Lockheed Constellation Facts

[illbestamped]

Hi! I am currently making a video based on a Lockheed Constellation "Connie" stamp. I would love if we could share facts, links and more about the Connie. I would also appreciate some postal history on the Connie. One thing I know is that the Constellation was the first plane of the day to have a pressurized air cabin. This made it so that they could go higher up into the air!

[JerryB]

Hi

When I was in the USAF, I flew from Greenville, SC to Morocco on a Connie.  If I remember correctly, at a certain altitude engine superchargers had to be started.

Jerry B

[youpiao]

Looking forward to it.

[khj]

While the Constellation does appear on stamps, the tricky part is trying to identify which version/model is depicted. Some of the stamps show the later Super Constellations.

[illbestamped]

Cool! Thank you for your service. I have an uncle who worked for the USAF.

[illbestamped]

Thank you!

[illbestamped]

Yes! I am not super technical so I would need to ask an avgeek.

[youpiao]

Stop the press!
It seems my sources were mistaken, when they wrote that th Connie was the first pressurized airliner. This article
www.historynet.com/the-legendary-lockheed-constellation.htm

says that distinction goes to the Boeing 307 Stratocaster (I know. I’m just seeing who catches that. )
However, after WWII when the Strats went into airline service, the pressurization systems were disabled, leaving the Connies as the only pressurized cabins.

Also, you’ll be proud to know, Ex, the pre-war airliner Strat was the Pan Am “Flying Cloud.”

[youpiao]

Most of the visual differences between the Con and the Super Con have to do with size. The fuselage is longer, the vertical stabilizers are larger, etc. However, there is one difference that is plain to see. The original Connies had round porthole windows, while Super Connie had square windows (with rounded corners) looking much like modern day windows.

[illbestamped]

Thank you!

[illbestamped]

So basically the Boeing 307 was the first pressurized aircraft?

[youpiao]

That is correct.

[khj]

Minor technicality -- Boeing 307 was first pressurized airliner (i.e., commercially produced aircraft). So youpiao's original statement is correct -- as he noted "airliner".

The first pressurized aircraft would be a 1937 experimental XC-35 (a modified Lockheed Electra) of the US Army Air Corp. This plane is at the Smithsonian Institute.

Sorry to be nit-picky. My wife would consider me to be a major technicality.

[youpiao]

Thanks, k.

[khj]

Your original post is correct -- as I understood the intent of this thread was in regards to commercially produced aircraft (e.g., airliners).

In a later post, clarification was asked, but the term "aircraft" was used instead of "airliner". Consider my comment an asterisk post.

[HA, Tedski edited his post while I was typing this reply.]

[khj]

The XC-35 comes up among Earhart devotees, and it turns out they tend to be some of the more concise sources for info. For example, see 2nd paragraph in Lockheed Aircraft. Disregard the idea that a 2nd one exists, and XC-35 info provided should be accurate.

Sorry, didn't mean to take this thread off-topic from the Constellation.

[youpiao]

Ha ha, now I am confused.

[youpiao]

So, did Pan Am fly a pressurized passenger airliner, Boeing 307, before the war? If so, why would the pressurization systems be disabled after the war?

[youpiao]

It’s all good, k. It all relates, anyway.

[khj]

Timetable in brief for pressurized cabin (not just pressurized cockpit/modules):

1937: Lockheed XC-35, experimental modification of Lockheed Electra, only one XC-35 made (despite conspiracy theorists)
1938: Boeing 307 Statoliner, commercial aircraft (airliner -- enter into commercial service), 10 built (very limited service)
1943: Lockheed Constellation, first airliner to enter wide service

Note, there were numerous other pressurized aircraft as early as 1921 (experimental USD-9A). I have not included these because they were not really "pressurized cabin" per se, but pressurized cockpits/modules or didn't really have a "cabin" in the conventional sense, or I just felt like leaving it off so I could still say the XC-35 was the first. Poo-poo on the nit-picky people of this world!

1938 was the first successful test flight of the Boeing 307. I believe the next one in 1939 crashed, killing everyone aboard. Ugh. The first commercial flights were in 1940. Initial production was for Pan Am and TWA. But production halted after the war began and civilian aircraft production halted. Total orders exceeded 10, but my understanding is that only 10 were either made or delivered before production halt.

I don't know why they didn't continue production of the Boeing 307 after the war. Just a guess, maybe they decided to put their chips on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser instead?

Also do not know why they disabled the pressurization systems in the 307 after the war.