The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed’s response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produced for both the United States Navy and Air Force as transport and AWACS aircraft.
Designed and built by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to the specification of the legendary Howard Hughes, the Constellation, the world’s first commercially successful pressurized airliner, heralded a new post-war era of safe, comfortable and fast transatlantic air travel. This graceful looking aircraft with its long sinuous fuselage – curving downward at the nose and upward at the rear to its distinctive tripletail, became synonymous with the halcyon days of the big Propliners and is still widely regarded with awe and affection.
In all, 856 Constellations were built, ranging from the first C-69 variant to the magnificent L-1649 Starliner. Sadly 55 years after the first aircraft flew, only a handful remains airworthy as a vibrant reminder of perhaps the most beautiful propliner of them all.