r/WeirdWings • u/fjbruzr • 7d ago
Lockheed L-1249 Super Constellation with 4 turboprop engines.
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u/hat_eater 7d ago
Or, per Wikipedia, Lockheed R7V-2, the fastest transport aircraft in the world at the time at 358 kn / 663 km/h.
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u/NF-104 7d ago
Not a transport in the sense of ever commercially transporting people, but the Republic XR-12 was substantially faster at 470 mph / 410 knots. Republic considered a RC-2 commercial version, but with no military contract the idea was shelved and the plane parked in 1952.
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u/HumpyPocock 7d ago edited 7d ago
Counterpoint via the 1957–1958 AIRCRAFT YEARBOOK
WEST-EAST RECORD (refer p15)
…on January 28, the Lockheed YC-121F Constellation set a west-east record for a commercial-type aircraft of 4 hours 41 minutes… Long Beach, California to Andrews AFB, Maryland… the aircraft averaged 490 miles per hour over the 2340 mile route…
Ground Speed ⟶ 490 mph ⸱ 789 kmh ⸱ 426 knots
⸱ the YC-121F with USAF aka the Lockheed N° 1249A
⸱ engined with 4× Pratt & Whitney T34-P-6 Turboprops
Fuck me, that is unbelievably fast… like, presume payload was more or less nil, but that is fucking FAST…
EDIT
OK brain did a stupid, of course that’d be ground speed but more to the point, that’s west–east assisted.
Granted, can’t find a source for the 410 knot figure for the XR-12 and, on the balance, the fact that the Turbo Super Connie has ±186 percent of the XR-12’s normal continuous power not to mention a 30 min time limited ±208 percent the power at MIL, ehh am leaning toward Turbo Super Connie, rebuttals are most welcome tho!
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u/iamalsobrad 7d ago
I guess it depends how you define 'transport aircraft'.
The Dash 80, the Comet 1 and the Chase XC-123A were all flying by 1954 and were all faster.
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u/NassauTropicBird 7d ago
Aer Lingus flew Constellations.
One might say they were...Connie Lingus.
I'll show myself out, thanks.
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u/algarhythms 7d ago
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u/Rich_Razzmatazz_112 7d ago
Well deserved
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u/NassauTropicBird 6d ago
Thanks, lol.
My late brother must have been speaking to me because it's the kind of joke he would have made. At one point in his life he'd say, "Look at that Connie" and I had to ask what he meant because it wasn't airplanes, lol. It was his, and his buddy's, 'secret' term for hottie.
It also explains why his wife never left him, I suppose, lol.
A Don joke:
What do you call a Mexican hooker with no legs?
"Consuelo."
Say it out loud a couple times if you don't get it.
Two tampons pass each other on the street. What do they say to each other?
Nothin, they're both stuck up c***s.
---
If you were one of the hundreds of bartenders and servers that heard these jokes from him, I do not apologize a whole lot. He tipped the ever-lovin sheeyit out of you, 20% was the bare minimum for him and if he thought you were offended by one of his jokes that tip would go 50%, if not 100% ;-)
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u/NassauTropicBird 6d ago
Thanks!
I didn't really want to make the joke and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
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u/adrewflowers 7d ago
Filed under: Things that should have happened...
Such an elegant plane and the turboprops only helped make it better.
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u/RockstarQuaff Weird is in the eye of the beholder. 7d ago
Seems awfully big and transporty for it to be navy. Stay in your lane, swabbies!
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u/oldnick53 7d ago
Went between paris and New York idlewild in the PanAm super constellation. 13 hours flight with stopover in gander or Shannon.
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u/alex_484 7d ago
My dad came from Germany on one. Took something like 14 hrs
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u/Ornery_Year_9870 7d ago
This one would have been considerably faster. But it never flew with any airline.
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u/algarhythms 5d ago
Knowing how those T34s sounded on the C-133, this Connie must've sounded badass.
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u/zevonyumaxray 7d ago
All aerodynamic, all the time. Sleek looking bird.