Lockheed Constitution
| Lockheed R6V Constitution | |
|---|---|
 Lockheed R6V-1 in flight |
|
| Type: | Transport plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
November 9, 1946 |
| Commissioning: |
1947 |
| Production time: |
1946 to 1947 |
| Number of pieces: |
2 |
The Lockheed R6V Constitution (originally Lockheed XR6O-1 ) was a heavy long-range transport aircraft with four piston engines originally developed by Lockheed in the 1940s for the US Navy . The specialty of the R6V were the two pressure-ventilated passenger decks, one above the other , which were connected by a spiral staircase. The trunk had a pronounced constriction in the longitudinal direction. Both decks were continuous over the entire length of the hull.
Only two prototypes of the R6V were built: one of them was equipped as a military transporter inside, the second received a luxurious passenger cabin on the upper deck and a large cargo hold on the lower deck. The maiden flight took place on November 9, 1946.
The biggest problem of the new aircraft to be weak engine: Despite use of four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 - radial engines with 28 cylinders and the 3000 hp rated power the engines were heavily used and tended to overheat. A drive with turboprops would have made sense, but such engines were not ready for series production at the time. A six-engine design would have increased the dead weight of the wings so much that economic operation would not have been possible either.
The order of 50 pieces originally placed by the US military was reduced to the two prototypes before the maiden flight, which were accepted in 1949 and shut down again in 1955 due to a lack of demand. There were also no civil buyers for the aircraft (which as a passenger plane could have transported up to 168 passengers across the North Atlantic), and the project failed. No copy of the Constitution has survived to this day. In the US Navy you could recognize the manufacturer by the last letter of the aircraft name until 1962. Originally this was an "O" for Lockheed, but in 1950 it was changed to "V". So the R6O became the R6V . See also the designation system for aircraft of the US Navy from 1922 to 1962 .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 12 |
| Passengers | 168 |
| length | 47.6 m |
| span | 57.6 m |
| height | 15.4 m |
| Wing | 334.5 m² |
| Empty mass | 51,610 kg |
| Normal takeoff mass | 72,600 kg |
| Maximum take-off mass | 83,460 kg |
| Engines | Four Pratt & Whitney R-4360s , each with an output of 2,240 kW (3,000 hp) |
| Top speed | 490 km / h (at an altitude of 7,600 m) |
| Cruising speed | 418 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 8,700 m |
| Maximum rate of climb | 3.5 m / s |
| Range: | 8,670 km |
Web links
- The Constitution in Goleta Air & Space Museum (English)
- Pictures of the Constitution on airliners.net
- Introduction by Eberhard Kranz on FliegerWeb