aft cabin
// BEN SAMPSON
the kangaroo route
The latest Boeing Dreamliner is flying non-stop from the
UK to Sydney, Australia in 19 hours. The route has always
been a showcase for aeronautical innovation, including
the revolutionary Lockheed Constellation 75 years ago
Australian airline Qantas is flying a Dreamliner on a
series of non-stop flights between Sydney to London
and New York to research ways of reducing jet lag and
optimizing flight crew rest patterns. The Project Sunrise
research program is helping Qantas work out how to run
regular non-stop flights from New York and London to the
east coast of Australia, something it plans to do from
2023. The journey between the UK and Sydney, also
known as the “Kangaroo Route” can now be made in just
19 and a half hours non-stop.
The Kangaroo Route has long
showcased the progress of the
aviation industry. When the
first Brisbane to London
service was launched in
1935 it took almost two
weeks to make the trip.
Passengers had to use
different airlines and travel by
train for a portion of the journey.
Laborious, but still quicker than the
six-week trip by sea at the time.
It took Qantas’s introduction of the USA-made
Lockheed Constellation in 1947, known as the “Connie”, to
establish the route. The increased range and speed of the
Constellation, which was powered by four piston engines,
meant the journey could be made by a single airline for
the first time, reducing the journey to just four days of
travel comprising of 58 flying hours and six stops.
The Constellation is a historically noteworthy aircraft
for several reasons, not least because of its distinctive
dolphin-shaped fuselage and triple tail design. Crucially,
the aircraft pioneered cabin pressurization in civil
airliners. Pressurization enabled the Constellation to fly
above the weather, improving the safety and comfort of
air travel for large numbers of passengers. The aircraft
also featured electric de-icing, hydraulically assisted
controls and reversible pitch propellers.
The Constellation’s development, which started in June
1939, was disrupted by the Second World War. Although
initially ordered by Howard Hughes’ Trans World Airlines,
after the USA entered the war in 1941 the aircraft was
adopted by the military. The Constellation made its first
82 DECEMBER 2019 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
flight as the C-69 in January 1943. However,
problems with the R-3550
powerplant delayed flight
testing and then the B-20
Superfortress became
priority for the R-3550
engines. Out of an initial
order of 269, only 22
Constellations were every
built for the US Air Force.
The end of the war meant
civilian production could resume and
variants designed to better meet the needs of airline
customers. Stretched versions such as the Super
Constellation were developed to increase the number of
passengers the aircraft could carry. Lockheed produced
856 Constellations before the advent of jet-engined
airliners made piston-engined aircraft obsolete.
Today, one of only two surviving airworthy examples of
the Constellation can be found in Illawarra, Australia at
Wollongong Airport. The former military aircraft located
there was rescued, restored and painted with Qantas
livery during the 1990s. The aircraft aptly displays
aviation’s innovation of the past, while the Kangaroo
Route continues to showcase its future. \\
1 // Super Constellation
“Southern Wave” was
flown by Qantas from 1955
before it crashed during
take off at Mauritius
2 // One of only two flying
Super Constellations is
based at Wollongong
Airport in Australia
Jan 1943
First Flight
37.5m
Span
29m
Length
39,122kg
Max. takeoff weight
313mph
Cruising speed
3,995 miles
Range
25,300ft
Ceiling
2,200hp
From each of the four
Wright R-3350 engines
81
Passenger capacity
2
Lockheed Martin
Super Constellation
Statistics
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