Let's talk about the Lockheed C-69

[MIflyer]

More frontal area does not necessarily equal more drag; think 'tire' versus the larger (and less draggy) fairings that often enclose them on aircraft.

Actually I was thinking more of intersection drag than frontal area.

 

[Sabrejet]

Actually I was thinking more of intersection drag than frontal area.

Interference drag can be mitigated by use of fairings: I think Lockheed got that part licked.

 

[pinehilljoe]

My Mother ( born 1919, passed in 2015) always talked about her first plane trip. She flew a Constellation from New York to Milwaukee to go to a family wedding in the late 40's. She always would say the plane was called a Constellation.

 

[NTGray]

Why not the B-30 instead of the B-32 as the B-29 back-up option? With the post war upgrades, Connie soon became "Super Connie" that nearly met the ambitious 1940 USAAC range requirements for a Very Long Range super bomber.

Quotes from Wikipedia, with emphasis added

Regarding the Consolidated B-32:

The engineering development of the B-29 had been underway since mid-1938 when, in June 1940, the United States Army Air Corps requested a similar design from the Consolidated Aircraft Company in case of development difficulties with the B-29.

Whereas with the B-30. . .

Boeing submitted its Model 345 on 11 May 1940, in competition with designs from Consolidated Aircraft (the Model 33, which later became the B-32), Lockheed (the Lockheed XB-30), and Douglas (the Douglas XB-31). Douglas and Lockheed soon abandoned work on their projects, but Boeing received an order for two flying prototypes, which were given the designation XB-29.

So apparently there were four manufacturers that entered the initial competition, but only Consolidated was left as a backup after the other two pulled out. That's too bad, but I guess Lockheed had their reasons.