Lockheed Constellation L-1049G

In 1953 the Wright R-3350 turbo-compound engines were finally cleared for civil use, and Lockheed introduced them on the L-1049C. Yet neither the C nor the L-1049E, which added the higher takeoff and landing weights of the L-1049D freighter, could usually fly nonstop from Europe to New York against the prevailing North Atlantic winds. The answer was the L-1049G: it used the C airframe as its base, fitted the more powerful R-3350-972-TC18DA-3 version of the engine, rated at 3,250 hp (2,420 kW) each, and raised the maximum takeoff weight. It carried more than a hundred changes over the C. Because the L-1049F designation was already taken by the military C-121C transport, the new civil version went straight to the letter G.

The most visible feature was the pair of wingtip tanks, holding 1,037 US gallons (3,930 litres) between them and adding about 1,110 miles (1,790 km) of range. Customers could also order a Bendix or RCA weather radar in the nose, which changed the shape of the nose cone, and choose between Hamilton Standard and Curtiss Electric propellers. The aircraft was offered for 71 to 95 passengers at about 331 mph (533 km/h). Reference works give it 62 to 95 seats in typical layouts and up to 109 in high density, a maximum takeoff weight of 137,500 lb (62,369 kg), a cruise of 340 mph (550 km/h) at 22,600 ft and a range of 5,400 miles (8,700 km). Some late-production aircraft received the TC-18EA engines of the L-1649 Starliner, and the L-1049G/01 was built for Varig with a strengthened wing, a higher takeoff weight and R-3350 988-TC-18EA-3 engines.

The first L-1049G flew in December 1954: on the 17th according to English-language sources, on the 7th according to German Wikipedia. In 1955 it entered service with Northwest, which put it on the line in January according to the German source, and with TWA, which flew it across the Atlantic that same year and coined the "Super G" nickname that was later adopted for the whole version. Northwest Orient used it from 1955 to 1957 between Seattle and Tokyo, Okinawa and Manila. Eastern Air Lines, which had launched the Super Constellation in 1951, also added it to its fleet.

More than a hundred L-1049Gs were ordered by sixteen airlines. The delivery breakdown given by German Wikipedia adds up to 102 aircraft: TWA (28), Air France (14), Eastern (10), Lufthansa (8), KLM (6), Varig (6), Air India (5), Northwest (4), Trans-Canada Air Lines (4), Cubana (3), TAP (3), Thai Airways Co. (3), Iberia (2), Linea Aeropostal Venezolana (2), Qantas (2), Avianca (1) and one for the Hughes Tool Company; elsewhere the same source gives 99 sales, 38 of them L-1049E conversions. KLM flew its Gs to Tokyo and Sydney. Cubana was the first Latin American airline with Super Constellations, E and G models flying from Havana to Madrid, New York and Mexico City. Iberia's Gs kept a weekly Madrid-Santa Maria-Havana service going until 1966. Air India was the earliest Asia-based operator of a large Super Constellation fleet.

For Lufthansa, the Super G was the aircraft with which it began long-haul flying. On 1 April 1955 D-ALAK became the first four-engined aircraft in post-war Germany to be certificated; it was lost in January 1959 on approach to Rio de Janeiro. On 8 June 1955 the airline opened its transatlantic route Dusseldorf-Shannon-New York with an L-1049G, and D-ALEM was its first long-haul aircraft that year. In 1955, too, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer chartered two new Lufthansa Super Constellations to travel to Moscow and negotiate the release of the last German prisoners of war; one of them was D-ALIN.

The arrival of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 pushed most Super Constellations out of their original fleets. In India they had a second life: the Air Force and the Navy took over former Air India L-1049C, E and G aircraft converted by Hindustan Aeronautics for sea search and rescue. They were retired between 1981 and 1983 and replaced by the Tupolev Tu-142, making India the last military operator of the Constellation.

The L-1049G is the best represented version among the survivors. D-ALIN (c/n 4604) is displayed at the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil in Germany. The genuine D-ALEM (c/n 4603), built in 1955, is in the Lufthansa Group's Hangar One at Frankfurt Airport, while Munich Airport's visitors park shows former F-BHML (c/n 4671), last registered to Air Fret, painted as D-ALEM. France keeps F-BGNJ (c/n 4519) outside Nantes Atlantique Airport and F-BHBG (c/n 4626) outside the Le Moulin nightclub at Le Juch. The Indian Navy's IN315 (c/n 4614) is at the Naval Aviation Museum in Goa. Trans-Canada's CF-TGE (c/n 4544), at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, is listed as an L-1049G by one source and as an L-1049C by another.