nose and engine nacelles with reverse flow cooling from inlets in the leading edges, but the prototype, NX67900 (Lockheed aircraft No. 1961), had normal cockpit windows and conventionally shaped engine nacelles.

At Burbank, California, on January 9, 1943, all was at last ready for the plane’s first flight. At the controls was Boeing test pilot Edmund T. ‘Eddie’ Allen who had been borrowed because of his extensive experience with heavy, multi-engined aircraft. Beside him was his Lockheed counterpart, Milo Burcham, whose expertise lay with testing aerobatic and fighter planes. ‘Kelly’ Johnson was one of the three crewmen. The one hour flight went off without a hitch and altogether six flights were made that day for a total of 2 hours 9 minutes in the air.

‘Eddie’ Allen returned to Boeing where he began test-flying his company’s new second prototype XB-29 Superfortress. Just over a month later on February 18 a fire broke out in the bomber’s No. 1 Wright R-3350 Cyclone engine. He feathered it but the fire continued to spread and soon the whole wing was ablaze. As he was bringing it in to land at Boeing Field, Seattle, it struck high-tension wires and crashed into the fifth floor of the Frye Packing Plant killing all of the eleven men on board including Allen and many of the factory’s employees.

Because the Constellation was powered by the same 2,200hp (1,641kW) engines, it was grounded pending the results of investigations into the incident and the completion of necessary modifications until June 18, 1943. After finishing its test programme, it was at last handed over to the USMF at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, on July 29. Initially it had a maximum takeoff weight of 72,000lb (32,658kg) and a maximum landing weight of 65,000lb (29,483kg) but by then these had been increased to 86,250Ib (39,122kg) and 75,000lb (34,019kg) respectively.

The second C-69 flew for the first time the following August and although it was painted in TWA’s colours it still carried the USAAF number 43-10310. It was accepted by TWA on behalf of the military at Las Vegas on April 16, 1944 and the following day it flew non-stop from Burbank to Washington, a distance of 2,300 miles (3,700km) in the record time of 6 hours 57 minutes 51 seconds at an average speed of 330. 17mph (531. 3km/h). During the war the USMF received a total of 22 Constellations comprised of the prototype XC-69 (Lockheed No. 1961), AAF No. 43-10309, the remaining TWA aircraft designated C-69-1s serials 43-10310/10317 and 13 of a contract for 180 signed in 1942 which were designated C-69-5, and given the serials 42-94549/94561 but after VJ-Day the military contracts were cancelled.

Early in 1945, TWA’s Intercontinental Division had been given the responsibility of initiating the Constellation into USAAF service and under its auspices the first Air Transport Command’s service was flown from Kansas City to Washington on February 15. At the same time Pan American’s Africa-Orient Division was given a similar commission and the type made numerous flights on established routes across both the Atlantic and Pacific. However, with the war over, Lockheed closed its Burbank factory for a week while decisions were made about the aircraft’s future.

There were two basic choices – start again on an even newer and more powerful Constellation or buy back from the government surplus unfinished C-69s plus tooling, parts and materials. Lockheed chose the latter course of action and by doing so gained an 18-month lead over its nearest competitors, Douglas with its DC-6 and Boeing with its Stratocruiser. In less than a fortnight, orders to the value of $75 million for a total of 103 Constellations had been received from eight airlines.

TWA had placed the first postwar order on August 20, 1945, for 18 Model 049s and, because it had been instrumental in developing the basic design at the beginning, was given priority for deliveries. The first of 29 aircraft out of the 66 built was delivered to TWA at Kansas City on November 15, 1945 and by the end of the year 10 were in service. Prior to the war the company had been a domestic airline only but back in July the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) had given it two overseas routes. The first Constellation proving flight to Paris took off on November 25 and on December 3, after a christening ceremony at Washington National, Constellation ‘Paris Sky Chief’ left for the French capital to inaugurate the route. On February 5, 1946, the first scheduled flight was made and on the 15th ‘Star of Rome’ opened TWA’s service to Rome. A coast-to-coast service commenced the same day when Howard Hughes personally flew ‘Star of California’ to New York from Los Angeles in 8 hours 38 minutes. Meanwhile, Pan American established a New York/ Bermuda route.

By the end of June, 1946, over 2 million passenger miles had been flown without anyone suffering injury despite a number of engine fires and both engine and propeller failures but, on July 11, 1946, an event occurred which appeared to be a major setback for the plane. At Reading, Pennsylvania, TWA Constellation ‘Star of Lisbon’ was on a training flight when a fire broke out in its No. 4 engine. Smoke penetrated through into the cockpit impairing the pilot’s vision and the aircraft crashed while landing. However, it was not the first serious incident of the No. 4 engine bursting into flames. Two previous cases involved a USAAF C-69 on September 18, 1945, which crashed at Topeka, Kansas and the second Pan American’s ‘Clipper America’ which had been obliged to turn back after taking off from La Guardia Airport for London and belly landed at Willimantic, Connecticut. All Constellations were thus grounded for six weeks during which time the problem was traced to an electrical short circuit in the forward baggage hold and 95 modifications had to be made before they could return to service on August 23, 1946.

The first postwar Constellation was designed specifically for commercial use, the Model 649 took to the air on October 19, 1946 and was only delivered to Eastern Airlines. It had luxurious appointments, soundproofing and air conditioning which earned for it the label ‘Gold Plate Connie’. One of its features was a Speedpak external ventral freight cargo pod. Eastern took delivery of its first L-649 in May, 1947 and it commenced work on the company’s New York/Miami route. Fourteen L-649s were built and these were later brought up to L-749 standard. Power was supplied by four 2,500hp (1,865kW) R-3350-BD1 engines.

Next came the Lockheed 749 model which was a long-range version generally similar to the L-649. A long-range fuel tank was built into each outer wing to extend the aircraft’s range by 1000 miles (1,609km) to 3,050 miles (4,900km) plus a strengthened undercarriage to allow for a higher gross weight, which had increased from 86,000lb (39,010kg) in the L-049, up to 98,000lb (44,453kg)in the L-649 and to 105,000lb (47,628kg) in the L-749. This was later pushed up to 107,000lb (48,535kg) in the L-749A because of an increase in payload and range requirements necessitating strengthening of the structure of the wing’s centre section. Curtiss paddle-blade propellers were also introduced to the Wright Cyclones. Between June 17 and July 1, 1947, Pan American inaugurated an almost around-the-world service between New York and San Francisco. It leased the first production L-749 and actually flew New York/New York via Gander, Shannon, London, Istanbul, Karachi Calcutta, Bangkok, Shanghai, Tokyo, Manila, Guam, Wake, Midway, Honolulu and San Francisco. Special permission had to be obtained before it was allowed to fly across the American continent because PanAm was not a domestic airline. The Connie became a familiar sight not only over the USA and Europe but all around the world. Altogether, 111 of these models were produced and sold to ten airlines, one of which was Qantas

As early as December 27, 1945, a decision had been made at Qantas to approach the Australian Government for permission to buy Constellations but because there was a shortage of US funds it was difficult for the company to obtain enough capital to buy high-cost items from the USA. Besides this, Australia was linked by tradition to British manufactured goods but there were no really suitable British commercial aircraft available because of the industry’s war effort. Furthermore, BOAC itself had to order Constellations. An initial Qantas order was placed for tour L-749As and the first, VH-EAA ‘Ross Smith’, landed at Mascot Aerodrome on October 14, 1947, after a 33 hour delivery flight. Regular services between Sydney and London commenced on December 1, 1947, when VH-EAD ‘Charles Kingsford Smith’ took off from Mascot with 29 passengers. It was the beginning of the longest Constellation airline service in the world. (A full account of the Qantas Constellations can be found in the December 1981 edition of Australian Aviation).

NEXT ISSUE: We examine the success of the Super Constellation in airline service and review the many US military variants that kept the Connie operational right up till 1980. Part II also includes a definitive listing of all Constellation models and sub-variants in addition to those used by Qantas.