page_title: Lockheed R6V Constitution
section_title: Ship No. 2
hierarchical_section_title: Lockheed R6V Constitution / Operational history / Ship No. 2
caption_attribution_description: English: The two U.S. Navy Lockheed XR6V-1 Constitution prototypes in flight over San Francisco, California (USA), on 20 April 1950. The Coit Tower is visible below the airplane in the foreground.
context_page_description: The Lockheed R6V Constitution was a large, propeller-driven, double-decker transport aircraft developed in the 1940s by Lockheed as a long-range, high-capacity transport and airliner for the U.S. Navy and Pan American Airways. Only two of the aircraft were ever built, both prototypes. Although these two planes went into service with the Navy, the Constitution design ultimately proved underpowered and too large for practical airline use at the time. Although the Martin JRM Mars flying boat had a slightly longer wingspan, the Constitution remains the largest fixed-wing aircraft type ever operated by the U.S. Navy.
context_section_description: The second Constitution, BuNo 85164, first flew on 9 June 1948, reaching 25,000 feet during a two-hour flight.  Unlike Ship No. 1, the upper deck was fully furnished as a luxury passenger transport, with accommodations for 92 passengers and 12 crew. Accommodations on the upper deck of the first Constitution were decidedly more spartan. On the rear of the forward bulkhead, in front of the spiral staircase leading to the lower deck, there was a permanent display case containing a scale model of the original USS Constitution sailing ship.
  The lower deck had 7,373 cubic feet (208.8 m³) of cargo space, and it was loaded by an electrical hoist. The lower deck could also be converted to seat an additional 76 passengers.
  The second Constitution, like its predecessor, also made a non-stop transcontinental flight. On 3 February 1949, the aircraft flew  74 members of the press from Moffett Field to Washington National Airport. At the time, this was the largest number of people flown across the United States in a single flight. This flight inaugurated six months of regular service between Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
  In 1949, Ship No. 2 made a Navy recruiting tour of 19 cities. The side of the fuselage proudly advertised "Your Navy—Air And Sea." Some 546,000 toured the aircraft's interior.
caption: The two XR6V Constitutions in flight over San Francisco in 1950
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