Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
The Lockheed L.1649A Starliner was a four-engine propeller-driven airliner and the last model of the Constellation series of U.S. manufacturer Lockheed. The Starliner had its maiden flight in 1956; a total of 44 machines were sold.
The West German Lufthansa sat four Starliner from 1958 to 1960 as a passenger aircraft and after conversion to the out of service in November 1965 as a cargo plane.
Variants
The Constellation series of Lockheed was an extremely successful series, which in 1943 the Constellation, 1950, the Super Constellation, and finally in 1956 the Starliner brought forth, constituting with the competition pattern Douglas DC -7C technical highlight of the long-range aircraft with piston engines. In all versions of the Constellation series up to the Lockheed Starliner air-cooled 18- cylinder twin-row radial engines the manufacturer Curtiss -Wright were used in different types and wattages.
History
The L.1649A Starliner Lufthansa "Superstar " TWA " Jetstream " and Air France "Super Star liner" called, was the last model in the long development history of the Constellation series. The model was the first airliner flew nonstop schedule of the U.S. east coast to Europe. On the routes from Europe to the U.S. East Coast, the Starliner was used non-stop with a full payload of 12.5 tonnes itself into a strong headwind. The project work on the L.1649A began in early 1955. The fuselage structure of the Starliner is identical to the L.1049G. By the radome with weather radar, the total length but increased by 0.78 m. The most significant difference was the redesign of the wing with squared wing tips and an enlarged to 45.7 m wingspan. Compared to L.1049G the surface depth was reduced by 15 percent in this case. The L.1649A launched on 10 October 1956 its first flight.
The TWA put the Starliner was the first airline in the transcontinental line service ( from 2 July 1957) and on the long non-stop service between Los Angeles and London (from September 29, 1957 ) a. In addition to TWA, which had the largest fleet with 29 Star liners, bought only two more airlines - Air France and Lufthansa - in 1957, the L.1649A as an interim solution until the delivery of the ordered Boeing 707 jets.
The last Starliner use at TWA on April 6, 1967 the ten Starliner Air France until the summer of 1961 and the four - Lufthansa machines were used until 1967. Among the most famous thrift operators L.1649A included the Luxair, Trek Airways and Alaska Airlines. Overall, only 44 Starliner were built. Since the early 1980s, none of these aircraft longer in use.
In December 2007 the German Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung acquired at auction in the U.S. for 748,000 U.S. dollars three Starliner, together with extensive range of accessories, spare parts and technical documentation. Among the three aircraft is also a formerly operated by the Lufthansa Starliner model ( ex. D- ALAN ). Currently, one of the three aircraft is restored to an airworthy condition, which largely corresponds both inside and outside the historical model. Two Starliner serve as spare parts. For this was an extra at the Auburn - Lewiston Airport, built a hangar in the U.S. state of Maine, which was rented for the time of repair. In the future, the Foundation will operate the restored superstar addition to the existing Ju 52 and other historic aircraft.