Profile – Lockheed Constellation

Lockheed called her the •Queen of the Skies’ and in her day she was the biggest, most powerful and
most expensive of all the commercial airliners. Many admired her for her luxury and aesthetically
pleasing lines and, even when her life as an airliner was over, militaryvariants continued operations for
another 20 years. She was the ‘connie’… Lockheed’s Constellation 

Part II

Enter the Super Constellation

Lockheed Constellation No. 1961 redesignated N6201C flew again for the first time on October 13, 1950. She had been reborn and converted after numerous modifications into the prototype L-1049 Super Constellation. The most obvious new feature was its lengthened fuselage through the insertion of cylindrical extensions, 1Oft 9in (327cm) in front of the wing and 7ft Bin (234cm) behind. A variety of internal layouts could be fitted and standard seating accommodation was for 69-92 passengers, with an absolute maximum of 109. Other changes included an improved de-icing system, integrally stiffened skin on the upper and lower wing surfaces and increased fuel capacity. Production Super Constellations featured 16. 125in x 18. 125in (40. 95cmx45. 7cm) rounded rectangular windows for better passenger visibility which replaced the circular port holes of the earlier models although these had better fatigue resistance. Four 2,700hp (2,014kW) R-3350-CA1 engines provided the power to lift the aircraft’s increased gross weight of 120,000lb (54,432kg) and such was the efficiency of the redesigned machine that the payload was increased by some 40%.

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