Lockheed L-049 Constellation

The Lockheed L-049 Constellation is the first model of the Lockheed Constellation line. It entered service as the C-69 military transport during the Second World War for the United States Army Air Forces and became the first civilian version after the war, until production ended in 1946 and the improved L-649 and L-749 replaced it. It grew from a 1939 meeting at which Howard Hughes, owner of Transcontinental and Western Air, told Lockheed designers including Kelly Johnson of his wish for the airliner of the future, and Hughes ordered forty of the type in July 1940. It was to be powered by four Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engines, and the aircraft first flew on 9 January 1943, but problems with the R-3350 grounded the aircraft in February 1943 until the engines were replaced.