Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation

what is it?

The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American long-range airliner and a member of the Lockheed Constellation family. It was one of the most successful and widely used variants of the Constellation series, and was colloquially referred to as the "Super Connie." The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was produced for both the United States Navy as the WV / R7V and U.S. Air Force as the C-121 for transport, electronics, and airborne early warning and control aircraft.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 37.5 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 531 km/htop speed
• seats 106passengers
• size 54.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 579made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 76 years ago, in 1950.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 37.5 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 9 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1950-10-13

introduced

1951

retired

1982

status

retired

number built

579

role

airliner

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Lockheed Corporation

engines

4× Wright R-3350 972-TC-18DA-1 Duplex-Cyclone

crew

5

passengers

106

length

34.6 m

wingspan

37.5 m

height

7.5 m

max take-off weight

54.4 t

top speed

531 km/h

cruise speed

489 km/h

range

—

ceiling

7,833 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family