Secret Weapon

Performance Goals

When the United States entered the Second World War in December 1941, the venerable twin-engined Douglas DC-3 was standard equipment. On the domestic front, only T. W.A. had a better airliner, the four-engined Boeing 307. It was faster than the DC-3 (220 v. 160 mph) and far more comfortable, flying as it did ‘above the weather’ (20,000 v. 8,000 feet). But its range was not outstanding.

Dramatic Debut

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh’s solo trans-Atlantic flight changed the air-mindedness of an entire nation: the press, the public, the politicians, and the industrialists. In 1944, the air­line world was unexpectedly confronted with another record flight, with almost comparable consequences. With one dra­matic gesture, Howard Hughes electrified the political scene in Washington, and changed the course of progress in com­mercial aviation technology.

The Lockheed Constellation had been built at Burbank under the direction of designer Hal Hibbard to the precise specifications of Hughes, whose experience as an aviator and industrialist, with instinctive intuition, combined with his extensive financial resources, were injected into the design and construction of an historic prototype.

Moment of Triumph

On 17 April 1944, Howard Hughes and Jack Frye flew the prototype Model 49, soon to be called the Constellation, from Burbank to Washington’s National Airport in the transcon­tinental record time of 6 hours, 57 minutes. The effect on a skeptical administration and military hierarchy was startling. After flying some congressmen and top military brass on sight­seeing flights, Hughes turned the new airplane over to Air Transport Command. T. W.A.’s owner and Lockheed’s design team had ushered in a new era in air transport.

America’s Secret Weapon

The Constellation reinforced the supremacy of United States aeronautics. Peter W. Brooks, distinguished British airline historian, described the aircraft as “the secret weapon of American air transport.” He pointed out that in 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, the British aircraft indus­try, whose technical talent was possibly on a par with the American, in quality if not in quantity of production, had regarded the DC-4 as the competitive standard. But when the War was over, the Constellation swept all before it.

The 049 Constellation was similar in appearance to the later 749 model, differing only in window configuration and engine cowling detail.

Initial Snags

T. W.A. acquired 88 of the standard Constellations. Six were ex-military C-69s; 41 were Model 49s (later amended to 049s); and the remaining 41, with more powerful engines, Model 749s. The inauguration of Atlantic services, on 5 February 1946, is described on page 50. Domestic services with the Connie began ten days later, and after preliminary trial services on shorter routes, coast-to-coast service from New York to Los Angeles began on 1 March. But the satisfaction was short-lived. During the early life of the airplane, several problems had had to be overcome. The substantially increased performance carried with it increased complexity, and the Constellation was not immune from the technical ‘teething troubles.’ Then, from 12 July to 20 September 1946, the fleet was grounded because of a leaking fuel system. No sooner was this fixed when the pilots went on strike, from 21 October to 15 November.

Ambition Fulfilled

By this time, however, T. W.A. was staking its claim to be a fully-fledged international airline. The European routes were extended to Cairo on 1 April 1946, to Lisbon and Madrid on 1 May, and to Bombay on 5 January 1947. All these were inaugurated with the Constellations. This fine airliner, in spite of an initial reputation of unreliability, soon got into its stride. It was 70 mph faster than the DC-4, had 60 seats against 44 at the same seat pitch, and could fly across the Atlantic with only one stop instead of two. It sent the Douglas designers and engineers back to their drawing boards in a hurry, to produce pressurized variants of the old Skymaster.

Many airlines purchased the Constellation, and although the DC-4 filled the bill for a post­war year or two, most of the trans-Atlantic airlines had the Lockheed airliner in service by the late 1940s. The British airline, B. O.A. C., had to have them too, as the home industry’s com­mercial airliner projects had been cancelled at the outbreak of the War in 1939.

But until the advent of the Jet Age in 1958, the world of airlines watched T. W.A. as it suc­cessively introduced newer and faster versions of the classic Constellation series.

Engines Wright R-3350 (2,200 hp) x 4 Length

MGT0W 86,250 lb. Span

Max. Range 3,000 miles Height

‘This aircraft made T. WA.’s inaugural trans-Atlantic flight, New York-Gander-Shannon-Paris (Le Bourget) on 5 Feb 46, in a block-to-block time of 19 hr 46m. NA: Sold to Nevada Airmotive, 31 March 1962

*This aircraft made TWA’s last scheduled commercial Constellation flight, Flight 249, on 6 April 1967. AT: These aircraft sold to Aero-Tech Inc. in May, June, and August 1968.

This is a listing of all the 87 Constellations in T. W.A.’s fleet. From the first famous delivery flight to Washington on 17 April 1944 to the last one by T. W.A. on 6 April 1967, 23 years had elapsed. This was, in the period of the piston- engined airliners, an impressive record. The list does not include the Super Constellations and Starliners, reviewed in the following pages.

53-88 seats • 335 mph

Although the 600-gallon tip tanks gave the ‘Super G’a distinctive appearance, not all ofTWA’s 1049Gs were so equipped. Tip tanks were used primarily for international routes.

Fleet No. Regn. MSN Date into Service Name Disposal and Remarks Series 1 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 049 (Mode N6901C N6902C N6903C N6904C N6905C N6906C N6907C N6908C N6909C N6910C 1049-54-£ 4015 4016 4017 4018 4019 4020 4021 4022 4023 4024 0) 9 Oct. 52 16 Aug. 52 16 Aug. 52 27 Aug. 52 2 Oct. 52 27 Sep. 52 18 Oct. 52 27 Sep. 52 26 Oct. 52 3 Nov. 52 Star of the Thames Star of the Seine Star of the Tiber Star of the Ganges Star of the Rhone Star of the Rhine Star of Sicily Star of Britain Star of Tipperary Star of Frankfurt Sold to California Hawaiian, 28 Oct. 60 Crashed in the Grand Canyon, 30 Jun. 56 Sold to South Pacific Airlines, 1 Jun. 62 | Sold to Florida State Tours, 7 Aug. 64 Sold to California Airmotive, 15 Feb. 60 Crashed, New York City, 16 Dec. 60 | Sold to Florida State Tours, 7 Aug. 64 Series 1 049G (Mot el 1049G-82-110) 101 N7101C 4582 21 Sep. 55 Star of Balmoral Crashed at Chicago (Midway), 29 Feb. 60 102 N7102C 4583 17 Mar. 55 Star of Windsor Temporarily named The United States. Flew inaugural Super G service, 30 March 1955. Scrapped, 4 Feb. 64 103 N7103C 4584 14 Mar. 55 Star of Buckingham Sold to Aaron Ferer & Sons, 3 May 65 104 N7104C 4585 17 Mar. 55 Star of Blarney Castle Sold to Aaron Ferer & Sons, 1 Sep. 65 105 N7105C 4586 14 Mar. 55 Star of Chambord Sold to California Airmotive, 12 Dec. 66 106 N7106C 4587 23 Apr. 55 Star of Ceylon Sold to California Airmotive, 4 Jan. 67 107 N7107C 4588 1 Apr. 55 Star of Carcassome Scrapped 7 Nov. 63 108 N7108C 4589 31 Mar. 55 Star of Segovia Sold to Aaron Ferer & Sons, 25 Jun. 65 109 N7109C 4590 21 Apr. 55 Star of Granada Sold to California Airmotive, 10 Nov. 61 110 N7110C 4591 8 May 55 Star of Escorial Scrapped 14 Apr. 64 ж N7111C 4592 10 May 55 Star of Toledo Sold to California Airmotive, 4 Jan. 67 112 N7112C 4593 11 May 55 Star of Versailles Sold to California Airmotive, 5 Dec. 66 113 N7113C 4594 11 May 55 Star of Fontainebleau Sold to California Airmotive, 15 Feb. 67 114 N7114C 4595 2 Jun. 55 Star of Mont St. Michael Sold to Aaron Ferer & Sons, 13 Jul. 65 115 N7115C 4596 29 May 55 Star of Chilton Crashed at New York (JFK) 26 Jan. 66 116 N7116C 4597 4 Jun; 55 Star of Heidelberg Scrapped 8 Apr. 64 117 N7117C 4598 5 Jun. 55 Star of Kenilworth Sold to Aaron Ferer & Sons, 1 Oct. 65 118 N7118C 4599 9 Jun. 55 Star of Capri Scrapped, 11 Jan. 64 119 N7119C 4600 1 Jul 55 Star of Rialto Scrapped 10 Jun. 64 The aircraft said to Aaron Ferer & Sons were resold and scrapped at Tucson. The aircraft sold ta California Airmotive were scrapped at Fox Field, Lancaster.

Engines Wright 972TC Turbo-compounds (3,250 hp) x 4 Length 114 feet MGTOW 137,5001b. Span 123 feet Max. Range 3,500 miles Height 25 feet

Engine Problems

Elegant though the Constellation was, and impressive though its performance, this fine airliner did have its problems, not least because its designers were always trying to advance the levels of technology. One of the main problems was the Wright R-3350 turbo-compound engines, which consistently gave trouble, to the extent that Claude Girard, the senior pilot of the relief truck, described on this page, claimed that the crews “logged more flying time on three engines than four.” At first, a C-47 was based in Paris to ship the piston engines to distant points, as T. W.A. had spread its wings to the far comers of Europe and southern Asia. But with the Jet Age approaching, with much larger engines, the decision was made to base a specialized engine-carrier in Paris.

The C-82

Larry Trimble, T. W.A.’s operational chief in Paris, found the answer in a twin-boomed Fairchild C-82 Packet which he discovered in Tel Aviv in 1956. It took eight months of work, with much overtime, totalling 10,000 man-hours, to ‘civilianize’ the C-82. To increase the load­carrying capability and airfield performance, a Westinghouse 3,250-lb- thrust J-34 jet engine was installed on top of the fuselage for auxiliary power, and to raise the take-off weight to 54,000 lb. A Volkswagen engine APU (auxiliary power unit) was also installed to power an electric windlass to haul aboard the disabled engines.

The Thing

The C-82’s performance was sluggish and the airplane was not easy to handle. Compared to the elegant Constellations, it was distinctly unhandsome. The crews named it Ontos, which is the Greek word for “Thing.” Ugly duckling it may have been; but it did its job well, entering service with T. W.A. In 1957, it was registered, as a matter of local convenience, ET-T-12, which had been the Ethiopian number for the displaced C-47. Ethiopian was one of the airlines that T. W.A. was closely associated with, either as part-owner or as technical and operational adviser. Eventually, Ontos was certificated by the F. A.A. on 1 March 1960, and registered as N9701F. It carried engines everywhere throughout the eastern hemisphere, flying regularly to Manila, Bombay, and Nairobi, with Constellation replacement engines. In 1968 alone, now hauling Boeing 707 engines too, there were 68 unscheduled overseas engine replacements

Artist’s Note

T. W.A. ’s C-82 was substantially modified fi-om its original post-World War Two configuration. Note the modern avionics antennae and J-34 jet engine pod mounted above the fiiselage.

After twelve years of faithful service, un-noticed by the media as the Jet Age was augmented by the 747s and other more publicity-worthy wide-bodied giants, the “Thing” was retired on 13 Jan­uary 1972, and sold the following year to an American airborne delivery firm, Briles Rotor & Wings.