The Lockheed Constellation made its first flight on 9th January 1943 but, owing to the constraints imposed by the Second World War, TWA, the launch customer, didn't take delivery of their first aircraft until 19th November 1945. Prior to this date, initial aircraft were used by the USAAF under the designation C69.
The improvements offered by the Constellation represented a giant leap forward in air transport and it achieved many new records for both its speed and range.
Its unusual, but highly aerodynamic, shape was the result of the desire to achieve a shorter nosewheel than would otherwise have been required with such large diameter propellors, combined with the simple necessity for it to be accomodated within the hangers of the current period. These factors, however, were also responsible for giving us what many believe was the most beautiful and graceful aircraft of all time.
There are many interesting books which give exhaustive information on the Connie - try Lockheed Constellation by Curtis K Stringfellow and Peter M Bowers for more information. But first - download one of the beauties below to see what it was like, handling the QUEEN OF THE SKIES!
CLICK on the image to download the file
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This aircraft, No.145925, was used by the US Navy in the 1970's to
map the earths magnetic field.
Probably one of the most colourful transport aircraft to carry US military
markings, it was named 'Paisano Dos' and featured a large cartoon roadrunner
on both sides. The colour scheme and configuration varied quite a bit over
its period of operation (if the photos are to be believed!). This is a
representative scheme.
L749
Constellation Ace Freighters G-ALAL
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Ace Freighters at one time ranked third in operating the largest fleet of L749 Constellations. The aircraft were all in slightly different colour schemes and had differently shaped 'aces'. They carried a lot of freight but I don't know if any of their aircraft ever made it to Hong Kong!
Some of the Constellations available for download from WWW.Flightsim.com and the 'Classic Airliners' site (see LINKS) come with sound and quite a good panel. You could download one of them (you can never have too many propliners!) and 'alias' the sound and panel to the aircraft you download here.There are, however, lots of other panels and sounds available from the sites mentioned above - the MATS Connie panel is quite good as it has an extra set of instruments which you can use in 'spot plane' mode. It does benefit from trimming the main bitmap around the windscreen wipers and chart lamp (use the pencil tool and black ink) and you might want to remove the registration from the panel if you intend to use it with more than one plane.
For an alternative sound, it's hard to beat CONSOUND.ZIP, which is recorded from the MATS Constellation itself.