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The Lockheed L-1649 Starliner was the last model of the Lockheed Constellation line. Powered by four Wright R-3350 TurboCompound engines, it was built at Lockheed's Burbank, California plant from 1956 to 1958. ==Design and development== Development of the Starliner began when Lockheed designed the L-1449 in response to the Douglas DC-7C Seven Seas.〔Breffort, Dominique. Lockheed Constellation: from Excalibur to Starliner Civilian and Military Variants. Histoire and Collecions, 2006. p.112 to 117〕 Powered by four 5500 hp Pratt & Whitney PT2G-3 turboprop engines, the L-1449 would have cruised faster than the DC-7C but would have had comparable range with the 10,200 US gallon fuel capacity in a new wing. Pratt & Whitney dropped the PT2 project ca. March 1955 due to expected unreliability, high specific fuel consumption and high operating costs, though the T34 military version of the engine powered the Douglas C-133 freighter (which was also plagued with marginal reliability). The Air-Britain book says the L-1449 would have been 55 inches longer than the L-1049 series with a maximum weight of 175,000 lb;〔''The Lockheed Constellation Series'' by Peter J Marson, Air-Britain 1982〕〔''American Aviation'' 6 Dec 1954 p.29 says the 1449 would be 118.2 ft long while the 1049G was to be 113.6 ft; the 20 Dec issue says the 1449 cabin would be 55 inches longer.〕 the L-1549 replaced the 1449 in early 1955 with an additional 40-inch stretch and a takeoff weight of 187,500 lb, presumably still with the big PT2 turboprops.〔''Aviation Week'' 4 April 1955 says P&W dropped the civil PT-2 after Lockheed lengthened the 1449 fuselage by 108 inches; "This longer version became the 1559."〕 However Rummel's book〔''Howard Hughes and TWA'' by Robert W Rummel, 1991〕 says Lockheed told TWA on 30 September 1954 that the L-1449 would use the same fuselage as the 1049 series; Hughes Tool Co ordered 25 of them in December, though TWA estimated that the L-1449 would lose money for them even with every seat occupied. When P&W dropped their engine Lockheed proposed an L-1549 with Allison turboprops, but TWA and Lockheed agreed on the piston-engined L-1649 instead and so amended the L-1449 contract. In April 1955 Lockheed told TWA that they wanted to drop the 1649, but Hughes refused to agree. Though the L-1449 and L-1549 were never built, all Constellations from 1954 onwards were strengthened to take the thrust generated by the T34/PT-2 turboprops, which were fitted to several R7V-2 Constellations for the United States Navy (USN). With the abandonment of the L-1549, Lockheed designed a less ambitious upgrade of the Constellation series as the L-1649A Starliner. The new design used the L-1049G fuselage, the new wing and four Wright R-3350 988 TC18-EA-2 TurboCompound radial engines, allowing the Starliner to fly nonstop from California to Europe. "Lockheeds claim that their new airliner, powered by four 3,400 h.p. Wright Turbo-Compounds, will be capable of carrying 58 passengers for 6500 miles at a cruising speed of over 350 m.p.h. and that it will fly from Paris to New York in nearly three hours less time than the DC-7C when carrying the same payload as its Douglas competitor."〔''Flight International'' 10 June 1955 p.785〕 In January 1958 Pan American scheduled the DC-7C from Orly to Idlewild in 14 hr 15 min; TWA scheduled the 1649 in 14 hr 50 min. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lockheed L-1649 Starliner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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