Lockheed Model 1249 Super Constellation: Pioneering Turboprop Power

Video from the channel Retro Transport about Lockheed Constellation, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 2:48. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Short piece about the Lockheed Model 1249 Super Constellation, a turboprop version developed in the early 1950s from the Model 1049 Super Constellation. It was conceived as a military transport and as a testbed to evaluate the usefulness of turboprop engines, then an emerging technology.

It was fitted with four Pratt & Whitney T34 turboprops. The US Navy ordered two R7V-2s and the Air Force received two YC-121Fs, which underwent extensive testing and set speed records.

According to the video, it reached about 715 km/h, had a range of about 3,589 km and a wingspan of 35.7 m. It never saw widespread use: turboprops gave way to jets and the aircraft was retired from military service in the late 1950s, though its experience contributed to the development of that technology.