aviation - the past, present and future of flight

around Australia heralding the Connie as the

way to travel.

The -749 series had enabled the carrier

to conquer Europe and Africa – but the long-

held goal of Constellation services across

the Paci c had yet to be attained. However,

an order for the L-1049 Super Constellation

secured improved range, making transpaci c

services possible. The airline operated 17

of this variant. The L-1049 had a maximum

range with a full payload of 5,251 miles

(8,450km) compared with 2,600 miles

(4,185km) for the L-749.

The  rst L-1049 to  y for the Qantas – VH-

EAG, named Southern Constellation – rolled

off the Lockheed production line in March

1954 before arriving in Australia on April 15.

It made the carrier’s  rst  ight between

Sydney and Vancouver, Canada (with

stops at Nadi in Fiji plus Honolulu and San

Francisco) on May 15, 1954 establishing what

became known as the ‘Southern Cross Route’.

The ‘Super Connie’ had a greater capacity,

which meant lower fares, David Crotty

explaining: “The 1049 introduced lower cost

Tourist Class travel to Qantas and was the

forerunner of today’s Economy Class.”

There were slight variations in -1049

layouts but there were three ‘normal’

con gurations: 39 passengers in all First

Class, or 27 First Class and 30 Tourist Class,

or 60 Tourist Class only.

The Super Connies were used to launch

round the world services with the two aircraft

departing Melbourne on January 14, 1958

in opposite directions. They both arrived in

Sydney six days later.

Qantas retired the L-749A in October 1955,

as the more capable Super Constellation  eet

grew.

GROWTH

The expansion of Super Constellation

services led to an overall expansion of the

airline. Capt Reg Darwell (ret’d), began his

Qantas career with the Constellation  eet,

having  rst gained a Flight Navigator Licence.

This early role allowed him to experience the

Constellation services from Australia to far off

destinations.

“The Flight Navigator Licence theory

subjects were the highest Department of Civil

Aviation academic quali cation and covered

all the other pilot licence subjects,” he said.

While the role was restricted to non- ying

duties, training included all of the academic

work required of a pilot.

“It was a requirement to have passed

these to get a job as a junior pilot with

Qantas at the time. As the airline was short

of navigators and didn’t need pilots, I was

lucky to be able to use the navigator job as a

stepping stone.”

Unlike today’s jets, which undertake long-

distance  ights in single hops, the Super

Constellations required many layovers to

travel between hemispheres. This called for

a complex crew management regime, where

different pilots and cabin crew would join the

aircraft at different locations around the world.

“The Connies  ew round the world, and

one of the longer services was Sydney to

London” recalled Capt Darwell. “For those

‘The fi rst Qantas L-749

service to London

in December 1947

carried 2,000lb (907kg)

of food parcels for

Britain, which was still

suffering from post-war

food shortages and

rationing’

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 45

Preserved Super Constellation VH-EAG

Connie performs an impressive  ypast with

the RAAF Roulettes. Royal Australian Air

Force, via HARS Museum

Above: The Constellation’s ability to  y at altitude above the clouds meant passengers enjoyed a

far less turbulent ride than experienced on non-pressurised airliners. Qantas Heritage Collection

Below: Southern Wind, VH-EAF, awaits its next passengers. zoggavia collection

42-46_prop_quantasDC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 45 02/02/2018 13:23