Lockheed L-1249 Super Constellation

L-1249 Super Constellation; R7V-2/YC-121F Constellation
	Lockheed R7V-2
Role	Experimental military transport
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Lockheed
Designer	Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
First flight	1 September 1954
Introduction	10 September 1954 (Navy) ; July 1955 (Air Force)
Status	Retired
Primary user	United States Navy ; United States Air Force
Produced	1954 and 1955 respectively
Number built	4
Developed from	C-121 Constellation ; L-1049 Super Constellation

The Lockheed L-1249 Super Constellation was a turbine-powered version of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft family. Built in 1954 and 1955, the aircraft were used as prototypes for possible future turboprop military transport aircraft for both the United States Air Force and United States Navy. Both aircraft saw very short lives and the airframes were later used to build L-1049 Super Constellations.

Design and development

On 18 August 1950, the United States Navy signed a contract for 11 military transport versions of the Lockheed L-1049. The aircraft were to have been convertible troop/cargo transports, based on the model L-1049B (which was already being constructed as the PO-2W Warning Star). The R7O-1 would have also featured round portholes in place of the rectangular ones on Air Force C-121C Constellations. The aircraft entered evaluation service in the Navy's oldest test squadron, VX-1, based in Patuxent River, Maryland.

In November 1951, an idea came about to build a turbine-powered version of the R7O-1. This new aircraft was designated L-1249A by Lockheed. In 1954, two R7O-1s (then designated R7V-1) were pulled off the assembly line for conversion into prototypes for the new L-1249A. The landing gear was strengthened along with the fuselage and wings of the aircraft. Extra fuel tanks were also added on the wingtips of the two aircraft, increasing the fuel capacity to 7,360 gallons. The wings were also shortened from 123 ft 9 in (37.719 m) to 117 ft 7 in (35.84 m). Finally, four Pratt & Whitney YT34-P-12A turboprop engines, rated at 5,500 bhp (4,100 kW) each, were installed in place of the usual Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engines. The new aircraft was designated R7V-2, and first flew on 1 September 1954. The R7V-2 reached 412 mph (663.05 km/h) making it the fastest transport aircraft in the world at the time. The two R7V-2 aircraft were delivered to the Navy on 10 September the same year.

In 1953, the United States Air Force became interested in the L-1249A project. Two R7V-1 aircraft were again taken off the production lines in 1955 and converted to L-1249A standards. These aircraft, designated YC-121F, were identical to the R7V-2s in service with the Navy. The YC-121F was able to carry a crew of four and 87-106 passengers, depending on the conditions of the flight (transoceanic and overland). Lockheed also had a planned medical evacuation version, able to carry 73 Stretcher cases and a crew of 15. The R7V-2 and YC-121F both had a cabin similar to the R7V-1 and C-121C. The first YC-121F flew on 5 April 1955 and was delivered to the Air Force in July 1955. The aircraft were put into service with the Test Squadron of the 1700th Air Transport Group of the Military Air Transport Service, based at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. Other aircraft in the Squadron included the YC-97J Stratofreighter and YC-124B Globemaster II, both also powered by T34 engines.^[1]^[2] After undergoing brief testing, the YC-121F was used on regular basis transportation flights. On one occasion, Lockheed test pilot Roy Wimmer managed to reach a top speed of 479 mph (770.88 km/h) in the YC-121F during a 20 degree dive. On 25 January 1957, a new transcontinental record for propeller aircraft was set by a YC-121F which flew from Long Beach to Andrews AFB, Maryland, in four hours and 43 minutes.^[3]

Lockheed proposed an airliner version of the L-1249A, designated L-1249B. This would have had the fuselage of the L-1049E and be equipped with extra fuel tanks on the wingtips as well as four 5,500 hp (4,100 kW) Pratt & Whitney PT-2F1 turboprops (the planned civilian version of the YT34). This would have allowed the L-1249B to fly from London to Moscow in seven hours, from Honolulu to the U.S. west coast in six hours, or London to New York City via Gander, Newfoundland in nine hours. The L-1249B was to have had a top speed of 415 mph (668 km/h) and a range of at least 4,125 miles (6,639 km). In the end, airlines were still in favor of the piston engined airliners, so no L-1249B was ever constructed.

Finally, no more than four airframes were constructed. Also, the complex T34 turboprop was used only on large operations with the 50 examples of the Douglas C-133 Cargomaster. When the L-1249A finished service with both the Navy and Air Force, the four existing airframes were used to build civilian L-1049 Super Constellations. For example, the two YC-121F fuselages were attached to the wings engines and tails of two used L-1049G aircraft to make two L-1049H freighters for the Flying Tiger Line. One R7V-2, before being scrapped, was used for testing the Allison 501D turboprops for the development of the Lockheed L-188 Electra (earning the nickname "Elation" during testing). ^[4]^[5]^[6]

Variants

Military

R7V-2: Originally designated R7O-2. Four converted R7V-1 aircraft (BuNos 131630-131631, 131660-131661) with a shorter wingspan and powered by four Pratt & Whitney YT34-P12A turboprop engines. Used by the United States Navy.
YC-121F: Two R7V-2 aircraft transferred to and used by the United States Air Force and powered by four T34-P-6 turboprops.^[7]

Civilian

L-1249A: Company designation for the R7V-2 and YC-121F.
L-1249B: Planned airliner based on the L-1249A, with an L-1049E based fuselage and Pratt & Whitney PT2F-1 turboprops (civilian version of the YT34). None built.

Specifications (YC-121F)

Data from Breffort, p. 133, p.154,^[5] AirForceTimes.com^[6], and Alternate Wars.com^[7]

General characteristics

Crew: four or fifteen
Capacity: 87-106 Passengers (Passenger configuration)
73 Stretcher Cases (Medical configuration)

Performance

References

Notes

^ alternatewars.com - YC-97 Characteristics Summary; Retrieved 10/12/11
^ US Warplanes.net - ENGINE GUIDE - Post World War II & The Modern Era Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine; Retrieved 10/12/11
^ Associated Press, "Special Superconnie Sets Transcontinental Record", The San Bernardino Sun. San Bernardino, California, Saturday 26 January 1957, Volume LXIII, Number 127, page 5.
^ US Warplanes - C-69/C-121 Archived 2015-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 10/8/11
^ ^a ^b Breffort, Dominique. Lockheed Constellation: from Excalibur to Starliner Civilian and Military Variants. Histoire and Collecions, 2006, Print. ISBN 2-915239-62-2, pp. 133-134 & 154-155.
^ ^a ^b AirForceTimes - History in blue: Turboprop Super Connies didn't have military future; Dorr, Robert F.; Published 5/22/06; Retrieved 10/19/11
^ ^a ^b alternatewars.com - YC-121F Charactaristics Summary; Retrieved 10/11/11

Bibliography

Breffort, Dominique. Lockheed Constellation: from Excalibur to Starliner Civilian and Military Variants. Paris: Histoire and Collecions, 2006. Print. ISBN 2-915239-62-2

External links

The Characteristics Summary and the Standard Aircraft Characteristics of the R7V-2 from Alternate Wars.com
Characteristics Summary for the YC-121F, available on alternatewars.com
Lockheed Constellation Survivors - A website that explains information and whereabouts of surviving Constellations of all variants. The fates of the four L-1249 aircraft are mentioned in the Q&A section of the website.
1000 Aircraft Photos - Lockheed 1249A-94-75 YC-121F Constellation - A photograph of the second YC-121F delivered to the U.S. Air Force. Below the image is a small detailed summary on the L-1249A.
Zoggavia - Lockheed 1951-1960 - A link which includes photographs and brief summaries of Lockheed aircraft from 1951 to 1960, including the YC-121F and R7V-2.

[97jcs-1] ternatewars.com - YC-97 Characteristics Summary; Retrieved 10/12/11

[2] US Warplanes.net - ENGINE GUIDE - Post World War II & The Modern Era Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine; Retrieved 10/12/11

[3] Associated Press, "Special Superconnie Sets Transcontinental Record", The San Bernardino Sun. San Bernardino, California, Saturday 26 January 1957, Volume LXIII, Number 127, page 5.

[usw-4] US Warplanes - C-69/C-121 Archived 2015-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 10/8/11

[Dom-5] Breffort, Dominique. Lockheed Constellation: from Excalibur to Starliner Civilian and Military Variants. Histoire and Collecions, 2006, Print. ISBN 2-915239-62-2, pp. 133-134 & 154-155.

[AFT-6] AirForceTimes - History in blue: Turboprop Super Connies didn't have military future; Dorr, Robert F.; Published 5/22/06; Retrieved 10/19/11

[altwar-7] ternatewars.com - YC-121F Charactaristics Summary; Retrieved 10/11/11

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v t e Lockheed Constellation family
Model numbers	L-049 L-051 L-084 L-104 L-139 L-149 L-249 L-349 L-449 L-549 L-649 L-749 L-849 L-949 L-1049 A B/F L-1149 L-1249 L-1449 L-1549 L-1649
Names	Constellation (I) Constellation (II) Constellation (III) Speedfreighter Starliner Super Constellation (I) Super Constellation (II)
Military designations	B-30 C-69 C-121 F EC-121 PO R7O/R7V -2 WV W2V
Accidents and incidents	TWA Flight 513 (1946) TWA Flight 6963 (1946) Pan Am Flight 121 (1947) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (1948) Air France Flight 009 (1949) TWA Flight 903 (1950) Air India Flight 245 (1950) Pan Am Flight 151 (1951) Air France Flight 152 (1953) Air France Flight 178 (1953) KLM Flight 633 (1954) Air India Flight 300 (1955) El Al Flight 402 (1955) LAV Flight 253 (June 1956) TWA Flight 2 (1956) LAV Flight 253 (November 1956) KLM Flight 844 (1957) KLM Flight 607-E (1958) Lufthansa Flight 502 (1959) TWA Flight 891 (1959) Avianca Flight 671 (1960) Air France Flight 343 (1960) TWA Flight 266 (1960) Air France Flight 406 (1961) TWA Flight 529 (1961) IA Flight 201/8 (1961) FTL Flight 739 (1962) Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (1964) EAL Flight 853 (1965) LANSA Flight 501 (1966)
Notable aircraft	Avion Pirata Columbine II Kashmir Princess
Topics	Operators Variants

v t e United States military transport aircraft designations, Army/Air Force and Tri-Service systems
Army/Air Force sequence (1925–1962)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8 C-9 C-10 C-11 C-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16 C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20 C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-28 C-29 C-30 C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34 C-35 C-36 C-37 C-38 C-39 C-40 C-41 C-41A C-42 C-43 C-44 C-45 C-46 C-47 C-47F C-47T AC-47 C-48 C-49 C-50 C-51 C-52 C-53 C-54 C-55 C-56 C-57 C-58 C-59 C-60 C-61 C-62 C-63 C-64 C-65 C-66 C-67 C-68 C-69 C-70 C-70B C-71 C-72 C-73 C-74 C-75 C-76 C-77 C-77B–D C-78 C-79 C-80 C-81 C-82 C-83 C-83A C-83B C-84 C-85 C-86 C-87 C-88 C-89 C-90 C-91 C-92 C-93 C-94 C-95 C-96 C-97 KC-97 C-98 C-99 C-100 C-101 C-102 C-103 C-104 C-105 C-106 C-107 C-108 C-109 C-110 C-111 C-112 C-113 C-114 C-115 C-116 C-117 C-117D C-118 C-119 AC-119 C-120 C-121 C-121F EC-121 C-122 C-123 C-123A C-124 C-125 C-126 C-127² C-127 (I) C-127 (II) C-128 C-129 C-130 C-130J AC-130 DC-130 EC-130/H HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 C-131 NC-131H C-132 C-133 C-134 C-135 KC-135 C-136 C-137² YC-137 (I) YC-137 (II) C-137 C-138¹ C-139¹ C-140 C-141 C-142
Tri-service sequence (1962–present)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7² C-7 RC-7 C-8 C-9 C-10² C-10 KC-10 C-11 C-12 RC-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16¹ C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20² C-20A–D C-20F–J C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-27J C-28 C-29 C-30¹ C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34¹ C-35 C-36³ C-37 C-37B C-38 C-39¹ C-40 C-41 C-42¹ C-43¹ C-44¹ C-45 C-46
Revived original sequence (2005–present)	C-143 C-144 C-145 C-146 C-147
Non-sequential designations	C-767 C-767B C-880
Related designations	CT-39 CT-43 CV-2 CV-7
¹ Not assigned • ² Assigned to multiple types • ³ Unconfirmed