By many aviation enthusiast the Lockheed Constellation, nicknamed Connie, is considered to be the most beautiful aircraft ever built. The gracious lines of the propliner are indeed obvious. The dolphin shaped fuselage seems to 'wave' from front to end. It sits high above the ground thanks to the long gear. Especially the rearward retracting two wheel nose gear is typically long. At the end of the fuselage is another characteristic of the Constellation family, the three fin tail. The outer vertical fins have an egg shape with the horizontal stabiliser going through the lower part, while the middle one is a cut off version with a small dorsal fin. There are four radial piston engines in the wings leading edges, with the majority of the nacelles below the wings. Double wheel main gear retract forward in the inner nacelles.

The different versions of the Lockheed Constellation/Starliner family can be recognised by looking at

• the shape of the cabin windows
• the length of the fuselage
• the shape of the engine nacelles
• the shape of the wing tips.

More details will follow later.