This illustrated history โrecounts the unusual and sometimes dramatic development and operational career of one of the twentieth centuryโs most iconic airlinersโ (Aviation History Magazine).
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Clarence โKellyโ Johnsonโs design for the Lockheed Constellation, known affectionately as the Connie, produced one of the worldโs most iconic airliners. Lockheed had been working on the L-044 Excalibur, a four-engine, pressurized airliner, since 1937. In 1939, Trans World Airlines, at the instigation of major stockholder Howard Hughes, requested a forty-passenger transcontinental aircraft with a range of 3,500 miles, well beyond the capabilities of the Excalibur design. TWAโs requirements led to the L-049 Constellation, designed by Lockheed engineers including Kelly Johnson and Hall Hibbard.
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Between 1943 and 1958, Lockheed built 856 Constellations in numerous models at its Burbank, California, factoryโall with the same distinctive and immediately recognizable triple-tail design and dolphin-shaped fuselage. The Constellation was used as a civil airliner and as a military and civilian air transport, seeing service in the Berlin and the Biafran airlifts. Three of them served as the presidential aircraft for Dwight D. Eisenhower. After World War II, TWAโs transatlantic service began on February 6, 1946 with a New York-Paris flight in a Constellation. Then, on June 17, 1947, Pan Am opened the first-ever scheduled round-the-world service with their L-749 Clipper America.
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With revealing insight into the Lockheed Constellation, the renowned aviation historian Graham M. Simons examines its design, development, and service, both military and civil. In doing so, he reveals the story of a design which, as the first pressurized airliner in widespread use, helped to usher in affordable and comfortable air travel around the world.
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โSimons makes good use of black-and-white and color photographs of Constellations in various airline markings and includes colorful airline brochures and marketing posters featuring the aircraft.โ โAir Power History