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.
FS2002 TWA 1049G/H Super
Constellation. Here's the new fully animated version of the Connie,
from Dave McQueen. This classic airliner is beautifully executed, and
flies very nicely. The graceful tapered and curved fuselage is here, along
with the wingtip tanks. Take a look at all those moving rudders! This
is actually painted to match the Save-A-Connie TWA L-1049H - a real gem. Thanks,
Dave. Last updated on 3/3/02.
FS2002 VARIG L-1049H Super Constellation. Luiz Foernges has
painted up Mike Stone'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 long route from Rio to Tokyo via Los Angeles, until the
707's took over. Thanks! Textures only; requires separate Connie download. Last
updated on 8/19/03.
FS98
Transocean L1049H Super Constellation. Joe and Doe's Connie has been
repainted into the bright colors of Transocean by Dave McQueen. Dave
also modified the Connie to remove the wingtip tanks and radar nose, for maximum
accuracy. Thanks, Dave! (This is a large file, including panel and
sound). Last updated on 10/10/98.