The Lockheed Super Constellation
Throughout the 1950's, Lockheed was in a race with Douglas for the plane that was the fastest, most economical and had the longest range. Douglas started the race with the DC-4, but Lockheed countered with the L049, which was faster and was pressurized. The war surplus DC-4's were cheap, though, and Lockheed was handicapped by a provision in the TWA contract that it couldn't sell a Connie to a competing East-West airline for two years. The development of the larger, faster, and pressurized DC-6 lead Lockheed to introduce the next step in airliners, the Super Constellation. Stretched by over 18 feet and powered by Wright R-3350 radials (eventually Turbo-Compounds of 3400 hp each), the new Super Connie was faster and could fly higher than the DC-6. Of course, Douglas was not standing still, and American convinced him to produce the DC-7 with the Wright Turbo-Compound engines, and now the speed advantage belonged to Douglas. This convinced Lockheed to produce the most successful Connie, the L1049G "Super G".
Of course, TWA (which at 156 total Connies owned more than anyone except the US Navy) ordered the Super G and used them successfully in transcontinental and transatlantic service, and Eastern (also owning lots of Connies) ordered them too. In fact, 16 airlines ordered 102 Super G's, and these were followed by the L1049H, which could be rapidly converted between passenger and freight configurations. These planes were very popular with the flying public, but the engines were not as reliable as those of the DC-6, and the Super Connies were often sold after the jets had replaced them on the premium routes, although Eastern used them successfully in Shuttle service into the late 1960's. There are very few Super Connies left, although there are 4 flyable examples in this country (Save-A-Connie, Planes of Fame, Connie Hist. Soc., and Global Aero Foundation), as well as one in Australia.
FS2004 Flight Model Update! Now includes the Alphasim Connie!
FS2004/FSX TWA L-1049G
Super Constellation. The major airline user of the various Constellation
models was TWA, and Manfred Jahn has created this wonderful version for us.
Thanks so much!! Last updated on 5/11/09. Model
update. Last updated on 8/3/09. Flight
dynamics update. Last updated on 4/19/10. FS2004
Alphasim version. I've repainted it into more accurate TWA colors. Requires
the base
Alphasim Connie package. Last updated on 11/3/08. FS2002
version by Dave McQueen. Last updated on 3/3/02.
FS2004/FSX REAL L-1049H Super Constellation. REAL was a Brazilian
airline that used these ornately painted L-1049H's on a very long route from
Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo, via Los Angeles. Luiz Alvarenga has painted Manfred's
Super H and done a great job - thanks! Textures only - requires Manfred
Jahn's L-1049H.
Last updated on 12/17/09.
FS2004/FSX VARIG L-1049G Super Constellation. Luiz Foernges
has painted up Manfred's Super Connie into the colors of the Brazilian airline
VARIG. After they took over the routes of the airline REAL they used these for
a few months on the REAL route from Rio to Tokyo via Los Angeles, until the
707's took over and it was shortened to terminate in Los Angeles. Thanks! Textures
only - requires the TWA L-1049G above. Last updated on 12/17/09. FS2002
version by Luiz Foernges. Textures only; requires separate Connie
download by Mike Stone. Last updated on 8/19/03.
FS2004/FSX QANTAS L-1049G Super Constellation. QANTAS used
these handsome aircraft across the long Pacific route from Australia. Tim Scharnhop
painted this nice scheme - thanks! Textures only - requires the TWA
L-1049G above. Last updated on 12/17/09.
FS2004/FSX L-1049G Super Constellation. Dave McQueen has painted up
Manfred's Super Connies into the colors of Flying Tiger Line, Seaboard and Western,
Slick Airways, Resort Airlines, Transocean Air Lines, South Pacific Airlines,
California Eastern Airways (pictured). Wow! These were mostly based (or flew
into) Oakland, California. Thanks, Dave. Textures only - requires Manfred
Jahn's TWA L-1049G above and L-1049H.
Last updated on 12/17/09. FS98
Transocean L-1049G. Last updated on 10/10/98.
FS2004/FSX 20th Century L-1049G Super Constellation. Dave has
also painted up this very nice rendition of a 20th Century Super Connie, another
charter airline commonly found in Oakland. Thanks! Textures only - requires
the TWA L-1049G above. Last updated on 12/17/09.
FS2004/FSX Airlift L-1049H Super Constellation. Airlift was
a charter outfit that originally was named Riddle. They flew all over the world,
but especially on the East Coast of the US. They made it into California on
a regular basis, especially during the Vietnam War. Thanks to Gary Harper for
this fine job. Download the texture
fix too. Textures only - requires Manfred Jahn's L-1049H.
Last updated on 12/17/09.