FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0794.PDF
800 FLIGHT, 14 June 1957 RIDING THE JETSTREAM The Lockheed L.1649A in T.W.A. Service FOR T.W.A. to name (and register) their new LockheedL.1649A Starliner services "Jetstream" was a calculatedgimmick. The inauguration of the service has been accom- panied by a considerable promotional effort, with the airline tryingto convey that here is a stepping-stone to the next generation of turbine-powered airliners. Certainly the L.1649A is the mostlong-ranged airliner now in service, and it may be regarded as the ultimate in the Constellation line. But the demarcation between T.W.A.'s Jetstreams and their707s is certain to be sharply denned. Development is a cyclic process that is continued to exhaustion point or until it is super-seded by a new idea. Lockheed's L.1649A is the last stage of the old cycle. The shapely Constellation fuselage has been progres-sively stretched; the power of the Wright Turbo-Compounds increased to a total of 13,600 b.h.p. for take-off; the diameter ofthe Hamilton Standard propellers increased (to 16ft lOin, the largest on any transport); and the nacelles moved outboard alongthe new, straight-tapered, 150ft-span wing (a notable structure largely made of integrally machined panels and permitting tankagespace for nearly 8,000 Imp. gal, permitting a full-payload range, with reserves, of up to 5,000 st. miles). The result is a transportof true transatlantic capabilities; and it will be used to establish T.W.A.'s California-to-London polar flights when C.A.B. approvalis obtained. Ten L. 1649As of 25 on order had been delivered when T.W.A.began the transatlantic service on June 1. The same name is used for all of T.W.A.'s L.1649A flights—a coast-to-coast mixed(30 first-class, 34 tourist) trans-American service, and 74-seat all- tourist services from New York to London and Frankfurt, or toParis and Rome. The transatlantic services will build up to a midsummer peak of 42 per week by July 26; there will be 30 aweek in June and 36 in July. On domestic flights, first-class passengers are treated to thehedonistic pleasures of the "Ambassador" service, with the amenities of a newly designed galley, a mural-decorated "Starlightlounge," and a central sleeping compartment with four upper and four lower bunks. The interior of the Jetstream has receivedconsiderable attention and, in line with the current vogue, specialist assistance has been enlisted in its design. The result (as Flightwas able to sample on a "second inaugural" flight from London to Frankfurt last week) is imaginative and restful. The over-riding colour is a pale coffee-brown, used for the walls, roof and racks. The touch of the styling consultant is evident in the multi-plicity of colours—cream Vinyl for the seat arms, khaki head-rest covers, gold "Lustrex" threaded mustard-coloured pockets on theseat backs and seat covers, and pastel-green curtains. Or, in the more exotic language of the consultants: "Sun-touched gold, softbittersweet and azure." The all-tourist layout is divided into three compartments, with a total of 74 seats. Each compartment is divided by veneer-facedbulkheads. There are four toilets, two being aft of the front com- partment and a further pair at the extreme rear. Particularly neatare the grouped punkah louvres and reading lights; the punkahs are of the new miniature type with a centre-button adjustment bywhich the direction and flow of the airstream can be much better controlled. Comparing noise-levels by ear is like comparing drinks: theonly easy method is to sample several, one after the other, though the end result is likely to be a worse confusion than existed atthe beginning. Moving the engines of the L.1649A outboard and the reduction in prop' r.p.m. is claimed to have resulted in reducednoise level, and at cruising power, certainly, the level of decibels is pleasantly unobtrusive. There is naturally more shaking andvibration at take-off power, though not enough to cause even rnild discomfort to the senses, and in any case take-off power is ofbrief duration. On the long wing of the L.I649A, the Fowler-type flaps, pro-tected with chordwise rubbing strips, extend outboard to the ailerons. They take about 25 sec to retract, which they do to theaccompaniment of a slight judder; there is no noticeable sink. The cockpit is similar to that of the Super G Constellation. Onthe 418-mile flight to Frankfurt, the crew were kept fairly busily engaged tuning the A.D.F. to the beacons on airway Green One—a process which they regarded with disfavour after the less pressing workload of the transatlantic stage from New York. Aseach new range was flown, the Bendix autopilot (with height-lock and I.L.S. coupler) was disengaged and the Jetstream aligned tothe new course, but the captain found time to demonstrate the action of the weather radar display stowed beneath the floor behind the small control con-sole. The panels are folded back and the scope hinged upinto position. A feature of the L.1649A—and of T.W.A. SuperGs—is the prominent black nose dome for the weather-radarscanner. Apart from the captain andsecond pilot, the remaining space in the rather small cockpit is occupied by the flight engineer. Athis elbow is the scope of the engine ignition analyzer; the complex patterns on the tube—which can be tuned to any plug of any engine—<an be interpreted from an analysis manual. Just before our trip this well-known Sperry device had proved its worth at NewYork, when a faulty distributor cap was analyzed and much valu- able time saved in snag-finding on the ground. Among theengine-management duties of the flight engineer is the synchroniza- tion of the EA-2 Turbo-Compounds, and in this his work-load issimplified by electronic servo operation. The handling characteristics of Lockheed's latest reflect thechanges in design. The high-aspect-ratio wing is quite flexible, and the ride is less "hard-sprung" than that of the Super G.Improved lateral control results from better ailerons and increased stability makes the machine pleasanter to fly (the controls are, ofcourse, powered). Some aircraft are classic from the start. In their declining years,long in the tooth and past their days of commercial economy, they are regarded with well-merited affection. Development may spoilthe original character, but a special reverence attaches to the last of a line. The L.1649A is a transition aircraft. The well-designedinterior, the modern flying aids and the long range capabilities will be found increasingly in the generation to follow. As with many new aircraft entering service, the L.I 649 A ishaving a series of minor teething troubles and delays. Flight's return flight from Frankfurt was postponed into the dreary earlymorning hours of Rhein-Main's airport lounge by a leaking brake seal on one aircraft and a defective propeller governor on another.But in its years of service ahead, the last of Lockheed's line of piston-engined transports may well be judged by passengers as themost popular of them all. The next airline to get L.I649As will be Air France, who haveten on order. L.A.I., a T.W.A. associate (see news item below) have four on order, and Lufthansa have also bought four. Lock-heed's L.1649A orderbook now stands at 43 aircraft. T.W.A. TO WITHDRAW FROM L.A.I.? TRANS WORLD AIRLINES may, according to an Americansource, give up its holding in Linee Aeree Italiane in return for some of the four Lockheed L.1649As which the Italian airline hason order. (T.W.A. is to have 25.) Such a decision might be related to the impending merger, previously reported on thesepages, between L.A.I, and Alitalia. T.W.A. hold 40 per cent of the shares in L.A.I., the remainderbeing held by Italian interests. It will be recalled that B.O.A.C. and B.E.A. have holdings in Alitalia, but no indication of howthese interests will be reconciled with the impending merger between the L.A.I, and Alitalia has been given.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
