L1649A Starliner Constellations

"Lockheed produced 856 Constellations at their Burbank, California factory for military and airline customers between 1942 and 1958. The Starliner was the last model of the line and is considered, by most, to be the finest piston-engined airliner ever produced. It was called Starliner by Lockheed, The Starliner was truly the long-range champion of its day, capable of 6,000 mile flights and routinely flying the non-stop polar Los Angeles to London route. The longest recorded flight of a Starliner was 23 hours and 19 minutes on a London to San Francisco trip where head winds were particularly strong. A completely redesigned wing with a span of 150 feet incorporating seven fuel tanks, with a total capacity of 9,800 gallons, allowed this extraordinary range to be achieved. Starliners normally cruised at 20,000 feet at 350 miles per hour with a passenger load of between 32 and 100 plus passengers. Gross weight for takeoff was 160,000 pounds and, when converted to freighters, these aircraft were capable of carrying upwards of 40,000 pounds of cargo. For overseas flights, the crew normally consisted of a pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, radio operator and navigator, plus three to four flight attendants. In addition, on long flights polar flights, extra crewmembers were on-board due to the length of the trip."