Lockheed L-049 Constellation

In 1939, Lockheed began design work on a 45-passenger airliner for use by Pan Am and Western Air. Production began in 1943, but the existing planes were commandeered by the USAAF for use as cargo planes under the designation C-69. A total of 22 aircraft were constructed for the military by 1945. Following the war, production of the L-049 for the civilian market began again, using components stockpiled for military aircraft. The L-049 could carry 43-48 passengers, or 60 in a high-density seating arrangement. These aircraft entered service in December of 1945 with Pan Am and TWA airlines.

As a civilian aircraft, the Constellation has a flight crew of 4, plus 2-4 stewardesses. The L-049 burns 328 gallons or fuel per hour of routine usage. A full load of fuel costs $938.

Subassemblies: Huge Bomber chassis +5; Large Bomber wings +4; 4 Medium AFV engine pods [Wings:F] +3; 3 retractable wheels +2.

Powertrain: Four 1,641-kW aerial HP gasoline engines [Pods] with four 1,641-kW aerial props and 4,690-gallon standard fuel tank [Wings]; 16,000-kWs batteries.

Occ.: 4-8 CS Body; 60 PS Body

Cargo: 0 Body

Armor F RL B T U

All: 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5

Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Equipment:

Body: Autopilot, backup driver, medium radio transmitter and receiver, navigation instruments, IFF, 60 passenger seats. Pods: 1 Fire extinguisher each.

Statistics:

Size: 95'x123'x24' Payload: 18.43 tons Lwt.: 43 tons

Volume: 3040 Maint.: 16 hours Cost: $147,674

HT: 8. HPs: 1500 Body, 1000 each Wing, 200 each Pod, 140 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 339 aAccel: 5 aDecel: 8 aMR: 2 aSR: 3

Stall Speed: 98 mph. Take-Off Run 960 yards. Landing Runs 960 yards.

gSpeed: 197 gAccel: 10 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.25 gSR: 3

Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 1,650 sf. No MVDS wing reflects this figure well; a smaller than historical wing was selected. For this reason, and because the plane was designed with a full compliment of 60 passenger seats, the fact that the design was 38 VSPs over was waved. (Reducing the passenger load to 48 would conserve 60 VPS and 2,400 lbs.) Design loaded weight over by 5%, again probably a reflection of the excessive design payload (43,285 lbs.). (Deducting 2,400 lbs. in passenger weight brings the design to within 1% of historical maximum take-off weight.) Historical loaded weight and wing area were used for performance calculations. Design aSpeed was 305 mph; the historical value is shown.

Variants:

The L-49 (C-69) was the military version. 22 built.

The C-69C-1 was a one-off military VIP transport.

The L-649 was the first version designed solely as a civilian aircraft. The L-649A featured an increased fuel capacity.

The L-749 was a long-range version based in the L-649A, but with strengthened landing gear. The L-749A was a larger, heavier version of the -749.

The C-121A was a military cargo/personnel transport version of the L-749. A VIP version existed as the VC-121A, and a presidential transport version as the VC-121B.

The PO-1W was an early-warning aircraft designed for the U.S. Navy, based on the L-749. 2 built.

The basic layout of the Constellation was increased to create the L-1049 Super Constellation and the L-1649A Starliner as the demand for air travel grew. In MVDS terms, these planes would most certainly have outgrown the chassis chosen for the L-049 above.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS