Lockheed Constellation

Les Lockheed Constellation vus par Wikipedia.Fr

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Le Lockheed Constellation (Connie) était un avion de transport quadrimoteur américain construit par Lockheed de 1943 à 1958.

Histoire

Le développement du Constellation débuta en 1939 sous l'impulsion de Howard Hughes, actionnaire principal de la TWA, qui demanda à Lockheed de construire un avion de transport commercial permettant de servir les lignes transcontinentales.

En raison de l'entrée en guerre des États-Unis, le projet prit du retard et le premier Constellation effectua son premier vol en janvier 1943.

Les premiers modèles construits furent réquisitionnés afin d'assurer des missions de transport de troupes.

La TWA reçu son premier Constellation en octobre 1945 et effectua un vol de démonstration en reliant Washington DC à Paris.

Les capacités de l'appareil ne permettaient pas de réaliser le vol d'une seule traite et l'avion dut faire escale à Gander et Shannon (Irlande).

En février 1946, la TWA inaugura la première ligne commerciale régulière entre New York et Paris avec un appareil du même type.

Lockheed créa en 1950 le Super Constellation, plus grand que le Constellation. Il pouvait emporter plus de passagers et plus de carburant.

La version 1049 G équipée de nouveaux moteurs permit de réaliser un trajet transatlantique sans escale en 1954.

Fin 1956 apparut l'ultime version des Constellations , le modèle 1649 Starliner. Il s'agissait d'un avion muni d'une aile entièrement nouvelle.

Une quarantaine furent construits, qui volèrent sous les pavillons d'Air France, de la TWA et de Lufthansa.

Ils furent rapidement retirés du service car complètement dépassés par l'arrivée du Boeing 707 à réaction.

L-749 TWA, Heathrow; 1954. Equipé du "Speed Pack freight container "

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

Et cette vidéo !

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

La version de langue anglaise....soon !

Le Connie sur Wikipedia.en

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines.

It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility.

A total of 856 aircraft were produced in four models, all distinguished by a triple-tail design and dolphin-shaped fuselage.

The Constellation was used as a civilian airliner and as a U.S. military air transport plane, seeing service in the Berlin Airlift.

It was the presidential aircraft for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Design and development

Initial design studies

Since 1937, Lockheed had been working on the L-044 Excalibur, a four-engine pressurized airliner.

In 1939, Trans World Airlines, at the instigation of major stockholder Howard Hughes, requested a 40-passenger transcontinental airliner with 3,500 mi (5,630 km) range - 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.

Willis Hawkins, another Lockheed engineer, maintains that the Excalibur program was purely a cover for the Constellation.

Development of the Constellation

The Constellation's wing design was close to that of the P-38 Lightning, differing mostly in scale.

The distinctive triple tail kept the aircraft's overall height low enough to fit in existing hangars,[3] while new features included hydraulically-boosted controls and a thermal de-icing system used on wing and tail leading edges.

The plane had a top speed of over 340 mph (547 km/h), a cruise speed of 300 mph (483 km/h), and a service ceiling of 24,000 ft (7,315 m).

According to Anthony Sampson in Empires of the Sky, the intricate design may have been undertaken by Lockheed, but the concept, shape, capabilities, appearance and ethos of the Constellation were driven by Hughes' intercession during the design process.

Operational history

World War II

With the onset of World War II, the TWA aircraft entering production were converted to an order for C-69 Constellation military transport aircraft, with 202 aircraft intended for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

The first prototype (civil registration NX25600) flew on January 9, 1943, a simple ferry hop from Burbank to Muroc Field for testing.

Eddie Allen, on loan from Boeing, flew left seat, with Lockheed's own Milo Burcham as copilot. Rudy Thoren and Kelly Johnson were also on board.

The prototype of the Lockheed L.049 Constellation (c/n 1961) on 9 January 1943. It first flew on 9 January 1943 with the civil registration "NX25600" and was transferred to the USAAF as the C-69 (s/n) 43-10309 on 28 July 1943.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

Lockheed proposed the model L-249 as a long range bomber.

It received the military designation XB-30 but the aircraft was not developed.

A plan for a very long-range troop transport, the C-69B (L-349, ordered by Pan Am in 1940), was canceled. A single C-69C, 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.

22 C-69s were completed before the end of hostilities, and not all of those entered military service.

The USAAF cancelled the remainder of the order in 1945.

Postwar Use

After World War II, the Constellation soon came into its own as a popular, 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.

The first transatlantic proving flight departed Washington, DC on December 3, 1945, arriving in Paris on December 4, via Gander and Shannon.