Howard Hughes was involved with the Constellation throughout its design and development process, which goes a long way toward explaining the unique style of this aircraft. I wish I had a clearer memory of the one flight I made in a Connie toward the end of its career in the mid-'60s. I recall that the jet liner I was traveling in from the East Coast to the West developed some mechanical problem, and all the passengers were loaded onto a Constellation in Chicago. By then we were all spoiled by the speed and convenience of jet travel at a time when passengers could still expect something like a decent in-flight meal. The attendants did their best to make us comfortable, but I remember the rest of the cross-country flight as painfully slow. Had I made the flight ten years earlier, I have no doubt I would have been impressed by the craft's speed and elegance.
