Constellation is an airplane _ Constellation is an airplane driving simulation from the first perspective.

How did civil aviation flight develop after World War II?

With the end of World War II, airline flights resumed normal business and route network in peacetime, provided necessary communication, and began to develop commercial aviation, becoming a popular form of large-scale public transportation.

At first, Germany, Italy and Japan were forbidden to participate in such activities, but later the number of civil aviation companies in these countries almost reached the highest record.

At the stage just after the war, Douglas DC-3 was the most widely used transport aircraft, and many DC-3 transport aircraft put into use were converted from the original military type to the civilian type after varying degrees of modification. Soon, on this long route with heavy traffic, two outstanding planes appeared-Douglas DC-4 and Lockheed Constellation.

The origin of DC-4 can be traced back to the middle of 1935. Five American civil aviation companies requested to develop a four-engine aircraft with main routes. 1June, 938, DC-4E prototype was developed. But it was very unsuccessful, so I started the overall design again. The redesigned DC-4 was first launched in February 1942, but it was put into use as a military transport plane for war reasons, codenamed C-54 "Overlord in the Air". A total of 1 163 C-54 aircraft were manufactured, and 79 pure civilian dc4s were produced after the war. 1945 10 American overseas airlines used this aircraft to fly across the North Atlantic for the first time, and DC-4 aircraft and modified aircraft of Airbus began to fly civil aviation business all over the world.

DC-4 is an all-metal monoplane with a single vertical tail and rudder, a front three-point landing gear and four 1080.25 kW Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines. At first, the passenger capacity was 44 people, but later, after the high-density layout was adopted, the passenger capacity almost quadrupled. The cruising speed is about 354 km/h and the maximum range is over 6440 km. Although this kind of aircraft has played an important role in the development of air transportation, it has a serious defect: it is not a sealed cabin.

Although the constellation was designed according to the specifications of 1939 and made its first flight in 1943+ 10, it is not only a sealed cabin, but also faster than DC-4 100 mph (160 km/h). Because of these two advantages, Douglas decided to develop DC-4 into DC-6 and DC-7 series.

Constellation has an efficient wing with a length of 37.49 meters, a graceful streamlined fuselage, a vertical tail and a rudder. Like DC-4, it was originally put into use as a military aircraft (code (2-69); From February 1946, Pan-American applied the constellation to the Baimu route in new york. Soon this kind of plane will be ready to undertake transportation business. There are many models of this "Connie" (nickname of "Constellation") aircraft, and a total of 233 aircraft have been produced; The capacity varies from 44 seats to 8 1 seat.

In order to compete with the early Constellation aircraft, Douglas made a DC-6 aircraft, equipped with Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, 1788 kW horsepower. Originally equipped with 50 passenger seats, it was put into use by American Airlines and United Airlines 1946 in April. The machine has produced more than 170; There are DC-6A cargo planes and DC-6B passenger planes with extended fuselage.

DC-6B belongs to DC-3 series aircraft and is one of the real large transport aircraft in the world. Safe, comfortable and economical. 195 1 April, American airlines used it on American intercontinental routes. The original design was 54 seats. Douglas produced a total of 288 DC-6B aircraft, and its production continued until 1958.

At the same time, Lockheed has developed the constellation into a super constellation. This new aircraft was put into use in China Eastern Airlines at the end of 195 1, and was called L- 1049. The fuselage of the aircraft has been lengthened by 5.49 meters, and it is equipped with a 20 1 1.5 kW "Cyclone" engine. "Super Constellation" aircraft started from its improved L- 1049C, using Wright's "turbo hybrid" engine. The total number of "Super Constellation" engines with this engine is 600, and the latter two models are L- 1049G passenger model and L- 1049H passenger/. This aircraft was originally equipped with 66 first-class seats (then standard seats), and later adopted a high-density layout with a passenger capacity of 102.

The super constellation corresponding to Douglas' aircraft is DC-7. This aircraft is equipped with a "turbo hybrid" engine, with 60/95 seats, and has the ability to transport directly over the continental United States. 1953165438+10 was adopted by American airlines in October for new york-L.A. route. On this route, it takes 8 hours for DC 7 to fly from west to east, and 8 hours and 45 minutes for DC 7 to fly from east to west. The DC-7B has a longer range, and then the DC-7C "Seven Seas" aircraft has increased its wingspan and can fly directly over the North Atlantic. It is a very long-range plane, which can carry-105 passengers. DC-7C aircraft was used by Pan American Airlines for direct flights in the North Atlantic on June 1956. Douglas has produced a total of 343 DC-7 series aircraft, which is the last piston engine flying aircraft of the company.

Lockheed's last piston engine plane was L- 1649A "Flying Star". This is a further development of the "Super Constellation" aircraft, equipped with a brand-new integral structure wing, 45.72 meters long. "Flying Star" can carry 99 passengers with a maximum cruising range of over 9,660 kilometers. TWA used it on the new york-London direct route, and it was put into use on the anniversary of the DC-7C aircraft. Although "Flying Star" is an excellent plane, it only sold 43 because it appeared too late.

All kinds of four-engine flying planes of Douglas Company and Lockheed Company, until the large-scale use of jet transport aircraft in 1958- 1960, covered most of the world's medium and long-distance shipping business. The "four-engine" aircraft used by British Overseas Airlines and several large Canadian companies also played an important role. This aircraft is basically the same as the sealed DC-4, and its power unit is Rolls-Royce's Merlin liquid-cooled engine.

The above is Boeing's four-engine "Stratospheric Cruise Aircraft". Developed from the "Super Fortress" bomber, this aircraft is a large aircraft (carrying 55 ~ 100 passengers), with a lounge in the lower cabin. This aircraft was first used on the North Atlantic route by Pan Am in 1949, and a total of 55 aircraft were produced.

Just as Douglas and Lockheed's four-engine aircraft are crucial to the successful long-distance air transportation, twin-engine Conville flight is the most important tool for short-distance air transportation. The first model of this series is Conway 240, which was put into use by American Airlines on June 1948. Equipped with two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines, 1788kW. The cabin is sealed and carries 40 passengers. 1952 put into use 44 Conville 340 aircraft with long fuselage and improved fuselage, 1956 adopted 56 Conville 440 "Metropolis" aircraft.

Conville aircraft have been widely used all over the world; More than 65,438+0,000 such aircraft were produced for civil and military purposes, of which more than 200 were later converted into turboprop engines.

Although Martin 2-0-2 and 4-0-4 are somewhat similar to Conville, they are far less successful than Conville. The 42-seat 2-0-2 aircraft was put into use in Northwest Airlines and Chilean National Airlines from 1947, and the 4-0-4 aircraft was put into use in June 195 10. The main users are TWA and China Eastern Airlines.

Two important piston engine transport planes produced in France have played a certain role in the development of post-war air transport. This is the "Provencal Dialect" with four engines and 33/44 seats and the "double-deck" plane with two engine rooms. The former has produced 100 aircraft. Air France has the largest number of "Provence dialect" aircraft, which are also used by other airlines, such as Emirates, Lebanese Airlines, Tunisian Airlines and Polish Airlines. "Double-decker" plane was used by Air France on March 1953 Mediterranean route. As a cargo plane, it was decommissioned in March of 197 1 year after a period of use, and a total of 12 planes were produced.

Saab Scandia is also worth mentioning. It is a Swedish twin-engine passenger plane with 24-36 seats, which is produced in Sweden and the Netherlands. Scandia was put into use on 1950 Scandinavian Airlines and also in Brazil.

The two most important land-based transport aircraft equipped with piston engines in Britain after the war were the Viking Armstrong and the Ambassador. Viking aircraft is roughly equivalent to a DC-3, which can carry 2 1 ~ 36 passengers. Equipped with two Bristol Hercules engines, 65,438+0, it was first used by British European Airlines in September 1946. This model is the main force of British European Airlines in recent years, and it is also used by many other companies around the world. The total output of this machine is 163.

The graceful "Special Envoy" monoplane can carry 47 ~ 55 passengers and is equipped with two 20 1 1.5 kW Bristol "Sentoros" engines. When 1952 was first used by British European Airlines, it adopted an unusual name "Elizabeth". British European Airlines has 20 such planes, which flew 4,988,966.4 Qian Qian meters and transported 2.43 million passengers before retiring in July 1958. Even after that, the "Special Envoy" plane was still used by many independent airlines, one of which was once used for flying horse racing.