Lockheed Constellation: From Excalibur to Starliner Civilian and Military Variants

178 Pages·2006·154.924 MB·English

by  Dominique Breffort, André Jouineau

~tt4m 5'~
j/Win
C@duntVd ln~ ~
Dominique BREFFORT
Colour plates by
Andre JOUINEAU
Translated from the French by Alan McKAY
HISTOIRE & COLLECTIONS
Every
80
nlinutes
aLockheed Constellation
sets a. newrecord f(Jr
depcndabilj~y!
Over 30_000 times the
dependahle Constellation has
crossed thebroadAtlantic...
selting a record of more
crossings titan all other m.od
em airliners combined. And
cvcry30minutesaCOllsle1la
ti011'repeals the performanc('>'
pilillg experience on experi
cncc 011 experience.
Twcnty years of Lockheed
leader,.;hip hack every Con
stellation. Next time yOLl fly,
over,.;ca,.; or at home, f':0 hy
I'.~:p('ri('ncecl COllslellatiotl.
MORE THAN SKIN DEEP-Stripped
down. each ajrpJallc reveals the
quality behind Lockheed depend
ability. Its Ihon~anJsof prccioioll
partsarc loo]ed 10 microscopicac
curacy...a Iribulc 10painstaking
research, engineering,producfion.
J-locldl.eed
AIRCRAFT CORP., BURBANK, CALIF.
From Excalibur
to Constellation 4
The C-69 12
The L-049 18
The L-649 and the L-749 36
The Military L-749s:
C-121A & WV-1 58
The Constellation in detail 64
The L-1049
Super Constellation» 78
«
The L-1649A
Starliner 112
« »
The Super Constellations
in the US Navy 124
The USAFJs
SuperConswllations 146
OPPOSITE:apartialmock-upofthe
Excaliburwasmadebutitonly
consistedofafuselageandpartof
thewings. Itcanbeseenhereinthe
Lockheedworkshops,underanother
modelhangingfromtheceiling,a
Model 14,oneofLockheed'sgreat
successes. (Lockheed)
OPPOSITE:OriginallytheExcalibur
From the Excalibur to the Constellation closelyresembleda
largerversionofthe
ModellOAwith
twoextra
engines,asthis
A~ter bringing out their ~irst aeroplane On the eve of drawingfromthe
WWII, the beginningof1939
in 1913 and ~Iying it over San Francisco airera ft shows. (Lockheed)
Bay/ the Loughead brothers/ Allan and manuf'acturer,
Malcolm/ ~ounded the Lockheed Air wellestablished
at Burbank, in Los
cra~t Manu~acturingCompany in 1916/
Angeles County, was
which a~ter a lot o~ ~inancial problems particularlyrenowned for
became the Lockheed Aircra~t Com its lighttransport planes,
more often than nottwin
pany in 1926.
engined aircraft which were
appreciated as much bytheir
civilian usersasbythemilitary.
Among these was the
A yearlaterthe first success from this newcomerto the Model 10, called the
aircraftindustryflew for the firsttime. This was theVega. 'Electra',asmallall-metaltwin-
The machinewas designed byAllan Loughead andJack engined planeabletocarryten orsopassengerswhich flew
Northrop, couldcarrysixpassengersandwasusedtobeat forthe firsttimein February1934.This was followed bythe
anumberofdistanceandspeedrecords.Boughtupin1929 SuperElectra (Model14)threeyearslaterwhichbecamethe
byDetroitAircrah, Lockheedwasindependentagainthree firsttransportplaneusingpropellersthatcouldbecompletely
years laterwhen thatcompanywentbankrupt, unable to featheredandwhoseengines,WrightCycloneradials, were OPPOSITE:TheVega,ahighwing
monoplanedesignedbyoneofthe
resisttheveryseriousfinancialcrisiswhich theUnitedStates fittedwithsuperchargers.Apartfromtheirsuccesswithcivilian LougheadbrothersandJackNorthrop,
sufferedattheendoftheTwenties. transportcompanies, theLockheedtwin-enginedplaneswere thefuturefatherofthe'flying
alsowell-knownbecausesomeofthemostfamous figures in wings'(amongotherthings)whohad
notyetbecomefamous,wastheyoung
theflyingworldduringtheinter firm'sfirstsuccessattheendofthe
war years also used them, 20s. (Lockheed)
people likeAmelia Earhart
who madeaname for
herselfatthe controls
of a specially modified
Lockheed 10amongothers; or I.Aboardtheonlymodelofaspeciallymodified
HowardHugheswhoestablished LockheedMode114N2, HowardHughesand
anewroundtheworldspeedrecord fourcrewmencompleteda24000kmroundthe
worldHight,from10to14July1938.LeavingNew
in1938aboardaLockheed14'.
York,theyreturnedaftera91hourand14minute
~Atthesameperiod,themainAmeri HightpassingthroughParis,Moscow,Siberiaand
can builders were struggling to build Alaska.
~~~=
Preliminary Studies
Lockheed studied various projects like theModel 27
fittedwithcanardwinglay-outandespeciallytheL-l04and
L-l05, two machineswhich were differentsizesand used
differentpowerplants;thesecondwas smaller, lessfuturis
ticand poweredbyengines rated onlyat1200bhpeach.
Itwas in this context thatthe Burbank firm presented its
projectforthefirstfour-enginedcommercialaircra~, designa
tedModel44, inApril1939.Itwasveryquicklygiventhe
nickname 'Excalibur'. Overall, the machine resembled an
enlargedElectraand,breakingwiththecompany'shabitup
ABOVE:Theprototypeofthefamous
Lightning,theXP-38,photographedin
flightduringtrialsintheUSA.Itswing
directlyinspiredtheConstellation's
sinceitwasonlyahomatheticenlarge
ment.
(Lockheed)
OPPOSITE:anotheroftheLockheedAir
Co'sbigsuccessesduringtheinter-war aircra~capableofcarryingmorepassengersoverlongerdistan until then, itwas powered by fourengines rated at leastat
periodwastheModel 10orElectra,a ces, withoutthisbeingtothedetrimentofcomfortandeven 1000bhpeach-tobespecific:9-cylinderWrightCyclone
lighttransportplanewhichwasalso
usedbysomeofthegreataviation lesssafety. GR-1820 radials or18-cylinder Prattand Whitney Double
figuresfortheirflights. Indeed,althoughDouglasdominatedabigpartofthemarket WaspR-2800radials.
(Lockheed)
with its DC-3 which hadalreadybeen flying forthreeyears, Theinitialspecificationsalsorequiredthatthefutureplane
theNewYorktoLosAngelesflightnonethelesstookseven haveawingspanof95 feet9 inches,alengthofalittlemore
teenhours.Moreover, theaircra~builderhadnotfound any than 82 ~6 inandarangeof2000mileswith amaximum
takersforitsnewDC-4Ewhichhadflown forthefirsttimein speedbetween250and280mph.
June 1938 2; this would have enabled it to finance the Severalversions ofthe Excaliburwere envisaged even
developmentofthis verycostly machinewhich included a beforeanyconstructionworkontheprototypewaslaunched;
greatnumberofinnovations(tricycleundercarriage,tripletail theyalldifferedinthenumberofpassengerstheycouldcarry.
fin, slotted flaps, etc.) Originallyitwassupposedtocarry21 passengersat240mph
BELOW:AmeliaEarhartinfrontofher AsforBoeing, ithadbeenobligedtostopworkingonits butthese figures were revised upwards to 36 passengers
LockheedElectra.Itwasaboardthis
Model307Stratolinerwhichhadapressurisedcabin,because and 268 mph, atacruising altitudeof12000feel. These
twin-enginedplanethattheaviatrix
disappearedrightinthemiddleofthe therewere nocustomersandthereforeno funds until1937 figureswere to enablethefuture planetoeliminateatleast
PacificOceaninJuly1937justasshe when Pan Am andTWA each ordered 5 machineswhich onestop-overonthetranscontinentalflightsacrosstheUnited
wasabouttobecomethefirstwoman
startedserviceinJuly1940,almosttwoyearsa~ertheproto States; itwas directed against Douglas which atthe time
inHistorytoflyaroundtheworld.
(Lockheed) type'sfirstflightwhichhadtakenplaceon31 December1938. almost had amonopolyofpassengertransportin North
America, thanksparticularlytoitsexcellentDC-3.
Itwas in factthe Pan Am Companywhich was mainly
responsible for increasing the dimensionsand capacityof
thefutureplanewhichwasgivenathird, centraltailfinwhilst
the fuselage was widened almostto the same sizeas the
Lodestar.ItwasslighclysmallerthantheBoeing307, powered
byWrightCycloneGR·1820-G-205Aradials; the future
Excaliburhadawingspan of95 ft9 in andawing area of
1000sq ~,tricycleu~dercarriagewithasteerablenosewheel.
The performancesenvisaged werebetterthan the Boeing
307, forboth top speed and altitude; onlyits rangewas
shorter.
.Anotherversion capableofcarrying 40passengerswas
brieflyenvisagedunderthedesignation L-144buttheproject
/.TheprolotypeDC-4E(EforExperimenlaDfwhichinfaclhadlittle10do
withIhemodelwhichwasproducedawhilelaler,hadatriplelailFinandHewfor )
theFirstlimeinJune/938;butatthetimethebuildercouldnotFindanycusto-
mersforthismodel.
When the Constellation became a bomber: the XB-30
AttherequestofGeneral Harry'Hap'Arnold,theChiefofthe
USMCwhowasworried bythe turn the militaryeventswere
takingin Europeattheendofthethirties,anofficialcommissionmet
todetermine the needs ofAmericanaviation for the decade to
corne.The membersofthiscommissionamong whom the famous
Charles Lindberg,convinced ofGerman airsupremacyover the
allied European nations,cameto theconclusion that the United
Statesurgentlyhadtohaveanewrangeofmedium-andlong-range
bombers.
ThedeclarationofwarinSeptember1939convincedthemeven
further and Arnold asked for permission to have themain aircraft
buildersstartfeasibilitystudiesfordVLR(verylongrange)bomber
capableofoperatingdirectlyfrom theUnitedStatesincaseGreat
Britainwasinvaded. resembledamilitarisedConstellationfrom theoutside,preseNingthe
IssuedinJanuary1940,thespecificationsforthis'superbombe wings and tail ofthe commercialaircraft, butwith anew fuselage
r'required amachinecapableof flying at400 mph overd total andaglazednoseincorporatingabomb-aimer'spost,andwithtwo
distanceof5312miles,witha9900Ibbombloadwhichwasto bombbaysdesigned foreight2OOOlbbombs.Itwastobedefen
bedroppedatmid-pointofitsrange.Afterreconsideringitsdemands, ded byten12.5-mmmachinegunsanda20-mmcanonfitted insix
inJune1940 theArmysigned acontractwith four builders for remotely-controlleddefensiveturretsinstalledatthe frontand rear,
them tocarryout preliminarystudies: inorderof preference,the andontopofthefuselageand beneathit,betweenthetwobomb
BoeingXB-29, Lockheed XB-30,DouglasXB-31 and Consolida bays Ithadatwelve-mancrewandwaspowered byfourWright
ted XB-32. R-3350-13engineseachdeveloping2200bhp;the'superbombe
TheLockheed Model249-58-01,officiallydesignatedXB-30, r'was140ftlong,withawingspanof123ftandwasto flyatmore
than375mphover5000mileswitha6160Ib bombload.
Realising thatits projectcould never becompetitiveespecially
againsttheXB-29whichwenton towin theofficialcompetition, BELOW:Athirdcentraltailfinwas
Lockheed withdrew,even beforeits bombergotoffthedrawing quicklyaddedtotheExcalibur'stail
board,although anumberofthesolutions envisaged were incor shownonthisartist'simpressiondating
poratedintoplanningtheConstellationwhichwasstillatthedesign fromthemiddleof1939,afewweeks
aftertheproiectwasofficiallyrevealed
stageatthetime.
byLockheed.
(Lockheed)
was not followed up, despiteapotential orderfrom South
AfricanAirways for two exampleswhich nevermaterialised
becauseofworldevents.A full-scalemodelwasbuiltimmedia
telywhich included the fuselage, the tail and the leftwing
only.
A decisive encounter· OPPOSITE,LEFT: Periodadvertisement
praisingthemeritsoftheWright
R-3350enginewhichwasfitted both
Likeso manyothersat the time, this project might never totheB-29andtheConstellation.
havegotanyfurtherhaditnotobtainedhelpfroman unexpec
ted quarter, themillionaireHoward Hughes. Famousfor his
inter-war films mainlyabout flying and his record-breaking
flights, he had taken over the Board of Directors ofTrans
continentalandWesternAirattherequestoftheChairman,
Jack Frye. TWA had taken partin the DC-4E programme
during the preceding months before giving up becausethe
planewasdeemedtoobigand notprofitableenough.Whilst
theprojectwasbeingreconsideredattheinitiativeofseveral
companies(Eastern,AmericanAirlinesorUnited) Hughes,
whoneverdidthingsbyhalf, decided thatTWAhadto have
anevenbetter,evenfaster, even morecomfortableand more
profitablemachinewhichwouldbereserved in particularfor
him, exclusively!
With this in mind attheend ofJune1939, heorganised
asecret meeting at Hancock Park, oneof his Californian 3.AtthetimeHeadofthe'Aerodynamic'
residences, in which Jack Frye and three members ofthe DepartmentatLockheedandavaluableengineer,
Lockheed Co. including the Chairman in person, Robert Johnsonplayedafarfromnegligiblerolewithin
thefirmuntilthesixties,headingupinparticular
E. Gross, and Clarence L. 'Kelly'Johnson 3took part. An thedesignteamforso·called'black'designs,the
6 inventorywas taken on this occasion attheterm ofwhich it 'skunk'works, attheoriginoftheU-2orthe
becameclearthatcivilandcommercialaviationwasataturning YF-12A/SR-71.
OPPOSITE: BeforeWWIItheDouglas
DC-3reignedsupremeovercivil
aviationtransport,particularly
intheUSAdespiteitsinadequate BElOW:Tenexamplesonly
rangeanditslimitedpayload. oftheBoeingModel307
(Douglas) Stratoliner,thefirstcivilian
aviationtransporttohave
apressurisedcabin,were
built.Usingthewingsand
thetailoftheB-17C,
thisfour-enginedplane
flewforthefirsttime
inJuly1940withTWA
which,togetherwith
PanAm,wastheonly
companytobuyit.
(Boeing)
ABOVE:TheDouglasDC-4E(Efor
Experimental)wasdesignedatthe
requestofUnitedAirLinesin 1935as
amuchimprovedreplacementfor
theDC-3whichatthetimehadnotyet
flown.Aftermakingitsfirstflight point in its young history: the need for
on7June1938andcarryingout modernmachineswithgoodperformanceswas
aseriesoftestsforUAL,theprototype
wasfoundtobetoocomplex beginningtobe felt, several hundreds, even thousands, of demands in mind thattheparticipantsatthemeetingatthe
andcostlytomass-produce; newairliners were going to be needed to satisfydemand 'Tycoon's'homedrewupthespecificationsforthemachine:
itwasabandonedinfavour during the coming decade. Forthe momenthow~ver,with itwastoweighbetween23.5and25tonnes,carrya6006
oftheDC-4whichwasmuchsimpler
andlesscostly.TheDC-4Ewasfinally theDouglasDC4andDC6aswell astheBoeing307and lb payload, be fitted with 36seats or20sleepers, carrya
soldtoJapanwhereitwasused 314'Clipper'stillinthedevelopmentphase,theonlyserious crewofsixand flyataround300mphoveradistanceofat
tobuildtheNakaiimaG5Nbomber. rivalsappearedon theothersideoftheAtlantic, intheform least3600miles.
(Douglas)
of the Focke-Wulf 200 Condor 4and the Armstrong
WhitworthEnsign5. Itwasnecessarytohithardand fast, and More and still more!
ABOVE,RIGHT:MadebyArmstrong 'Kelly'Johnsondrovethepointhomebystating'whydesign
WhitworthattherequestofImperial
aplanecapableofcarryingtwentypassengerswhenahundred Far from being discouraged bywhatothers mighthave
Airways,theAW27Ensignonlyflew
forthefirsttimein 1938.Eleven can beaccommodatedinthesamespace? called amillionaire's craze, on thecontrary, the Lockheed
exampleshadbeendeliveredatthe Duringthis firstsecretmeeting, Hughespresentedhisnew executives gotdown to workas soon as the meetingwas
outsetofthewar;dependingonthe
demands forthe'airlinerofthe future. Compared with the over,oneofthefirstdecisionstakenbeingtouse1900-bhp
interiorlay-out,theycouldcarry
40passengers(Europe)or27(of initialproject,thetopspeedhadtobeincreasedby100mph WrightCycloneR-2600engines,themostpowerfulpower
which 20withbunks)forthelonger andtheceilingby1000feetandthemachinehadtobeable plantavailableatthetimeon themarket,butwhich hadnot
flights(Australia,Far-East).
to cross the United Stateswithoutstoppingoveranywhere. been tried outyet...
Moreover, as theaircraftwould not be profitableimmedia Even better, itwas decided to makeaclean sweepand
BELOW:ThefamousengineerKurtTank telybecauseofthesmallnumberofpassengerscarried, extra abandonalltheoriginalcharacteristicsoftheExcaliburexcept
designedtheFockeWulf200Condor, moneywouldbeearnedbycarryingmailorfreight; theusers forthe overall shapeand the triple-fin tail. Forexampleits
anelegantfour-enginedall-metal
wouldbeattractedbytheshortertime, sincealettersentwith lengthwent from 74 h3 in to95 ft9 in and itswingspan
aircraft,whichwasfastandhad
alongrange.Itwasputintoservice thenewplanewouldbedeliveredin onedayfromoneside increasedby23 feet, tomorethan102h4 in.
byLufthansain1937.Aboardone oftheUnitedStatestotheother,whichmeantsavingalotof Atthesametime,variousconfigurationswerestudiedfor
ofthesemachines,thepilotAlfred
time compared with the the shapeofthe fuselage noseand thecockpitlayout. Six
Henkemadeanon-stopflightbetween
BerlinandNewYorkin24hours situationasitwas. differenttypes ofglazingwere designed, from the classic
and56minutesinAugust1938. Itwaswithallthese windshieldtotwostrangebubblescontainingthepilot'sand
4. TheCondo,wassmallel!ittooktotheai,fo'thefitSttimein1937,had
a'angeof/000milesandatopspeedof23/mph.Itwasinmilitatyguisethat
itbecamefarbellerknown,givingtheconvoysintheNorthAtlanticandthe
NorthSeaavetyhardlimeindeed.
5.A 10la1of/4EnsignswerebuiltintwodifferentvetSions.Several
1
servedastransportsduringWWII,thelaslsurvivorbeinglinallyscrappedin
/946.
OPPOSITE:Onthisartist'simpression
datingfrom 1939,thegeneralshape
oftheConstellationisalreadyvisible.
Ontheotherhand,thenasewithits
cockpitincorporatedintothefuselage
wasnodoubtaerodynamicbutwas
putasideinfavourofamuchmore
classic...andmorepracticallay-out.
Theenginesareequippedwithreverse
\ flowcowlingswhichwerenotinthe
endused;theupperrowofwindows
correspondstowherethesleepers
weresituated.
theco-pilot's seats. Things movedahead so fastthatthree Even better, Hughesdecided first tobuynineexamples (Lockheed)
weekslater,afurtherjust-as-secretmeetingtookplaceduring ofthe newplane, afigurewhich was quicklyincreased to
which 'Kelly'JohnsonandLockheed'sChief-Engineer, Hall forty,whichmeantthatthisorder, ratified inacontractsigned BELOW,CENTRE: HallHibbardandBob
Grossunderthecharacteristictailfinof
L. Hibbardpresentedthefirstsketchesofthefutureplane. on10July1940wasthebiggesteversigned foracommer aConstellation.Hibbard,whohad
At firstthe newprojectwas given aTDN (Temporary cial plane. studiedatMITwastheLockheed
Company'sChiefEngineerattheend
DesignationNumber), L-104whichwasquicklychangedto Withoutdoubtthe Excalibur-rememberthatitwas still
ofthe30'5andplayedanimportant
Model049orExcaliburA. onlyon thedrawingboard! -was alreadytheplanewith all roleinrealisingtheConstellation
Thebasiclinesofthesilhouetteofwhatwas notyetthe programme,whereasRobertGross
'Constellation'werealreadythere: thecockpitincorporated hadbeenappointedtoheadthe
companyin1934.
intothefuselagewithall-roundglazingtogivethepilotsgood (Lockheed)
all-round visibility; ahigh-setfuselage especiallyprofiled to
enableittogainafewextra mph,withadown-turnedfront
BELOW,lEFT:Withoutthepersonalinter
and an upturned reM; wings inspired by those of the ventionoftheweirdmillionaire
LockheedModel022 (the future P-38 Lightning), equip HowardHughes,seenhereatthe
controlsofaConstellation,theaircraft
pedwithFowlerflaps:andespeciallyadoubletailfin taken
wouldprobablyneverhaveseenthe
from thecompany'sothermachines (Electra, Ventura, etc)
lightofday.
towhich athird finwasadded inthecentre.
At the end ofJune1939, Lockheed was in aposition
BELOW:ClarenceLeonard
tomakenewproposalswhichestablishedthedevelopment 'Kelly'Johnson joinedLockheedwhen
scheduleforthefour-enginedmachine,whoseweightincrea heleftuniversityin 1935andbecame
sed to 31 tonnes; itwastobepoweredby fourWrightR oneofthemostimportantpeoplein
thecompanyinthe19605,headingup
3350 radials, engines which had the advantage of using
the'BlackProjects'department,the
20%lessfuel than theircompetitorswhilstatthesametime famous'SkunkWorks'inparticular.
(Lockheed)
delivering22%morepower;buttheproblemwasthatthey
were still prototypesatthetime...
Moreover, these powerplants were destined to equip
theBoeingB-29whichwastheninthepipeline,soinaway
theirfuturewasassuredandtheirdevelopmentfinancedby
themilitaryauthorities! Inspiteofthis, Lockheedhadprovi
dedforanalternativesolutionintheformofthePrattand
WhitneyR-2800, an enginewhich was also still being
developed!
As onecan see, Hughes'original demands were not
onlysatisfiedbutevenbetteredinseveralcases. Theother
sideofthe coin was the unitcostwhich was, justlikethe
projectitself,excessive,becauseatthepriceof$450000
perunit,theExcaliburwassimplythemostexpensivecommer
cial planeeverimagined!
And onceagain, theintervention ofHoward Hughes
was ofparamountimportance, since heaccepted to have
his own company, the Hughes Tool Company, backthe
buildingofthe aircraft, forTWAwas unableto spend so
8
muchforlackoffundsandhadtobecontentwithjustrenting
thenewplane.
OPPOSITE:TheDouglasDC-4wasthe
Constellation'sbiggestrival. Lesscostly,
easiertobuild(butdefinitelyless
elegant)itwasputintoservicebefore
Lockheed'splaneandingreater
numbers,bothintheUSAAFandin
variousciviliancompanies.
(Douglas)
BELOW:Variousconfigurationsforthe thesuperlatives. Moreover, inordertomaintainitsleadover This one-sided clausewas to have unforeseen conse
Constellation'snosewereconsideredin
the competition and in particularJuan Trippe's Pan Am, quenceson thebuilder'sfuturesales, Indeed,theexistence
theinitialstagesoftheproject's
development,intheendthemost developingthemachinereserved exclusively forTWA had ofthe new plane had to remain secret from all the other
sensiblebeingchosenamongallthe to take placein conditions ofabsolutesecrecy, which was companies until the thirty-fifth planewas delivered, which
.otherswhichwereatthelimitofwhat
noteasyto do, given the sizeofthe Lockheed Company. particularlydispleasedAmerican Airlines which had been
waspossible...(Lockheed)
Strangelyenough, nothingeverleakedout. le~outandwhichdecidedneveragaintobuyaLockheed
madeplane,,. apromisewhichwas kept.
The aircra~buildergotdown to workimmediatelywith
TYPE I TYPEll. almost350peopleworkingon designingthethousandsof
COMPLETELY FAIREP componentswhichmadeupthefutureairliner. Evenbefore
NOSE. COCKPIT A
thedesignwasfinished, innumerabletests(themostnumerous
BovE MAIN FLOOR.
foracivilian aeroplaneatthe time) werecarried outanda
numberofwind tunnel models designedwhichwereused
toclearthewayforthevariousdevelopmentstages,consis
ting ofseveral hundreds oftests.
A scale one model ofthe cabin was quicklybuiltbut
when itwas uncovered forthe firsttime, Howard Hughes
was not pleased and declared'...it's notwhatIexpec
ted...'He therefore asked Raymond Loewy, atalented
designer6, tohavealookattheprobleminordertogetrid
ofthedefects.
Apart from the extravagant, strange millionaire's inspec
tion, thelife-sizeworkingmodeloftheplane-completethis
timeandwhichwasbuiltquickly-itselfunderwentabattery
oftestsintendedtovalidatethedesignbeforemovinginto
the production phase proper. Thus the undercarriagewas
loweredandraised morethantwothousandtimeswhilstthe
stress exerted on the ailerons was scrupulouslyexamined.
As forthepowerplant,itwastestedonaspeciallymodified
PV-l Ventura called'SweaterGirl'-andveryquicklynick
named 'Vent-ellation'- fitted with two Wright R-3350-35
enginesandwhichperformedjustaswellasthefour-engined
aircra~didlaterwhilstatthesametimesolvingalotofteething
. TYPE ]I
troubles.
vee" FINALSINCI.E: CURV
ATURE CONICAL1'VPI
NOW USED, 6.BorninParis,itwasintheUnitedSatesthatRaymondLoewywasfamous,
tothepointwhereheisnowconsideredasoneofthefoundersofindustrial
aesthetics.Hecreatedalotofdifferentthings,fromcarstoplanes,including
spaceships!Amonghisprincipalrealisationsandapartfromthere-fittingout
oftheConstellation,it'sworthmentioningthetrademarksforBP,LUNewman
andShell(the'shell'washisidea),l'Oreal,AirFrance,orMonoprixandthe
drawingsforthefuturisticStudebakerAvanti,ortheLuckyStrikecigareffepacket
9
andfinallythelayoutoftheConcordecabinandthatoftheorbitalspocestation
'Skylab'.