SPECIAL EDITION TWA ’ s Connies
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advancement in aircraft design and , though only 10 Stratoliners were built , they set the standard for airliners yet to be produced .
By the time of the United States ’ entry into World War II , Howard Hughes was in command of TWA ’ s aircraft procurement program from behind the scenes . He had purchased enough of the company ’ s stock to place himself in that position . Hughes ’ s ambition was to have TWA leading the pack with the most advanced airliner in service after the war . What was originally built as the four-engine Lockheed C-69 for the military became the L-049 in civilian service : the first in a long line of triple-tailed aircraft to be christened ‘ Constellation ’.
Constellations became synonymous with TWA , and the carrier eventually deployed more Constellations than any other airline in the world . In these pages , we ’ ll take a look back at the long line of Lockheed triple-tailed airliners that served with the company whose slogan was “ Fly the Finest .”
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1 L-1049 Super Constellation N6909C is captured in this striking publicity photo . Including standard model Constellations , Super Constellations , and L-1649A Jetstreams , TWA operated a total of 163 of the Lockheed triple-tailed airliners over the years .
2 The first Constellation : Lockheed ’ s first C-69 ( military version of the L-049 ) is presented to the US Armed Services at Washington National Airport ( DCA ) in 1944 . Howard Hughes managed to have Lockheed paint the aircraft in TWA colors .
3 The first Constellation built as an L-049 civilian model , NC86500 , is shown wearing TWA ’ s original bare metal livery .
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