L-1049SC Eastern Model Airplane

Item#: KL1049EAT

MSRP Price: $183.55

Factory Direct Price: $137.66

Wing Span: 14.75
Length: 13.50

Manufacturer: Lockheed

This Ready to Ship L-1049SC Eastern Model Airplane was handcrafted with absolute precision using the finest Philippine Mahogany and was sealed to last for generations. Working from our library of blueprints, reference materials and their exact photographs, Factory Direct Models master artisans recreated this L-1049SC Eastern into an amazingly detailed display model airplane replica that you can display at your home, office, museum, tradeshow or any place you desire.

This L-1049SC Eastern Wooden Aircraft Model is a perfect gift for Aviation Enthusiasts, Pilot, Aviator or people who took part in developing this Airplane.

Please note that the stand shown in this photograph may vary or change with the model you receive.

Your model will be made exactly as shown in the photographs. If you would like to change this model in any other way, please visit Our Custom Model Gallery section of our website to commission a personalized model to be built.

L-1049 Constellation TWA Super G History:

The Lockheed Constellation, affectionately known as the "Connie", was a four-engine propeller-driven airliner built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in four models, all distinguished by a distinctive triple-tail design and graceful, dolphin-shaped fuselage. The Constellation was used as both a civilian airliner and U.S. military air transport plane, seeing service in the Berlin Airlift and as the presidential aircraft for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Since 1937, Lockheed had been working on the L-044 Excalibur, a four-engine pressurized airliner. In 1939, Trans World Airlines, at the encouragement of major stockholder Howard Hughes, requested a 40-passenger transcontinental airliner with 3,500 mile (5,630 km) range[1] - well beyond the capabilities of the limited Excalibur design. TWA's requirements led to the L-049 Constellation, designed by such Lockheed engineers as Kelly Johnson and Hall Hibbard. Willis Hawkins, another Lockheed engineer, maintains that the Excalibur program was purely a cover for the Constellation.

Occasionally rumors surface that Hughes himself was not at all influential in the design of the Constellation, but according to Anthony Sampson in his seminal 1985 book, Empires of the Sky, the intricate design may have been undertaken by Lockheed, but the concept, shape, capabilities, appearance and ethos of the Constellation were entirely driven by Hughes' continual intercession during the design process.

After World War II, the Constellation soon came into its own as a popular, fast, civilian airliner. Aircraft already in production for the USAAF as C-69 transports were finished as civilian airliners, with TWA receiving the first on 1 October, 1945. The first transatlantic proving flight departed Washington, DC on 3 December, 1945, arriving in Paris on 4 December, via Gander and Shannon.[1]

Trans World Airlines opened post-war commercial intercontinental air service on February 6, 1946, with a New York-Paris flight in a Constellation. On June 17, 1947, Pan American World Airways opened the first ever regularly-scheduled around-the-world service with their L749 Clipper America. The famous flight Pan Am 101 operated for over 40 years.

As the first pressurized airliner in widespread use, the Constellation helped to usher in affordable and comfortable air travel for the masses. Some of the more famous operators of Constellations were TWA, Eastern Air Lines, Pan American World Airways, Air France, BOAC, KLM, Qantas, Lufthansa, Iberia Airlines, Panair do Brasil, TAP Portugal, Trans-Canada Airlines (later renamed Air Canada), Aer Lingus and VARIG.

Sleek and powerful, Constellations set a number of records. On 17 April, 1944, the second production L049, piloted by Howard Hughes and TWA president Jack Frye, flew from Burbank, California to Washington, D.C. in 6 hours and 57 minutes (c. 2,300 miles at an average 330.9 mph). On the return trip, the aircraft stopped at Wright Field to give Orville Wright his last plane flight, more than 40 years after his historic first flight. He commented that the Constellation's wingspan was longer than the distance of his first flight.[2]

On September 29, 1957, a L1649A Starliner flew from Los Angeles to London in 18 hours and 32 minutes (approximately 5,420 miles at 292.4 mph). The L1649A still holds the record for the longest-duration non-stop passenger flight — during TWA's inaugural London to San Francisco flight on October 1–2, 1957, the aircraft stayed aloft for a remarkable 23 hours and 19 minutes (approximately 5,350 miles at 229.4 mph)

The Constellation was produced in both civil and military versions. The initial military versions carried the Lockheed designation of L-049; as World War II came to a close, some were completed as civil L-049 Constellations. The first purpose-built passenger Constellation was the more powerful L-649 and L-749, followed by the L-1049 Super Constellation and L-1649 Starliner. Military versions included the C-69 and C-121 for the Army Air Forces/Air Force and the R7O R7V-1 WV-1 (L-1049G) WV-2 (L-1049H) (famously Willie Victor) and many variant EC-121 designations for the Navy.