Yes, the performance was amazing. So were the maintenance costs, what with 130 or so different shapes for external sheathing and no two ribs the same....
Repair costs killed the Connie more than anything, along with the goofy triple tail, a requirement from TWA that it fit a DC-3 hanger. The Wright TurboCompound was also a maintenance nightmare, and keeping props on it was almost as bad as it was on the R4360 used on the Boeing 377. No one was really sorry to see piston engines go, believe me. Only the SuperConnie could actually cross the atlantic without a stop at Gander and/or Shannon, and it had to stop in Gander going West most of the time. The DC-7C was a bit better, but the 377 flew so low it could only skip Gander if very lightly loaded -- 12500 ft was all it could do until more than half the fuel was gone. Peter
