Did the Connies have any feel system, and if so was it Q-feel?
Chris Scott
Sorry I missed that point in you post. No, there was no Q-feel on the Constellation boost system. If I remember correctly it was just springs, but, its been a long time. I know pilots always like the "feel"" of flying the Connies. The whole flight control boost system, except for continual leakage particularly from the rudder system, gave little trouble.
The flight control boost system was little changed too from the first L-49 series to the last of the L-1049's. The system operated at 1700-psi so required volumes of fluid to move things. Four engine driven variable displacement hydraulic pumps were fitted but no electric aux pump. A hand pump to the right of the F/O could pump up the brakes or lower the nose gear. There was provision for fitting a hand crank to the flap drive back in the cabin floor and I contest that no one would ever try to get full flaps down using it. Lots and lots of turns. One peculiarity that maintenance had to live with was the fittings on the tubing. Right to the last L-1049 there were still some AC (Army Air Corp) flared fittings. There were a lot of the later AN (Army Navy) fittings mixed in on the L-1049's. They looked similar but loss of an AC fitting caused problems as they were scarce.
The L-1649 Starliner with its elegant long wing had a 3000-psi hydraulic system with a some of its features coming from the then oncoming Electra.