Editing Lockheed Constellation (section)

==Operational history==
===World War II===
[[File:Lockheed Constellation 1943 NAN15Feb43.jpg|thumb|The first Lockheed Constellation on January 9, 1943]]
[[File:Lockheed Constellation Record 1944.ogv|thumb|1944 newsreel about a Constellation flight from California to Washington, D.C.]]
With the onset of [[World War II]], the TWA aircraft entering production were converted to an order for '''[[Lockheed C-69 Constellation|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 short ferry hop from Burbank to [[Muroc Field]] for testing.<ref name=Jane1993 /> [[Edmund T. "Eddie" Allen]], on loan from [[Boeing]], flew [[Pilot in command|left seat]], with Lockheed's own [[Milo Burcham]] as copilot. Rudy Thoren and Kelly Johnson were also aboard.

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 American World Airways|Pan Am]] in 1940 as the '''L-149'''),<ref name="Stringfellow and Bowers" /> was cancelled. A single C-69C ('''L-549'''), 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.{{sfn|Pace|2003|p=17}} In total, 22 C-69s were built before the end of hostilities, but seven of these never entered military service, as they were converted to civilian L-049s on the assembly line.  The USAAF cancelled the remainder of the order in 1945. Some aircraft remained in USAF service into the 1960s, serving as passenger ferries for the airline that relocated military personnel, wearing the livery of the [[Military Air Transport Service]].

===Postwar use===
[[File:Lockheed L749A N6022C TWA Connie final.jpg|thumb|right|[[TWA]] L-749A Constellation at [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]] in 1954 with an under fuselage "Speedpack" freight container]]
[[File:SCFA-Connie.JPG|thumb|right|Super Constellation (C-121C) during pilot training in Epinal&nbsp;– Mirecourt, France]]

After World War II, the Constellation came into its own as a 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. TWA's first transatlantic proving flight departed Washington, D.C., on December 3, 1945, arriving in Paris on December 4 via [[Gander International Airport|Gander]] and [[Shannon Airport|Shannon]].<ref name=Jane1993 />

TWA transatlantic service started on February 6, 1946, with a New York-Paris flight in a Constellation. On June 17, 1947, [[Pan American World Airways]] (Pan Am) opened the first-ever scheduled round-the-world service with its [[Lockheed L-749 Constellation|L-749]] ''Clipper America''. The famous flight "Pan Am 1" operated until 1982.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

As the first [[cabin pressurization|pressurized airliner]] in widespread use, the Constellation helped establish affordable and comfortable air travel. Operators of Constellations included TWA, [[Eastern Air Lines]], Pan Am, [[Air France]], [[British Overseas Airways Corporation|BOAC]], [[KLM]], [[Qantas]], [[Lufthansa]], [[Iberia Airlines]], [[Panair do Brasil]], [[TAP Portugal]], [[Trans-Canada Air Lines]] (later renamed [[Air Canada]]), [[Aer Lingus]], [[Varig|VARIG]], [[Cubana de Aviación]],  [[Línea Aeropostal Venezolana]], [[Northwest Airlines]], and [[Avianca]], the national airline of Colombia.

===Records===
Sleek and powerful, Constellations set many records. On April 17, 1944, the second production C-69, piloted by Howard Hughes and TWA president [[Jack Frye]], flew from [[Burbank, California]], to [[Washington, D.C.]], a distance of approximately {{convert|2300|mi}}, in 6 hours and 57 minutes, representing an average speed of {{convert|331|mph}}. On the return trip, the aircraft stopped at [[Wilbur Wright Field|Wright Field]] in Ohio to give [[Orville Wright]] his last flight, more than 40 years after his historic first flight near [[Kitty Hawk, North Carolina]]. He commented that the Constellation's wingspan was longer than the distance of his first flight.<ref name=yenne />

On September 29, 1957, a TWA [[Lockheed L-1649A Starliner|L-1649A]] flew from Los Angeles to London in 18 hours and 32 minutes—about {{convert|5420|mi}} at {{convert|292|mph}}.<ref name=Buck>{{cite magazine |last=Buck |first=Bob |date=10 September 2014 |title=From The Archives: Bob Buck Flies A Connie From LA To London |url=http://airfactsjournal.com/2014/09/archives-bob-buck-flies-connie-la-london/ |magazine=Air Facts Journal |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |publisher=Original publisher: Leighton Collins; relaunch: Sporty’s Pilot Shop |access-date=31 March 2021 |quote='Editor’s Note: Bob Buck was one of Air Facts’ most popular writers in the 1950s and 60s, beloved for his first-hand accounts of the changing airline world… In our latest trip through the Air Facts archives, we fly from Los Angeles to London via the polar route, as told from the left seat of a Connie.'}}</ref> The L-1649A holds the record for the longest-duration, nonstop passenger flight aboard a piston-powered airliner. On TWA's first London-to-San Francisco flight on October 1–2, 1957, the aircraft stayed aloft for 23 hours and 19 minutes (about {{convert|5350|mi}} at {{convert|229|mph}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theavgeeks.com/2019/09/16/the-cadillac-of-the-constellation-line/ |title=Longer Range, New Routes |date=16 September 2019 |access-date=2020-07-26 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Longer Range, New Routes. Retrieved July 26, 2020.</ref>

===Obsolescence===
[[File:Lockheed L1049H CF-NAM Nordair MAN 02.07.66 edited-2.jpg|thumb|right|L-1049H freighter of [[Nordair]] Canada at [[Manchester Airport]] in 1966]]
[[File:Constellation L-049.jpg|thumb|right|A Lockheed Constellation L-049 preserved at [[TAM Museum]]]]
Jet airliners such as the [[de Havilland Comet]], [[Boeing 707]], [[Douglas DC-8]], [[Convair 880]], and [[Sud Aviation Caravelle]] rendered the Constellation obsolete. The first routes lost to jets were the long overseas routes, but Constellations continued to fly domestic routes. The last scheduled passenger flight of a Constellation in the [[contiguous United States]] was made by a TWA L749 on May 11, 1967, from [[Philadelphia]] to [[Kansas City, Missouri]];<ref name=germain>{{harvnb|Germain|1998|p=89}}</ref> the last scheduled passenger flight in North America was by Western Airlines' N86525 in Alaska, Anchorage to Yakutat to Juneau on 26 November 1968.

Constellations carried freight in later years, and were used on backup sections of [[Eastern Airlines]]' shuttle service between New York, Washington, and Boston until 1968. Propeller airliners were used on overnight freight runs into the 1990s, as their low speed was not an impediment. An Eastern Air Lines Connie holds the record for a New York–to–Washington flight from take off to touchdown in just over 30 minutes. The record was set prior to speed restrictions by the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] (FAA) below {{convert|10,000|ft}}.<ref>[http://wn.com/Lockheed_Constellation "Lockheed Constellation L749 N749NL Comeback."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114040024/http://wn.com/Lockheed_Constellation |date=2012-11-14 }} ''World News.'' Retrieved: February 22, 2011.</ref>

One of the reasons for the elegance of the aircraft was the dolphin-shaped fuselage, a continuously variable profile with no two [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkhead]]s the same shape
and a skin formed into compound curves, which was expensive to build. Manufacturers have since favored tube-shaped fuselages in airliner designs, as the cylindrical cross-section design is more resistant to pressurization changes and less expensive to build.

After ending Constellation production, Lockheed chose not to develop a first-generation jetliner, sticking to its military business and production of the [[turboprop]] [[Lockheed L-188 Electra]]. Lockheed did not build a large passenger aircraft again until its [[L-1011 Tristar]] debuted in 1972. While a technological marvel, the L-1011 was a commercial failure, and Lockheed left the commercial airliner business permanently in 1983.{{sfn|Birtles|1998|p=56}}