Lockheed Constellation: Books - History and Construction

Queen of the Skies - The Lockheed Constellation

A revolutionary commercial propeller transport, the Lockheed Constellation burst on the aviation scene in the early 1940s. Unheralded for the most part, due to wartime secrecy, it finally entered commercial service in 1946, and promptly set new standards for speed, range, reliability, and passenger comfort. The Connie, as it was affectionately known, pioneered new flight paths in many parts of the globe.

Connies ultimately flew commercially for more than thirty years, and underwent countless modifications and upgrades during that time. They continued to be utilized by the military as well; in fact, Connies were involved in a number of endeavors that remain shrouded in secrecy to this day.

This, then, is the story of a remarkable and distinctive airplane. It is also the story of the people who made the Constellation great, including aviation legends like Howard Hughes and Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. Most importantly, however, it is a story that sheds light on the dynamics of technology, politics, and society in the years 1940 to 1980.
This revised edition contains an additional chapter on Constellations that are still flying today, as well as an additional appendix of the Constellation's operations manual.

Lockheed Constellation : A History

Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson's design for the Lockheed Constellation, known affectionately as the 'Connie', produced one of the world's most iconic airliners. Lockheed had been working on the L-044 Excalibur, a four-engine, pressurised airliner, since 1937. In 1939, Trans World Airlines, at the instigation of major stockholder Howard Hughes, requested a 40-passenger transcontinental aircraft with a range of 3,500 miles, well beyond the capabilities of the Excalibur design. TWA's requirements led to the L-049 Constellation, designed by Lockheed engineers including Kelly Johnson and Hall Hibbard.

Between 1943 and 1958, Lockheed built 856 Constellations in numerous models at its Burbank, California, factory - all with the same distinctive and immediately recognisable 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 the Second World War, TWA's trans-Atlantic service began on 6 February 1946 with a New York-Paris flight in a Constellation.
Then, on 17 June 1947, Pan Am opened the first-ever scheduled round-the-world service with their L-749 Clipper America.

In this 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 pressurised airliner in widespread use, helped to usher in affordable and comfortable air travel around the world.

Lockheed C-121 Constellation

In 1943 the Lockheed Model 49 Constellation was the fastest and most modern airliner in the world. They were purchased by the USAAC as C-69s and in 1948 the larger more capable Model 749 was purchased as the C-121A.

This early Naval Fighters Series volume first published in 1983 covers the USAAC / USAF C-121A, the Navy PO-1W/WV-1 AEW version of the Model 749 from 1949, the stretched Model 1049 Navy transport R7O-1/R7V-1 from 1952, the Air Force Model 1049 versions C-121C/EC-121S/C-121G/AC-121/EC-121R, Navy WV-2/EC-121K AEW and Air Force EC-121C/EC-121D AEW platforms, and the experimental WV-2E/EC-121L AEW aircraft and the turbo-prop R7V-2/YC-121F transport.

The book includes brief Navy squadron histories, detail drawings, and essays on flying the Connie, Vietnam, College Eye / Big Eye, 552nd AEW, Bat Cat and AEWBARRONPAC.

Lockheed Constellation - Königin der Löfte

Die Lockheed "Constellation" gilt vielen als die Verkörperung des klassischen Propliners. Die aerodynamisch optimierte, geschwungene Form des Rumpfs führte dazu, dass sie als eines der formschönsten und elegantesten Verkehrsflugzeuge betrachtet wird, das je gebaut wurde.
Weltweit fliegen nur noch eine Handvoll dieser majestätischen Propliner und wo immer sie auftauchen, ziehen sie tausende begeisterte Zuschauer an.

Wolfgang Borgmann macht dieses Buch mit herrlichen zeitgenössischen Bildern, technischen Daten und auch aktuellem Material zum Standard-Bildband der Constellation in deutscher Sprache.