—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LXXV, Thursday, 11 October 1956, Part 1, Page 3.
10 October 1956: At 4:15 p.m., after a 20-second ground run, the prototype L-1649 Starliner lifted off from Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank, California. On the flight deck were company test pilots Herman Richard (“Fish”) Salmon and Roy Edwin Wimmer. The flight engineer was Glenn Fisher, and John Stockdale served as the flight test engineer.
“The ground shook as the big Connie climbed gracefully away. Its wings glistened in the late-afternoon sunlight like long, slender knife blades. They measure 150 feet, or 27 feet more than on previous Super Constellations. Gross takeoff weight is 156,000 pounds. The plane is powered by four 3400 h.p. turbo-compound engines.”
—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LXXV, Thursday, 11 October 1956, Part 1, Page 5, Column 5
After a 50-minute flight, the new airliner returned to Burbank. When asked, one of the pilots said, “It handles real smooth.”
The prototype Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, c/n 1001, registered N60968, was a major improvement over the previous model the L-1049 Super Constellation. Using the fuselage of the L-1049G variant, a new low-drag wing was used. The wing was about 16% thinner than the previous design, and had a span increased to 150 feet. By designing the main landing gear to retract into the inner engine nacelles rather than into openings in the lower surface of the wing, the wing could be built much stronger. The wing tips were squared.
The airliner’s fuel capacity, 9,600 gallons (36,340 liters), was sufficient for it to stay aloft for 24 hours. It was designed to carry 58 passengers 6,300 miles (10,139 kilometers) at 350 miles per hour (563 kilometers per hour).
The first production L-1649A, c/n 1002, was built for Trans World Airlines and registered N7301C. TWA called its Starliners “Jetstreams.”
The first production aircraft, Trans World Airlines’ Lockheed L-1649A Starliner, N7301C, c/n 1002. (NACA Ames Imaging Library System A83-0499-18)
Lockheed and TWA had considered using turboprop engines (this would have been designated L-1549), but reliability, poor fuel efficiency and cost resulted in continuing to use Wright’s reciprocating Duplex-Cyclone radials.
The L-1649A was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged and fuel-injected 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division Turbo Compound 988TC18EA2 18-cylinder radial engines. The engine’s high-velocity exhaust gases drove three “blow down” turbines which were geared to the engine’s crankshaft. (Gear reduction is 6.52:1.). Energy that would otherwise be wasted added as much as 600 horsepower to each engine. The Turbo Compound used the same nose section, power section and rear section as the standard Cyclone 18CB. The 988TC18EA2 was rated at 2,800 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m., and 3,400 horsepower at 2,900 r.p.m. for takeoff. It had a compression ratio of 6.7:1 and required 115/145-octane aviation gasoline. The Turbo Compound engine was 7 feet, 5.53 inches (2.274 meters) long, 4 feet, 8.59 inches (1.437 meters) in diameter, and weighed 3,745 pounds (1,699 kilograms). The engines drove three-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers with a diameter of 16 feet, 10 inches (5.131 meters) through a 0.355:1 gear reduction.
A Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1649A Starliner, c/n 1016, N7314C, at Los Angeles International Airport, 1964. (Photograph courtesy of Jon Proctor)
44 production L-1649A Starliners were built by Lockheed in 1957 and 1958. The original L-049 prototype, NC25600, having previously modified as the prototype L-749 Constellation, L-1049 Super Constellation and PO-1W Warning Star, was also converted to the L-1649A configuration.
The prototype L-1649 was retained by Lockheed until withdrawn from service in 1971. Sold to M-K Aerospace Industries, in January 1973, it was re-registered as a L-1649A-98, N1102, and exported to Japan. It is reported to have been scrapped in December 1982.
The second Lockheed L-1649A Starliner, delivered to Trans World Airlines in September 1957. (Lockheed Martin)
United Air Lines’ Boeing 247, NC13304, over Chicago, Illinois, 1933.
10 October 1933: A United Air Lines Boeing 247, civil registration NC13304, was on Trip 23, a scheduled transcontinental flight from Newark, New Jersey to Oakland, California, with intermediate stops at Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois. The airliner, which had been in service only six months, was carrying a crew of three with four passengers.
While enroute from Cleveland to Chicago, NC13304 exploded in mid-air. It crashed near Jackson Township, approximately five miles southeast of Chesterton, Indiana. There was a second explosion after the crash. All seven persons aboard were killed.
Boeing 247 NC13304 (Boeing)
NC13304, serial number 1685, was the fourth Model 247 to be built. The Boeing 247 is considered to be the first modern airliner because of its all-metal, semi-monocoque construction, cantilevered wing and retractable landing gear. It was 50 mph faster than its contemporaries, and could climb on one engine with a full load. It carried a pilot, co-pilot, flight attendant and up to ten passengers.
The Boeing 247 was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged 1,343.80-cubic-inch-displacement (22.021 liter) Pratt & Whitney Wasp S1H1 nine-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6:1. The S1H1 was a direct-drive engine. It had a Normal Power rating of 550 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m., at 8,000 feet (2,438 meters), and 600 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m for takeoff. The engine was 3 feet, 6.94 inches (1.091 meters) long, 4 feet, 3.75 inches (1.314 meters) in diameter, and weighed 864 pounds (392 kilograms).
The Boeing 247 had a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour (320 kilometers per hour) with a cruising speed of 188 miles per hour (304 kilometers per hour). It had a range of 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) and a service ceiling of 25,400 feet (7,260 meters).
United Air Lines Boeing 247 NC13304 loading cargo at Chicago, Illinois, 1933.
The investigation determined that the airliner’s tail had been blown off by a nitroglycerin bomb which had been placed in the baggage compartment.
The pilots had closed both throttles, turned off the magneto switches and pulled the master switch prior to impact.
This was the first proven case of a commercial aircraft destroyed by sabotage. No suspects or motive for the crime were ever discovered.
Captains Albert Wiliam Stevens (left) and St. Clair Streett, with the Engineering Division XCO-5, Steven’s camera, and two pressurized oxygen flasks. (National Air and Space Museum)
10 October 1928: Flying the Engineering Division-built XCO-5, serial number A.S. 23-1204, Captain St. Clair Streett and Captain Albert William Stevens, Air Service, United States Army, climbed toward the stratosphere.
Captain Stevens was experimenting with the use of photographs of the ground to determine the exact altitude of a high-flying aircraft. He asked Captain Streett to take him as high as possible. “Billy” Streett was Chief of the Flight Branch at Wright Field.
Dressed for the very cold temperatures, Streett and Stevens carried 6 quarts of liquid oxygen in two pressure flasks to breath as it “boiled off.” They started breathing oxygen as they passed 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). Steven’s Fairchild camera was electrically heated. Streett had taken the precaution of drilling two holes in the lenses of his goggles, should they frost over in the extreme cold they would encounter.
It took 1 hour, 40 minutes for the XCO-5 to reach its maximum altitude, which was indicated by the airplane’s altimeter as 40,200 feet (12,253 meters). The air temperature was -76 °F. (-60 °C.).
After Stevens finished his photography, the pair started their descent. Streett later said,
“Then a strange thing happened. As we coasted down on an easy glide, I started to slow down the motor so that we could keep on descending—and the motor wouldn’t slow! My controls seemed to be stuck, By diving I managed to get down a few thousand feet, but the plane, with its propeller whirring away full tilt, wanted to climb right back up again.
“I didn’t do any more diving. In a frail ship of this special type, the uprush of air in a forced dive would tear off the wings—and I didn’t want to lose them up there! There I was, trying to shut the motor off, and I couldn’t do it!”
—Popular Science Monthly, May 1929, Vol. 114, No. 5, Page 23 at Columns 2 and 3
After about twenty minutes, the airplane’s fuel ran low and the engine lost power. It didn’t stop completely, but unable to deliver sufficient power for the XCO-5 to maintain altitude, Streett and Stevens were no longer trapped in the stratosphere.
During the descent, frost formed on Streett’s goggles and he was almost completely blinded, but he was able to something of the ground through the holes in his goggles.
Captain Albert William Stevens (left), and Captain St. Clair Streett, dressed for high-altitude flight. The airplane is the prototype Engineering Division XCO-5, A.S. 23-1204. Captain Stevens’ camera and the pressurized oxygen flask are in the foreground. (National Air and Space Museum/U.S. Air Force)
Streett landed in an open field near Rushville, Indiana. They borrowed some gasoline and flew back to Wright Field.
When flight data was analyzed using the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale‘s Standard Atmosphere Method, Streett and Stevens’ maximum altitude was calculated at 37,854 feet (11,538 meters). Steven’s photographic method gave a value of 39,250 feet (11,963 meters). The United States’ National Bureau of Standards used a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) formula to analyze data from two barographs which were on board the XCO-5. This method included temperature and pressure of the atmosphere throughout the climb. The altitude was calculated at 39,606 feet (12,072 meters). This is probably the most accurate determination.
This flight did not set an FAI record. It was approximately 1,000 feet (305 meters) lower than the existing record, and the airplane did not return to the point of departure, a record requirement.
Engineering Division XCO-5, A.S. 23-1204. (U.S. Air Force)
The XCO-5 was a prototype two-place, single-engine, two-bay biplane, a reconnaissance and observation variant of the prototype TP-1 fighter. It was built by the Engineering Division at McCook Field. The airplane carried project number P305 painted on its rudder.
The XCO-5’s wings were built specifically for flight at very high altitude, using an airfoil (Joukowsky StAe-27A) designed by Professor Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky (Николай Егорович Жуковский), head of the Central AeroHydroDynamics Institute (TsAGI) at Kachino, Russia. The two-bay biplane wings had a significant vertical gap and longitudinal stagger. The lifting surface was 600 square feet (55.742 square meters). The upper wing had dihedral while the lower wing did not.
The XCO-5 was 25 feet, 1 inch long (7.645 meters) with a wingspan of 36 feet (10.973 meters) and height of 10 feet (3.048 meters). The empty weight was 2,748 pounds (1,246 kilograms) and the gross weight was 4,363 pounds (1,979 kilograms).
The XCO-5 was powered by a water-cooled, 1,649.34-cubic-inch-displacement (27.028 liter) Liberty 12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine. It produced 408 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m. The L-12 is a right-hand tractor, direct-drive engine. As installed on A.S. 23-1204, the engine turned a specially-designed, two-bladed, ground-adjustable, forged aluminum propeller with a diameter of 10 feet, 6 inches (3.200 meters). The Liberty 12 was 67.375 inches (1.711 meters) long, 27.0 inches (0.686 meters) wide, and 41.5 inches (1.054 meters) high. It weighed 844 pounds (383 kilograms). Also installed on A.S. 23-1204 was an experimental supercharger.
The XCO-5 has a maximum of 129 miles per hour (208 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, and a cruise speed of 117 miles per hour (188 kilometers per hour).
Lieutenant John A. Macready, U.S. Army Air Corps, stands in front of the Engineering Division-built XCO-5, A.S. 23-1204. (U.S. Air Force)Major General St. Clair Streett, United States Air Force.
St. Clair Streett was born at Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America, 6 October 1893. He was one of two children of Shadrach Watkins Streett, an owner of race horses, and Lydia Ann Coggins Streett.
Bill Streett enlisted as a sergeant, Signal Enlisted Reserve Corps, 8 December 1916. On completion of flight training, Sergeant Streett was commissioned as a first lieutenant, Aviation Section, Signal Officers Reserve Corps, 27 September 1917
Lieutenant Streett was assigned to active duty and sent to Issoudun, France, where he took charge of flight training, before joining the Fifth Pursuit Group at St. Remy, France. He was awarded the the Army Wound Ribbon and the Purple Heart. Following occupation duty in Germany, Lieutenant Streett returned to the United States in August 1919.
Streett was promoted to captain, Air Service, United States Army, 6 November 1918. He commanded the Alaskan Flying Expedition, 15 July to 20 October 1920. He flew one of four DH-4 biplanes from New York to Nome, Alaska, and return, covering a distance of 9,000 miles (14,484 kilometers). Streett and the other officers and enlisted men were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Mackay Trophy.
Officers of the 1920 Alaska Flying Expedition. Left to right, Captain St. Clair Streett, commanding the expedition; 1st Lieutenant Clifford C. Nutt; 2nd Lt. Eric C. Nelson; 2nd Lt. C.H. Crumrine; and 2nd Lt. Ross C. Kirkpatrick. (U.S. Air Force)
Captain Streett’s commission was vacated 28 October 1920, and he received a commission as a first lieutenant, Air Service, retroactive to 1 July 1920.
First Lieutenant St. Clair Streett married Miss Mary Lois Williams at Washington, D.C., 17 January 1922. They would have a son, St. Clair Streett, Jr. (United States Military Academy, Class of 1949).
He was again promoted to captain, 28 January 1921. Captain Streett was then discharged and appointed first lieutenant, 18 November 1922. Lieutenant Streett attended the Air Service Tactical School, Langley, Virginia, in 1926. On 31 August 1927, Streett was promoted to captain, Air Corps, United States Army.
Captain Streett was appointed chief of the Flying Branch, Wright Field, Ohio, in March 1928.
Captain Streett attended the Chemical Warfare School Field Officers’ Course and the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from August 1932 to June 1934, and then went to the two-month Chemical Warfare School Field Officers’ Course, completed in August 1934. Captain Streett next was assigned to the Army War College, graduating in June 1935.
Streett was assigned to the War Plans Division of the General Staff, War Department, from 20 August 1935 to 26 June 1939. On 16 June 1936 Streett was promoted to (temporary) major. This rank was made permanent 1 December 1936.
Major Streett was promoted to (temporary) lieutenant colonel 1 March 1940. This rank became permanent 9 October 1940. He attended the Naval War College Senior Course at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1940.
Lieutenant Colonel Streett took command of the 11th Bombardment Group, Hickham Field, Hawaii in July 1940.
He was promoted to colonel 15 July 1941. He served in the War Plans Division of the War Department under Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Brigadier General Streett was assistant to Lieutenant General Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General, U.S. Army Air Corps.
Major General Streett commanded Third Air Force at Tampa, Florida, 12 December 1942 to 11 September 1943, then assumed command of the Second Air Force at Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Major General Streett commanded Thirteenth Air Force in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippine Islands, from 15 June 1944 to 19 February 1945.
In 1946, Major General Streett became deputy commander, Continental Air Forces, Bolling Field. This soon became the Strategic Air Command.
Streett served in several staff positions before being assigned as deputy commander, Air Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in October 1949. He retired from the United States Air Force in February 1952.
During his military career, Major General St. Clair Streett had been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters (three awards); Legion of Merit; Distinguished Flying Cross; Purple Heart; Air Medal (one of the first to be awarded); World War I Victory Medal with three campaign stars; Army of Occupation of Germany Medal; American Defense Service Medal with one service star; American Campaign Medal with one service star; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three campaign stars; World War II Victory Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Air Force Longevity Service Award with one silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters (seven awards); and the Army Wound Ribbon.
Major General Streett died at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, 28 September 1970, at the age of 76 years. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Albert William Stevens (Belfast Historical Society and Museum)
Albert William Stevens (née Whitten) was born at Belfast, Maine, 13 March 1886, the third child of Nathan Whitten, a blacksmith and wagon builder, and Alice C. Anderson Whitten. His mother died of “consumption” (tuberculosis) when Albert was five months old. He was adopted by Albert J. Stevens and Nancy M. Trimble Stevens, and his name became Albert William Stevens.
Stevens attended the University of Maine at Orono, Maine. He graduated in 1907 with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. He earned a Masters degree in electrical engineering from the university in 1909. He then worked as a mining engineer in Alaska, California, Idaho and Montana.
Stevens enlisted in the U.S. Air Service in Idaho, January 1918. Because of his experience in photography, which began while he was in college, Stevens was assigned to the Aerial Photography School at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He was commissioned as a First Lieutenant, Aviation Section, Signal Officers Reserve Corps, 18 February 1918. Sent to Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, Stevens commanded the 6th Photo Section, 88th Aero Squadron. He flew in the major campaigns of the final months of the War.
He was an acknowledged expert in the field of aerial photography. Lieutenant Stevens was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart. Following the War, he was promoted to Captain, Air Service, 21 February 1919. His commission was vacated 18 September 1920, and he was appointed a Captain, Air Service, United States Army, effective 1 July 1920. On 18 November 1922, Stevens was discharged as a Captain, then re-appointed a First Lieutenant.
1st Lieutenant Albert William Stevens, Air Service, United States Army, circa 1921. Lieutenant Williams is wearing the badge of an aerial observer. The decoration beneath is the Victory Medal with four campaign stars. (Albert W. Stevens Collection)
He returned to the rank of Captain, Air Service, 10 February 1925. On 16 June 1936, he was promoted to the temporary rank of Major, Air Corps, United States Army. This rank became permanent 12 June 1939. In 1940, Major Stevens took command of the Photographer’s School, Air Corps Technical School, Lowry Field, Denver, Colorado. He advanced to the temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel, 30 December 1940. This rank became permanent 15 October 1941. He was retired from the Air Corps for medical reasons, 30 April 1942.
Stevens married Ruth E. Fischer at Rockville, Maryland, 8 August 1938.
Captain Stevens was a pioneering aviator, balloonist and aerial photographer. Using infrared film, he made the first photograph that showed the curvature of the Earth. He also took the first photograph of the Moon’s shadow on the surface of the Earth during an eclipse.
Stevens made a series of high-altitude balloon flights, and on 11 November 1935 he and Captain Orvil A. Anderson ascended to 22,066 meters (72,395 feet) aboard Explorer II, establishing a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world record.¹
Lieutenant Colonel Andrew William Stevens, United States Army Air Forces (Retired), died at Redwood City, California, 26 March 1949, at the age of 63 years. He is buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California.
Major Albert W. Stevens, U.S. Army Air Corps, circa 1936.
