Super Constellation - Salon du Bourget 26 06 2011

[rail1435]

Quel avion élégant. Lorsque la vitesse des hélices est presque un multiple entier de la vitesse des images, les hélices semblent s'arrêter!

[DonaldFranklin67]

The Super G "Connie" was the epitome' of aviation technology of its day, which Lockheed had cornered the airliner market with, It was the fastest, 300-400 MPH in its day, and the first airliner with a pressurized cabin, and with 4 2700 HP Wright Cyclone engines, make the trip from NY to Paris jn 10 hours.

[DonaldFranklin67]

I read somewhere that Lockheed based the technology used in the Constellation on that used in the P-38 twin-engine,twin tail-boom fighter plane used in WW 2. The P-38 was the first plane they used to test the concept of a R.I.O (Radar Intercept Officer) I saw a photo of such a plane, which the RIO sat in a separate cockpit up and behind that of the pilot.The plane had a capsule shaped radome attached to the nose. The RIO tells the pilot which weaponry to use when target (enemy) aircraft approach

[milabluelady]

Ele é muito lindo. Muito elegante no ar.

[62patounet]

Majestueux.

[emilkarpo]

Beautiful beyond words

[nemo227]

@emilkarpo Beautiful beyond words.

Oh, YOU said that.

Well, it is worth repeating. Simply gorgeous.

[soaringvulture]

So why did Kelly make this plane so beautiful? The organic curves in the fuselage must have been expensive. And all the rounded airfoils were really not necessary other than to give the plane a unified appearance. I think he consciously drew it up as a work of art so that passengers would want to fly it. And I think it worked, just like everything else Kelly did.