Constellation Updates?

[APG85]

That interior looked pretty nice. Thanks for posting the pictures!

[JohnB]

Yes Douglas sure had a good start on airliner numbers.

To further the conversation, comparing the "heavy" numbers, things get closer. I would consider the DC-4/C-54 a different class, especially to the DC-7 and Constellation, being quite a bit lighter, installed horsepower, etc. Perhaps not quite apples to oranges, but at least apples to big apples.....

When comparing "heavies" things get closer on DC-6/7 and Constellation numbers with perhaps just over 1,000 DC-6/7 and 856 Constellations.

The evolution of the Constellation into increasingly larger, heavier, powerful and more capable versions is quite impressive. Almost new aircraft sharing a common name, shape and triple tail, but hugely different capability wise.

I'm not sure I'd separate the DC-4/C-54 from the rest of the Douglas 4-engine family.
Two reasons:
-When it appeared, it was a huge step ahead of any other airliner. As the history of MacArthur's C-69 posted here shows, the Lockheeds weren't online, and in limited numbers, until 1945, by then a.C-54s were common. So much so, that the USAAF could afford to expend one in ditching trials.
-And more to the point, the DC-4 was the direct predecessor of the DC-6. The XC-112 was a USAAF program to improve and pressurized the C-54...(which was originally designed for pressurized ion which was omitted for the sake of simplicity and wartime production). The prototype first flew after the war and was bought by Douglas as the prototype DC-6.

On this topic, I'd strongly recommend The books by the late Rene Francillon,
his Lockheed Aircraft since 1913,
McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920,
and his later, less readily available book
Douglas Propliners.

The competition between Douglas and Lockheed spurred a lot of innovations.
I'd love to see someone take up Francillon's work and come out with a new, comprehensive book on both families and the topic in general

And there is some great stories told in the Propliner book...how Douglas alienated a key longtime customer, American Airlines (father of the DC-3) with its DC-7 pricing, and how Douglas got the USAAF to fund the DC-6 development.

[JohnTerrell]

Here is a great video tour of the completed interior on Rod Lewis' VC-121A Constellation Bataan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc6YHLNbcEg

[phil65]

Here is a great video tour of the completed interior on Rod Lewis' VC-121A Constellation Bataan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc6YHLNbcEg

Great video..

I got a nice photo with Steve Hinton, but they said only the press was allowed inside.

Steve is not keen on Roswell..

Phil

[bdk]

A C-54 (I think) did a flyover the weekend before Oshkosh with some T-28s at Road America for the vintage races. Didn’t see the C-54 at Oshkosh however.

[JohnTerrell]

The BAHF's C-54 arrived at Oshkosh on Thursday.

[phil65]

Was there something wrong with her right main landing gear ?
I saw a video of her leaving Oshkosh, and it looked like it took forever to raise up..

Phil

[Hooligan2]

I recall watching the Breitling Connie taking off from Duxford on one occasion, one gear leg, nose wheel I think, seemed to get stuck about half way and was visible during the climb out and cross wind. It was fully up by the aircraft reappeared for her first pass a few minutes later - dunno if it just took its time or if the crew took some action

[APG85]

Was there something wrong with her right main landing gear ?
I saw a video of her leaving Oshkosh, and it looked like it took forever to raise up..

Phil

Just a guess, but on some larger planes, the hydraulic system isn't capable of pulling up the gear completely in unison. One will lag the others until the others are up an locked. The right gear is probably farthest from the hydraulic system.

[Archer]

That's a common thing with older hydraulic systems. It's basically a battle between the friction in the actuators and air loads on the various legs as to which one goes up first. The other leg or legs then lag behind. You can sometimes see a leg drop down a bit again as well, depending on how the system is set up.