Arguably the most graceful and beautiful airliner ever built, the Lockheed Constellation celebrated its 60th birthday in 2003. Conceived by Howard Hughes in the late 1930"s The Constellation represented the ultimate in airline performance and luxury during the 1950s with 856 being built for commercial and military customers. Quickly displaced from frontline service by jet airliners in the 1960s, there are at least fifty-five survivor of the mass scrappings of the 1960s and 70s, with four still flying.