Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[47Jag]

For those of you who like airliner/transport ac, here is probably the most beautiful airliner

(if not airplane itself?) to ever take to the air? .

Check out how the passengers dressed in "the good old days" and also the cargo pod used on the Eastern Airlines Connie.

http://tripletails.weebly.com/photo-gallery.html

Art

[kevin2306]

i would dearly love to go flying in a some of these classic airliners, they are superb.
i do go to cosford etc most years for a mooch but always feel its a shame we only get to look at the outside of the planes, its the interior that i find more fascinating.

kev

[peter scott]

Trivia:

I think I read somewhere that the Constellation was the fastest propeller airliner.

When first saw the film "Alien" I thought the designer of the alien spaceship's tail surfaces must have modeled his on the Connie, although upside down.

Peter.
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Riley Blue]

According to Google

Bristol Britannia top speed: 639 km/h
Lockheed Constellation top speed: 607 km/h

[peter scott]

Maybe it was the fastest piston engined airliner?

Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Penman]

Hi
Can the triple tail fanciers ID this one?

I have removed registration and type ID from the photo.


_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[peter scott]

Could it be this one?


_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Penman]

Hi
Well done, surprising though how few realise that the later DC aircraft should really have 1 added to their model designation.

Of course there was only one of these and it finally went to Japan, and reverse engineered into aspects of the Nakajima G5N
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[Riley Blue]

[peter scott]

OK! I give in. Poor old good for nothing Constellation.

Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Roger-hatchy]

Super Conni with escort

[Roger-hatchy]

Two Icons of travel

[Norfolkjohn]

Concerning the matter of speed, in practical terms, there was no significant difference between any of the long range airliners in the late 1940's / early 1950's. The Super Constellation, DC7 and Boeing 337 (the last of the successful piston engine long range airliners) all had a cruising speed of about 355 mph.

The Britannia was also around this speed but rather more quiet and comfortable. A couple of the big Turbo-props, the Lockheed Electra and Russian Ilyushin IL18, pushed cruising speeds above 400 mph and the Vickers Vanguard made it up to 425mph.

However it terms of propeller driven airliners there is one that, for a brief period of time before everyone went over to pure jet propulsion, blew the socks off everything else. The Russian Tupolev TU-114. Basically a passenger version of a long range bomber with highly swept back wings and powered by 4 massive Kuznetsov NK-12MV turboprops driving contra-rotating propellers it cruised at nearly 480 mph (770 Km/hr). This was and still is by far and away the fastest propeller driven aircraft to have ever been genuinely operated commercially.
_________________
One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning

[Riley Blue]

Thanks for insight John. In the late 50s I lived at Lyneham and 'Whispering Giants' flew over daily. I always thought they were fast and sleek; looks like the Ruskies were way ahead of them.

[52classic]

There have been some amazing types associated with the romantic days of airliner travel.

Handley Page Hannibal, De Haviland Albatross, Avro York, Airspeed Ambassador and of course the Britannia..... All that before anyone mentions Comet!

Airbus is undoubtedly efficient but when was the last time you even looked at your 'mount' before a holiday flight?

I remember being taken, as a school holiday treat, to Heathrow. Must have been '63 or 4. Never forget listing the aircraft types and the airlines for just 1 day.