TheLockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-enginedairliner built byLockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with apressurized cabin, enabling it to fly well above most bad weather, thus significantly improving the general safety and ease of commercial passenger air travel.[1]
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-cylinderWright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclones. In total, 856 were produced between 1943 and 1958 at Lockheed's plant inBurbank, California, and used as both a civil airliner and as a military and civilian cargo transport. Among their famous uses was during theBerlin and theBiafran airlifts. Three served as the presidential aircraft forDwight D. Eisenhower, one of which is at theNational Museum of the United States Air Force.
Lockheed had been working on theL-044 Excalibur, a four-engined, pressurized airliner, since 1937. In 1939,Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA), at the instigation of major stockholderHoward Hughes, requested a 40-passenger transcontinental airliner with a range of 3,500 mi (5,600 km)[2]—well beyond the capabilities of the Excalibur design. TWA's requirements led to theL-049 Constellation, designed by Lockheed engineers, includingKelly Johnson andHall Hibbard.[3]Willis Hawkins, another Lockheed engineer, maintains that the Excalibur program was purely a cover for the Constellation.[4]
A preserved C-121C Super Constellation, registration N73544, in flight in 2004
The Constellation's wing design was close to that of theLockheed P-38 Lightning, differing mostly in size.[5] The triple tail allowed the aircraft to fit into existing hangars,[4] while features included hydraulically boosted controls and adeicing system used on wing and tail leading edges.[2] The aircraft had a maximum speed over 375 mph (600 km/h), faster than that of aJapanese Zero fighter, a cruise speed of 340 mph (550 km/h), and a service ceiling of 24,000 ft (7,300 m).
According toAnthony Sampson inEmpires of the Sky, Lockheed may have undertaken the intricate design, but Hughes's intercession in the design process drove the concept, shape, capabilities, appearance, and ethos.[6] These rumors were discredited by Johnson. Howard Hughes and Jack Frye confirmed that the rumors were false in a letter dated November 1941.[7]
The first Lockheed Constellation on January 9, 19431944 newsreel about a Constellation flight from California to Washington, DC
With the onset ofWorld War II, the TWA aircraft entering production were converted to an order forC-69 Constellation military transport aircraft, with 202 aircraft intended for theUnited States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The first prototype (civil registration NX25600) flew on January 9, 1943, a short ferry hop from Burbank toMuroc Field for testing.[2]Edmund T. "Eddie" Allen, on loan fromBoeing, flewleft seat, with Lockheed's ownMilo Burcham as copilot. Rudy Thoren and Kelly Johnson were also aboard.
Lockheed proposed the model L-249 as a long-range bomber. It received the military designationXB-30, but the aircraft was not developed. A plan for a very-long-range troop transport, the C-69B (L-349, ordered byPan Am in 1940 as the L-149),[8] was cancelled. A single C-69C (L-549), a 43-seat VIP transport, was built in 1945 at the Lockheed-Burbank plant.
The C-69 was mostly used as a high-speed, long-distance troop transport during the war.[9] In total, 22 C-69s were built before the end of hostilities, but seven of these never entered military service, as they were converted to civilian L-049s on the assembly line. The USAAF cancelled the remainder of the order in 1945. Some aircraft remained in USAF service into the 1960s, serving as passenger ferries for the airline that relocated military personnel, wearing the livery of theMilitary Air Transport Service.
TWA L-749A Constellation atHeathrow in 1954 with an under fuselage "Speedpack" freight containerSuper Constellation (C-121C) during pilot training in Epinal – Mirecourt, France
After World War II, the Constellation came into its own as a fast civilian airliner. Aircraft already in production for the USAAF as C-69 transports were finished as civilian airliners, with TWA receiving the first on 1 October 1945. TWA's first transatlantic proving flight departed Washington, DC, on December 3, 1945, arriving in Paris on December 4 viaGander andShannon.[2]
TWA transatlantic service started on February 6, 1946, with a New York City-Paris flight in a Constellation. On June 17, 1947,Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) opened the first-ever scheduled round-the-world service with itsL-749Clipper America. The famous flight "Pan Am 1" operated until 1982.[citation needed]
Sleek and powerful, Constellations set many records. On April 17, 1944, the second production C-69, piloted by Howard Hughes and TWA presidentJack Frye, flew fromBurbank, California, toWashington, DC, a distance around 2,300 miles (3,700 km), in 6 hours and 57 minutes, representing an average speed of 331 miles per hour (533 km/h). On the return trip, the aircraft stopped atWright Field in Ohio to giveOrville Wright his last flight, more than 40 years after his historic first flight nearKitty Hawk, North Carolina. He commented that the Constellation's wingspan was longer than the distance of his first flight.[3]
On September 29, 1957, a TWAL-1649A flew from Los Angeles to London in 18 hours and 32 minutes—about 5,420 miles (8,720 km) at 292 miles per hour (470 km/h).[10] The L-1649A holds the record for the longest-duration, nonstop passenger flight aboard a piston-powered airliner. On TWA's first London-to-San Francisco flight on October 1–2, 1957, the aircraft stayed aloft for 23 hours and 19 minutes (about 5,350 miles (8,610 km) at 229 miles per hour (369 km/h)).[11]
Jet airliners such as thede Havilland Comet,Boeing 707,Douglas DC-8,Convair 880, andSud Aviation Caravelle rendered the Constellation obsolete. The first routes lost to jets were the long overseas routes, but Constellations continued to fly domestic routes. The last scheduled passenger flight of a Constellation in thecontiguous United States was made by a TWA L749 on May 11, 1967, fromPhiladelphia toKansas City, Missouri;[12] the last scheduled passenger flight in North America was by Western Airlines' N86525 in Alaska - Anchorage to Yakutat to Juneau on 26 November 1968.
Constellations carried freight in later years, and were used on backup sections ofEastern Airlines' shuttle service between New York, Washington, DC, and Boston until 1968. Propeller airliners were used on overnight freight runs into the 1990s, as their low speed was not an impediment. An Eastern Air Lines Connie holds the record for a New York–to–Washington, DC, flight from takeoff to touchdown in just over 30 minutes. The record was set prior to speed restrictions by theFederal Aviation Administration below 10,000 feet (3,000 m).[13]
One of the reasons for the elegance of the aircraft was the dolphin-shaped fuselage, a continuously variable profile with no twobulkheads the same shapeand a skin formed into compound curves, which was expensive to build. Manufacturers have since favored tube-shaped fuselages in airliner designs, as the cylindrical cross-section design is more resistant to pressurization changes and less expensive to build.
After ending Constellation production, Lockheed chose not to develop a first-generation jetliner, sticking to its military business and production of theturbopropLockheed L-188 Electra. Lockheed did not build a large passenger aircraft again until itsL-1011 Tristar debuted in 1972. While a technological marvel, the L-1011 was a commercial failure, and Lockheed left the commercial airliner business permanently in 1983.[14]
The initial military versions carried the Lockheed designation of L-049; as World War II came to a close, some were completed as civilianL-049 Constellations followed by the L-149 (L-049 modified to carry more fuel tanks).
The first purpose-built passenger Constellations were the more powerfulL-649 andL-749 (which had more fuel in the outer wings),[8][page needed] L-849 (an unbuilt model to use theR-3350turbo-compound engines adopted for the L-1049 ), L-949 (an unbuilt, high-density seating-cum-freighter type, what would come to be called a "combi aircraft").[8]
These were followed by theL-1049 Super Constellation (with longer fuselage), L-1149 (proposal to use Allison turbine engines)[8] andL-1249 (similar to L-1149, built as R7V-2/YC-121F),[8] L-1449 (unbuilt proposal for L1049G, stretched 55 in (140 cm), with new wing and turbines)[8] and L-1549 (unbuilt project to stretch L-1449 95 in (240 cm)).[8]
The final civilian variant was theL-1649 Starliner (all new wing and L1049G fuselage).[8]
Military versions included theC-69 andC-121 for theArmy Air Forces/Air Force and the R7O R7V-1 (L-1049B)EC-121 WV-1 (L-749A) WV-2 (L-1049B) (widely known as the Willie Victor) and many variant EC-121 designations for theNavy.[16][17]
After TWA's initial order was filled following World War II, customers rapidly accumulated, with over 800 aircraft built. In military service, the U.S. Navy and Air Force operated theEC-121 Warning Star variant until 1978, nearly 40 years after work on the L-049 began.Cubana de Aviación was the first airline in Latin America to operate Super Constellations.
Constellation fuselage on display on Oasis gas station, Tamiami Trail Florida, 1971[18]Lockheed L-1049G Super ConstellationD-ALEM on display close toMunich International Airport
N90831 – on display at thePima Air & Space Museum inTucson, Arizona. This is a former C-69 transport, s/n 42-94549, that was converted for civilian service, and was one of the first TWA Constellations.[19]
N9412H – parked adjacent to a flight school and cafe atGreenwood Lake Airport inWest Milford, New Jersey. It was delivered as Air France's first Constellation in June 1946 as L-049 F-BAZA, before being sold to Frank Lembo Enterprises in May 1976 for $45,000 for use as a restaurant and lounge. It was flown to the airport in July 1977, and, along with the airport, was sold to the State of New Jersey in 2000. In 2005, the interior was refurbished for use as a flight school office.[21]
F-ZVMV – on display at theMusée de l'Air et de l'Espace (The Museum of Air and Space) located atParis-Le Bourget Airport nearLe Bourget, France, 10 km north of Paris. It initially served withPan American Airways, before being transferred toAir France, with which it served until 1960. Afterwards, it was used by the Compagnie Générale des Turbo-Machines (General Company of Turbomachinery) as an engine testbed until December 1974.[23]
N749NL - on display at the Aviodrome, Lelystad Airport, The Netherlands.
D-ALEM – on display nearMunich International Airport atMunich, Germany. Last registered F-BHML it is painted to represent Super Constellation D-ALEM, Lufthansa's first long-haul aircraft of 1955.[26]
ZS-DVJ – On display at Rand Airport in Germiston inTrek Airways colours.[29] Used to be at OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa at the South African Airways Technical area. The aircraft is owned by the South African Airways Museum Society.[30]
Under restoration or in storage
L-049
N7777G – painted in TWA colors (although this aircraft never flew for TWA) it is stored at the Large Item Storage facility for the UK Science Museum at Wroughton, near Swindon. This aircraft was used by the Rolling Stones to transport equipment during their 1973 Australian tour.[31] It is the only Constellation in the United Kingdom.[32]
L-1049 Super Constellation
F-BRAD – to display by theAmicale du Super Constellation located at theNantes Airport inNantes, France. It was delivered to Air France on November 2, 1953, and was upgraded to a L-1049 G in 1956, serving until August 8, 1967, having totaled 24,284 hours under Air France's colors. After retirement, it was sent to Spain, to be registered EC-BEN, briefly flying humanitarian and medevac missions in Biafra. Aero Fret bought it in 1968, brought it back home to France, registered it as F-BRAD, and operated it on cargo hauls until 1974. When the Constellation landed in Nantes one last time to be scrapped, it was ultimately saved by Mr. Gaborit, who revamped it somewhat by his own modest means to finally park it near the terminal, accessible to visitors for a few years, until the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Nantes-Atlantique Airport bought it, to contract theAmicale du Super Constellation to undergo a complete restoration of the aircraft.[33]
HI-542CTCity of Miami – parked on an unused runway at theRafael Hernández Airport inAguadilla, Puerto Rico. It was struck by a runaway DC-4 on February 3, 1992, resulting in damage to the right wing and main spar.[34]
N6937CStar of America – to airworthiness by theNational Airline History Museum inKansas City, Missouri. This aircraft was originally built in 1957, stored for several years, and then delivered to cargo carrier Slick Airways. It was restored in 1986 by the Save-a-Connie, Inc. organization, later renamed as the National Airline History Museum. It was originally painted in red and white with Save-a-Connie, but was later repainted in the 1950s livery of TWA to resemble its originalStar of America Constellation.[35] The aircraft appeared at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at the original TWA terminal designed byEero Saarinen to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the airline with the paint scheme donated by TWA in Kansas City for the occasion. TheStar of America has appeared at many airshows and was even used inThe Aviator, the 2004 film depicting the life of TWA's one-time owner Howard Hughes, the man often credited with helping design and develop the original Constellation series.[36]
L-1649 Starliner
N7316C – returned to airworthiness by Lufthansa Technik North America inAuburn, Maine. This aircraft was purchased at auction in 2007, along with C/N 1038, by the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Foundation. Lufthansa has built a hangar at the airport, which will allow the aircraft to be restored indoors. Lufthansa announced in March 2018 that it will be transported back to Germany and further restoration decisions will be made after it arrives.[37][38] As of the end of 2019 the plan is to restore the aircraft for static display in a museum. According to reports from the US, the aircraft was dismantled (as apparently was the Ju-52 D-AQUI) without the requisite documentation that would have allowed the return-to-flight work to continue.
N8083H – This aircraft was purchased at auction in 2007, along with C/N 1018, by the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Foundation, and stripped of all usable spares to support the restoration of C/N 1018. The aircraft was subsequently sold and transported toJFK International Airport to become a cocktail bar in theTWA Hotel, a retro-aviation themed hotel built on the formerTWA Flight Center.[39]
S/N 54-0156 – Flies with the Super Constellation Flyers Association out ofBasel, as the Breitling Super Constellation. Its restoration was sponsored bySwiss watch manufacturerBreitling, and is now registered in the Swiss Aircraft registry as HB-RSC. This Constellation is one of three flying in the world.[40]
S/N 54-0157 – Flies with theHistorical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) out ofShellharbour Airport nearWollongong,Australia. Following its restoration, it was painted in pseudo-Qantas livery, including the Qantas logo on the tail, (with the usual Qantas lettering along the fuselage and on the wing-end fuel tanks replaced with the word "CONNIE") and registered as VH-EAG. This Constellation is one of the other of three flying in the world.[41]
S/N 48-0613Bataan – Restored to airworthiness by Lewis Air Legends inSan Antonio, Texas. This aircraft was used as a personal transport by GeneralDouglas MacArthur during the Korean War, and later by other Army general officers until 1966, when it was transferred to NASA. Following its permanent retirement in 1970, it was placed on display at a museum atFort Rucker nearDaleville, Alabama. It was acquired by thePlanes of Fame Air Museum atChino, California, in 1992, and overhauled into airworthy condition for a flight toDothan, Alabama, where it received additional work. After a thorough restoration back to its original configuration with a "VIP interior", it was placed on display at the Planes of Fame secondary location inValle, Arizona. Then, in 2015, it was sold to Lewis Air Legends, and prepped for a ferry flight to Chino, arriving there on January 14, 2016. On June 20, 2023, the Air Legends Foundation’s Lockheed VC-121A Constellation took off on its first post-restoration flight from Chino Airport. The aircraft flew to the 2023EAA AirVenture Oshkosh inOshkosh, Wisconsin.[42] In July 2025, the aircraft completed a 6 year long custom executive VIP interior designed byAerometal International, based in Aurora, Oregon.[43] In late July, 2025, Bataan returned to visitEAA AirVenture Oshkosh inOshkosh, Wisconsin.[44]
On display
N8083H – L-1649A on display at the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, restored as a 1960s-themed cocktail lounge known as the "Connie Cocktail Lounge". Formerly used by TWA and restored in 2018–2019.[45]
VC-121A
S/N 48-0609 – on display atJeongseok Airport onJeju Island, South Korea. It was donated toKorean Air in 2005, and restored to airworthy condition at Tucson, Arizona. It was then ferried to South Korea, where it made its final flight, under its own power, from Seoul to its current location for static display. It has been repainted in 1950s Korean Air colors, and rendered unable to fly by the presence of unserviceable engines.[46]
L-749A restored at Aviodrome
S/N 48-0612 – on display at the Dutch National Aviation MuseumAviodrome. It was restored to airworthy condition and ferried from Tucson, Arizona, to theNetherlands, where restoration continued. It is now painted in theKLM livery of the 1950s, depicting a KLM Lockheed L-749A. RenamedFlevoland, this was the only airworthy example of the "short" version of the Constellation until an engine failure grounded the aircraft.
Dwight D. Eisenhower flew in three Constellations, namedColumbine,Columbine II, andColumbine III.
S/N 53-7885Columbine III – on display at theNational Museum of the United States Air Force atWright-Patterson Air Force Base nearDayton, Ohio.Columbine III was used as Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential aircraft, and was eventually retired to the museum in 1966, where it is now displayed in the museum's Presidential Gallery (Building 4).[48] The interior of the aircraft is open to the public.
BuNo 131643 – From March 2020 onwards, the aircraft is on static display at theQantas Founders Outback Museum.[50] Formerly stored in derelict condition atNinoy Aquino International Airport inManila, Philippines and impounded at the airport from June 1988[51] to September 2014, when it was secured for removal and static preservation by the Qantas Founders Outback Museum, Longreach.[52]
N4257U on display at the Combat Air Museum in Topeka
S/N 52-3418 – on display at theCombat Air Museum inTopeka, Kansas. This aircraft was delivered to the Air Force in October 1954. It served an additional 22 years, until it was retired and flown to Davis Monthan AFB for storage on April 7, 1976. It June 1981, it was ferried to Topeka, Kansas, with Frank Lang in command.
S/N 53-0554 – on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. As of April 6, 2014[update], it is undergoing restoration on itsradome.[55]
BuNo 124438 – to airworthiness by Gordon Cole atSalina, Kansas. This aircraft was the first of two WV-1s delivered to the U.S. Navy in 1949. Essentially, it was a prototype for theEC-121 Warning Star that followed. Retired from the Navy in 1957, it served the FAA from 1958 to 1966, before being flown to Salina in 1967 for retirement. It remains parked there, and was last flown in 1992.[57]
VC-121A
S/N 48-0610Columbine II – to airworthiness by Dynamic Aviation inBridgewater, Virginia. This aircraft served as the firstAir Force One, during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, before it was replaced byColumbine III as Eisenhower's primary presidential aircraft in 1954. After a long period of storage atMarana Regional Airport, near Tucson, Arizona, this aircraft made its first flight, since 2003, in March 2016, when it was ferried to Bridgewater for additional restoration.[58][59][60][61]
^Buck, Bob (10 September 2014)."From The Archives: Bob Buck Flies A Connie From LA To London".Air Facts Journal. Cincinnati, Ohio: Original publisher: Leighton Collins; relaunch: Sporty’s Pilot Shop. Retrieved31 March 2021.'Editor's Note: Bob Buck was one of Air Facts' most popular writers in the 1950s and 60s, beloved for his first-hand accounts of the changing airline world… In our latest trip through the Air Facts archives, we fly from Los Angeles to London via the polar route, as told from the left seat of a Connie.'
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Smith, M. J. Jr.Passenger Airliners of the United States, 1926–1991. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1986.ISBN0-933126-72-7.
Stringfellow, Curtis K.; Bowers, Peter M. (1992).Lockheed Constellation: A Pictorial History. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks.ISBN0-87938-379-8.
Taylor, Michael J.H., ed. (1993). "Lockheed Constellation and Super Constellation".Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. New York: Crescent.ISBN0-517-10316-8.
United States Air Force Museum Guidebook. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Air Force Museum Foundation, 1975.
Yenne, Bill (1987).Lockheed. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books.ISBN0-517-60471-X.
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