Lockheed Starliner
| Lockheed L-1649 Starliner | |
|---|---|
 Lockheed L-1649 of the TWA |
|
| Type: | Long-haul airliner |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
October 10, 1956 |
| Commissioning: |
June 1, 1957 |
| Production time: |
1955 to 1958 |
| Number of pieces: |
44 |
The Lockheed L-1649A Starliner was a four-engine propeller - driven airliner and the last model in the Constellation series made by the US manufacturer Lockheed . The Starliner, which was manufactured until 1958, had its maiden flight in 1956; a total of 44 machines were sold.
The Lufthansa sat 1958-1960 four Starliner passenger aircraft and after their conversion to decommissioning in November 1965 as cargo planes one.
variants
The extremely successful Constellation series from Lockheed produced the Constellation in 1943 , the Super Constellation in 1950 and finally the Starliner in 1956, which, together with the competitor Douglas DC-7 C, formed the technical pinnacle of long-range piston-engine powered aircraft . In all versions of the Constellation series up to the Lockheed Starliner, air-cooled 18-cylinder double radial engines from the manufacturer Curtiss-Wright were used in various designs and power levels.
history
The L-1649A Starliner at Lufthansa "Superstar" TWA "Jetstream" and Air France called "Super Starliner" was the last guy in the long evolution of the Constellation series. Together with the Douglas DC-7C, the aircraft type was one of the first commercial aircraft to fly non-stop against the jet stream from Europe to the US east coast as scheduled . On the routes from Europe to the east coast of the USA, the Starliner could be used non-stop with a full payload of over 12.5 tonnes even in strong headwinds. Project work on the L-1649A began in early 1955. The Starliner's fuselage structure is identical to that of the L-1049G. However, the radome with weather radar increased the total length by 0.78 m. The main difference was the new design of the wings with angular wing ends and a wing span that was increased to 45.72 m . Compared to the L-1049G, the surface depth has been reduced by 15 percent. Larger fuel tanks increased the range with full payload to 8700 km. The L-1649A took off on its maiden flight on October 10, 1956.
The TWA used the Starliner as the first airline in transcontinental scheduled service (from July 2, 1957) and on the long non-stop connection between Los Angeles and London (from September 29, 1957). The first flight on this approximately 8,800 km long transpolar route took 18 hours and 32 minutes. In addition to TWA, which had 29 Starliners the largest fleet, bought only two other airlines - Air France and Lufthansa ordered in 1957, the L-1649A as a temporary solution to delivery - Boeing 707 - jet airplanes .
The last Starliner service at TWA took place on April 6, 1967, with the ten Starliners operated by Air France until the summer of 1961 and the four Lufthansa planes until 1965. The best-known second-hand operators of the L-1649A included Luxair , Trek Airways and Alaska Airlines . A total of only 44 Starliners were built. None of these aircraft has been in service since the early 1980s.
Records
The L-1649A holds the record for the longest non-stop passenger flight by a piston engine aircraft. On the first TWA flight from London to San Francisco (approx. 8610 km) from October 1 to October 2, 1957, the aircraft stayed in the air for 23 hours and 19 minutes.
Incidents
From the first flight in 1956 to June 2018, the Lockheed L-1649 Starliner suffered nine total aircraft losses. In three of them 163 people were killed.
- On June 26, 1959, a TWA L-1649 ( aircraft registration number N7313C ) was probably struck by lightning about 15 minutes after take-off from Milan-Malpensa airport on the scheduled flight from Milan to Paris-Orly . Subsequently, at least two fuel tanks exploded; the machine crashed 32 kilometers northwest of Milan near Varese . All of the 68 people on board specified on the flight plan died, as well as a small child who was presumably taken on board unannounced (see also Trans-World Airlines flight 891 ) .
- On May 10, 1961, an Air France L-1649 (F-BHBM) crashed on the flight from Fort Lamy (now N'Djamena) to Marseille about 100 kilometers north of Edjele, Algeria, presumably after an explosive attack over the Sahara . The stern of the machine was found 1.5 km from the main wreck. All 78 people on board died.
- On December 18, 1966, an L-1649 of Aerocondor Colombia (N7301C) hit 10 to 20 meters from the runway on its flight from Miami to Bogota-Eldorado . At the time of the accident, there were clouds of fog over parts of the airport. The captain of the aircraft leased from the USA did not have a valid certificate of fitness to fly . Of the 59 people on board, 17 died.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 4 + 4 |
| Passengers | 40-99 |
| length | 35.40 m |
| span | 45.70 m |
| height | 7.60 m |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 70,762 kg |
| Engines | 4 air-cooled 18-cylinder turbo compound twin star engines, type Curtiss-Wright R3350-988TC-18EA2 , each with 3,450 hp (approx. 2,540 kW ) |
| propeller | three-bladed controllable pitch propellers |
| Cruising speed | 535 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 7,600 m |
| Range | 9,900 km |
Received aircraft
- D-ALAN / N974R (serial number 1040): In December 2007, the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Foundation acquired three Starliners along with extensive accessories, spare parts and technical documentation at an auction in the USA for US $ 748,000. Among the three aircraft is a Starliner model formerly operated by Lufthansa (ex D-ALAN). It was planned to restore this aircraft to an airworthy condition. Two Starliners were to serve as spare parts stores. For this purpose, a maintenance hangar was built at Auburn-Lewiston Airport in the US state of Maine , which was rented for the time of the repair. This project was abandoned after a detailed inspection of the cell condition and instead the N7316C, a former TWA aircraft, was chosen as the restoration object for a Lufthansa aircraft. The D-ALAN is exhibited in Lufthansa colors in the Fantasy of Flight aviation museum in Florida.
- N7316C (serial number 1018): The machine was acquired together with the N974R and N8083H in December 2007 at an auction by the “Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung” (DLBS). The restoration of the machine began in November 2008 and will also be carried out at Auburn-Lewiston Airport, as originally planned for the D-ALAN. The existing Ju 52 (D-CDLH), the Messerschmitt Bf 108 (D-EBEI) and the Dornier Do 27 (D-EDNU) are also operated by the Lufthansa Foundation . Lufthansa Technik has published regular public reports on the stages of the restoration since October 2008 , but only sporadically since June 2015. The reports suggest that despite investments of allegedly already 100 million euros, the project has stalled. For example, flight readiness was planned for 2013, but has been postponed several times since then. In 2018 Lufthansa announced that it would finish the restoration work in Auburn. The machine should now be dismantled and transferred to Germany in order to continue work there. Lufthansa Technik again left a precise schedule for this open
See also
- Lockheed Constellation family
- Lockheed Constellation
- Lockheed Super Constellation
- List of aircraft types
literature
- Peter Alles-Fernandez: Aircraft from A to Z, Volume 3. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1989, ISBN 3-7637-5906-9 , pp. 47-48.
- Leonard Bridgman: Jane's All The World's Aircraft, 1959-60. Sampson Low, Marston & Company, London 1959, p. 333.
- René J. Francillon: Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1987, ISBN 0-85177-805-4 .
- Karlheinz Kens: types of aircraft. 4th edition. Carl Lange Verlag, Duisburg 1963.
- Peter J. Marson: The Lockheed Constellation. (2 volumes). Air-Britain (Historians), Tonbridge 2007, ISBN 0-85130-366-8 .
- Curtis K. Stringfellow, Peter M. Bowers : Lockheed Constellation. Motorbooks International, Osceola 1992, ISBN 0-87938-379-8 .
- End of a dream: Lufthansa stops restoration of the Starliner. In: FliegerRevue No. 6/2018, pp. 48–50
Web links
- Lockheed Starliner at sphynx.de
- Nobel to New York , report at focus.de, February 25, 2008
- www.lufthansa-technik.com Super Star project - restoration of a flying legend.
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.lufthansa-technik.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ René J. Francillon: Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. London 1987.
- ↑ Trans World Airlines Inc - TWA accessed July 26, 2020.
- ↑ Lockheed L-1649 Starliner accident statistics. Aviation Safety Network , accessed June 27, 2018.
- ^ Accident report N7313C, Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 23, 2016.
- ↑ Accident report F-BHBM. Aviation Safety Network, accessed February 23, 2016.
- ↑ Accident report N7301C. Aviation Safety Network, accessed February 23, 2016.
- ↑ www.dlbs.de ( Memento from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ D-ALAN / N974R on conniesurvivors.com
- ↑ Curriculum vitae of N7316C on conniesurvivors.com
- ↑ News about the N731C on conniesurvivors.com
- ↑ News from the Super Star - lufthansa-technik.com/News, as of March 31, 2016
- ↑ Lufthansa to move 'Super Star' from Auburn to Germany - Lewiston Sun Journal . In: Lewiston Sun Journal . March 15, 2018 ( sunjournal.com [accessed March 16, 2018]).
- ↑ see also Connie can no longer. www.faz.net October 5, 2018.
- ↑ Lufthansa lifted itself up on this passenger aircraft.
