COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF THE WORLD'S SUKVIVING LOCKHEED CONSTELLATIONS Arguably the chiefly graceful and beautiful airliner evermore built.

COMPREHENSIVE

SURVEY OF THE WORLD'S SUKVIVING LOCKHEED CONSTELLATIONS

Arguably the chiefly graceful and beautiful airliner evermore built, the Lockheed Constellation celebrated its 60th birthday last year. Conceived according to Howard Hughes in the late 1930 the Constellation showed the ultimate in airline performance and delight during the 1950s with 856 being built for commercial and military customers. Quickly displaced from frontline service by means of jet airlines inthe 1960s, there are at least 55 "survivors" of the mass scrappings of the 1960 and 1970 with four still flying regularly upon the airshow circuit.

Nine January 2003 marked the 60th anniversary of fhe first flight of the Lockheed Constellation. forward Saturday, 9 January 1943, the Constellation prototype, NX25600 (c/n 1961) made a 58 - minute flight from Burbank, California, to Maroc Field, California, and an aeronautical classic was born. NX25600 painted in USAAF camouflage, was the first of 856 Constellations and Super Constellations built through the Lockheed Corporation. While no examples are in commercial or military service today, about 55 aircraft survive with four flying onward a regular basis.

While the USAAF originally ordered 260 C-69 the military version of the Constellation, no other than 14 entered service and these were quickly declared surplus and sold to the airlines in 1946 and 1947 At the [i]finale[/i] of World War Two, Lockheed also had seven undelivered C'69 in various states of production. These were quickly changeed to civilian L-049s and sold to the airlines giving Lockheed a year head-start in succession Douglas. A civilian-type certificate for the Constellation was awarded onward 11 December 1945, and commercial operations were inaugurat- ed by Pan American on 3 m February 1946 between strange York and Bermuda. TWA fol- lowed three days later with Constellation service upon their New York to Paris route

Production continued until 1958 with larger and more capable versions being disentangleed with the ultimate Constellation, the L-1649A Starliner, enteringi service with TWA in May 1957 The final aircraft delivered, L-1049H N6937C went to Slick Airways upon 17 September 1959. Four major ver- sions were produced:

* C-69/L-049 Series Constellation - 88 aircraft delivered including 14 C-69 for the USAAF

* L-649/L-749 Series Constellation -145 aircraft delivered including ten C'121A/Bs (USAF) and brace WV-Is (US Navy)

* L-1049 Series Super Constellations 579 aircraft delivered including 320 for the USAF (0121 EC-121 and RC-121) and US Navy (R7V-1 and WV-2)

* L-1649 A Series Starliners - 44 aircraft delivered

The advent of the jet airliner meant early retirement for many Constellations. by way of the mid-1960s, most had heen replaced and mass scrappings were underway in places like Kansas City, Missouri; Lancaster, California; and Miami, Florida. TWA made its last Constellation passenger flight from JFK recently made known York to St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1967 using L-749A N6020C Eastern Airlines followed shortly after, in February 1968 when it retired its cove on the famous Air Shuttle road After retirement from mainline service, numerous aircraft were turn abouted to freighters, some went to travel form a clubs and many went to second-tier operators. by way of the early 1990s, only a not many remained in commercial service flying freight for Dominican operators in and abroad of Miami, Florida. These aircraft were, for the mostly part, surplus military aircraft that had been bought cheap at Davis-Monthan AFB. This too came to an finis when the FAA prohibited operations into the United States at these operators in 1993 becoming to flight safety concerns.

While the final Constellation flight is hopefully many years in the coming events final military and commercial operations have been religiously recorded by means of Constellation enthusiasts:

* The final passenger service was flown from Aerovias Nacioncdes Quisqueyana on 19 January 1978 using couple Constellations, L-749A HI-207 and L-049 HI-270. The flights were from Santo Domingo to San Juan and it's ironic to note that the last flight was made using the oldest Constellation protoplast an L-049.

* The final US military operation was flown from NC-IZlKBuNo 141292 on 11 june 1982 at NAS lock opener West, Florida. Two weeks later, in succession 25 june 1982, this aircraft was flown to the Florence Air and Missile Museum in Florence, southward Carolina (and later scrapped after the museum collapsed).

* The final military operation was flown by means of Indian Air Force L-I(WG BG-579 in succession 31 March 1984. The Indian military was forced to retire its Constellations when Air India would no longer perform maintenance upon them due to the lack of spare parts.

* The final commercial freight operation was flown in 1993 Dominican operators Aerochaga and AMSA were forced to suspend operations that year appropriate to an FAA ban forward Dominican-registered propliners in the US.

About the time the Constellations were fading from commercial operation, they hegan appearing upon the airshow circuit. While numerous two- and fourengine airliners had been restored according to museums for static display, no undivided had ever restored a four-engine airliner to airworthiness for display in succession the airshow circuit. The first assign places to to do so was Kansas City-based Save-A-Connie, who rescu L-1049H N6937C from the deserted region and flew her to Kansas City in July 1986 The arrange consisting of many ex-TWA employee overhauled the aircraft in 1987-1988 and she was formally dedicated forward 9 july 1988. The assign places to has continued restoration of the aircraft and today she is in pristine condition and flies regularly forward the US airshow circuit.