Many other fascinating details atThe Lockheed Constellation may be the object of more misinformation and fables than any other airliner ever made.
Howard Hughes designed it. (No. He designed Jane Russell’s cantilever bra, but he only specified the range and speed parameters he wanted for a new TWA transport.)
The Constellation’s fuselage is shaped like an airfoil to add lift. (No. It curves upward at the rear to raise the triple tail out of the prop wash and slightly downward at the front so the nosegear strut didn’t have to be impossibly long. Lockheed decided that the airplane’s admittedly large propellers needed even more ground clearance than did Douglas or Boeing on their competing transports, which resulted in the Connie’s long, spindly gear legs.)
It was known as “the world’s best trimotor†because it had so many engine failures that it often flew on three. (No. Boeing 377 Stratocruisers with R-4360 “corncob†engines had far more failures in airline service. There were a number of engine fires during the Constellation’s early development, but many airline pilots flew it for years without ever feathering an engine.)
The Constellation was the first pressurized airliner. (The Boeing 307 Stratoliner in fact was.)
The Constellation was the first tricycle-gear airliner. (The award goes to the Douglas DC-4.)
http://www.historynet.com/the-legendary ... lation.htm
The book Lockheed Constellation: From Excalibur to Starliner, by Dominique Breffort mentioned at the end of the article is available online at
https://www.scribd.com/doc/280054952/Lo ... Starliner.
