[98] With the recovery of large sections of G-ALYP from the Elba crash and BOAC's donation of an identical airframe, G-ALYU, for further examination, an extensive "water torture" test eventually provided conclusive results. The operation was short-lived and was dissolved in 1966. This was short lived as later that year Britannias took over that route. [173] A Comet 4C (SA-R-7) was ordered by Saudi Arabian Airlines with an eventual disposition to the Saudi Royal Flight for the exclusive use of King Saud bin Abdul Aziz. Crews on this route were given military status due to the operations in military regions. #dehavilland #comet #dehavillandcomet #boac #route #londontotokyo #schedule #1953 #todayinhistory #unitedkingdom #uk #japan #flag . [161] Following the Comet 1 disasters, these models were rebuilt with heavier-gauge skin and rounded windows, and the Avon engines featuring larger air intakes and outward-curving jet tailpipes. Posts: 86 [13] Sprite fittings were retained on production aircraft. Smith, Adrian. [169] The Comet 3 was destined to remain a development series since it did not incorporate the fuselage-strengthening modifications of the later series aircraft, and was not able to be fully pressurised. [1], The Comet is widely regarded as both an adventurous step forward and a supreme tragedy; the aircraft's legacy includes advances in aircraft design and in accident investigations. De Havilland nonetheless began a refit programme to strengthen the fuselage and wing structure, employing thicker-gauge skin and replacing the rectangular windows and panels with rounded versions, although this was not related to the erroneous 'square' window claim, as can be seen by the fact that the fuselage escape hatch cut-outs (the source of the failure in test aircraft G-ALYU) retained their rectangular shape. [155] Boeing stated that podded engines were selected for their passenger airliners because buried engines carried a higher risk of catastrophic wing failure in the event of engine fire. BOAC de Havilland Comet 1 Jet Airliner Colour Card FB12P: $4.86. [48], Diverse geographic destinations and cabin pressurisation alike on the Comet demanded the use of a high proportion of alloys, plastics, and other materials new to civil aviation across the aircraft to meet certification requirements. [131], Development flying and route proving with the Comet 3 allowed accelerated certification of what was destined to be the most successful variant of the type, the Comet 4. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were guests on a special flight of the Comet on 30 June 1953 hosted by Sir Geoffrey and Lady de Havilland. [43] A pressurised refuelling system, developed by Flight Refuelling Ltd, allowed the Comet's fuel tanks to be refuelled at a far greater rate than by other methods. The need to inspect areas not easily viewable by the naked eye led to the introduction of widespread radiography examination in aviation; this also had the advantage of detecting cracks and flaws too small to be seen otherwise. All 43 on board were killed. As a result, de Havilland re-profiled the wings' leading edge with a pronounced "droop",[88] and wing fences were added to control spanwise flow. 1963 De Havilland DH106 Comet 4C 'Canopus', serial number 6473, G-CDPA, formerly XS235, was the last Comet to remain flying and is now the only surviving Com. Some amazing Britannia footage, Stratocruisers & DC-7Cs too! [69] [70] [71] The final Comet from BOAC's initial order, registered G-ALYZ, began flying in September 1952 and carried cargo along South American routes while simulating passenger schedules. Now from a BOAC 1971 Timetable. [140] Deliveries to BOAC began on 30 September 1958 with two 48-seat aircraft, which were used to initiate the first scheduled transatlantic services. (from the structure)[126]. The World's First Jet Airliner" U.K. BOAC then started flying Short S25 Sunderland III flying boats to West Africa. BOAC took delivery of 10 Comets and the first passenger service opened to Johannesburg on 2 May 1952. It was on that date when a BOAC Comet departed from Rome and climbed to 26,000 feet and attempted to reach 36,000 feet. ", "Commercial Aircraft 1953: De Havilland Comet. [82], Since retirement, three early-generation Comet airframes have survived in museum collections. VENDRE! BOAC Comet 4 British Airways Source: Duxford Aviation Society Soon after, Boeing launched its first long-haul narrowbody jet, the four-engine Boeing 707, using the lessons learned from the. BOADICEA COMPUTER SYS at the best online prices at eBay! "[125] "DeHavilland went to oval windows on the subsequent Marks because it was easier to Redux them in,(use adhesive) - nothing to do with the stress concentration and it's purely to remove rivets." Principal investigator Hall accepted the RAE's conclusion of design and construction flaws as the likely explanation for G-ALYU's structural failure after 3,060 pressurisation cycles. Following closely the design features of the two prototypes, the only noticeable change was the adoption of four-wheel bogie main undercarriage units, replacing the single main wheels. [110] The Comet's Certificate of Airworthiness was revoked, and Comet 1 line production was suspended at the Hatfield factory while the BOAC fleet was permanently grounded, cocooned and stored. [93], After the loss of G-ALYV, the Government of India convened a court of inquiry[92] to examine the cause of the accident. At about 10:51 GMT, the aircraft suffered an explosive decompression at . BOAC's Comet 4s were leased out to Air Ceylon, Air India, AREA Ecuador, Central African Airways[179] and Qantas Empire Airways;[81][180] after 1965 they were sold to AREA Ecuador, Dan-Air, Mexicana, Malaysian Airways, and the Ministry of Defence. As the aircraft could be profitable with a load factor as low as 43 percent, commercial success was expected. "The Dawn of the Jet Age in Austerity Britain: David Lean's The Sound Barrier". Design and construction flaws, including improper riveting and dangerous concentrations of stress around some of the square windows, were ultimately identified. - May 06, 1959 Operated the inaugural London (Heathrow) - Sydney (Kingsford Smith) service - November 01, 1959 Route: London - Beirut - Karachi - Singapore - Sydney This aircraft was one of six Comet 4 aircraft wet-leased by Qantas Empire Airways from 1959 to 1963 Comet Lost: Services Suspended. BOAC started the first regular round-the-world service by Britannia 312 aircraft, operating via San Francisco and Hong Kong. In fact the mention of 'windows' in the Cohen report's conclusion, refers specifically to the origin point of failure in the ADF Antenna cut-out 'windows', located above the cockpit, not passenger windows. Super VC10 G-ASGE seen in the BOAC/Cunard colours during the period that the airline and shipping line co-operated on UK-USA routes. [13], In September 1946, before completion of the DH 108s, BOAC requests necessitated a redesign of the DH.106 from its previous 24-seat configuration to a larger 36-seat version. [40], The Comet had a total of four hydraulic systems: two primaries, one secondary, and a final emergency system for basic functions such as lowering the undercarriage. Besides the 707 and DC-8, the introduction of the Vickers VC10 allowed competing aircraft to assume the high-speed, long-range passenger service role pioneered by the Comet. In 1967, BOAC introduced its own Pacific route to Australia via New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Fiji. [195] Comet 4Cs are exhibited at the Flugausstellung Peter Junior at Hermeskeil, Germany (G-BDIW),[196] the Museum of Flight Restoration Center near Everett, Washington (N888WA),[181] and the National Museum of Flight near Edinburgh, Scotland (G-BDIX). [5][11] During flight tests, the DH 108 gained a reputation for being accident-prone and unstable, leading de Havilland and BOAC to gravitate to conventional configurations and, necessarily, designs with less technical risk. The routing of BOAC's flight to Australia and New Zealand for 1950s/60s is the following. Without support from the Ministry of Transport, the proposal languished as a hypothetical aircraft and was never realised. [4] One of its recommendations was for the development and production of a pressurised, transatlantic mailplane that could carry 1 long ton (2,200lb; 1,000kg) of payload at a cruising speed of 400mph (640km/h) non-stop. The low-mounted engines and good placement of service panels also made aircraft maintenance easier to perform. 2 March. The Johannesburg-bound Comet, designated G-ALYP by BOAC, flew at 450-500 mph at 35-40,000 feet, covering 6,700 miles in 23 hours and 20 minutes, with stops in Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe, and Livingstone. They were bound for Idlewild via a stop at Gander, Newfoundland, which would be commonplace on eastbound flights. [50] The chemical bonding process was accomplished using a new adhesive, Redux, which was liberally used in the construction of the wings and the fuselage of the Comet; it also had the advantage of simplifying the manufacturing process. 546 or 746 of which the skin was made and in accordance with the advice I received from my Assessors, I accept the conclusion of RAE that this is a sufficient explanation of the failure of the cabin skin of Yoke Uncle by fatigue after a small number, namely, 3,060 cycles of pressurisation.". The committee concluded that fire was the most likely cause of the problem, and changes were made to the aircraft to protect the engines and wings from damage that might lead to another fire. [69][70][71] The final Comet from BOAC's initial order, registered G-ALYZ, began flying in September 1952 and carried cargo along South American routes while simulating passenger schedules. Green and Swanborough April 1977, p. 174. IN VENDITA! . SA on 22 nd January 1952. Photo RuthAs CCA-3 First out of the blocks as those schoolboys have told us was the Comet 1. The de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft reduced the flight time between London and New York to seven hours - significantly less than the 18-20 hours it took on the Boeing Stratocruiser For the era, it offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952. The De Havilland Comet was used on BOAC's transatlantic crossing Credit: Getty I t all started with a newspaper. On whether we grasp this opportunity and so establish firmly an industry of the utmost strategic and economic importance, our future as a great nation may depend. [N 15] In summer 1953, eight BOAC Comets left London each week: three to Johannesburg, two to Tokyo, two to Singapore and one to Colombo. [142] The Comet 4C had the Comet 4B's longer fuselage and the longer wings and extra fuel tanks of the original Comet 4, which gave it a longer range than the 4B. [17] From 1947 to 1948, de Havilland conducted an extensive research and development phase, including the use of several stress test rigs at Hatfield Aerodrome for small components and large assemblies alike. In August 1953 BOAC scheduled the nine-stop London to Tokyo flights by Comet for 36 hours, compared to 86 hours and 35 minutes on its Argonaut piston airliner. [55] The engines were outfitted with baffles to reduce noise emissions, and extensive soundproofing was also implemented to improve passenger conditions. [63] Comet commercial flights would not resume until 1958. [9] Several unorthodox configurations were considered, ranging from canard to tailless designs;[N 4] All were rejected. [75], In 1953, the Comet appeared to have achieved success for de Havilland. Cone of Silence was made into a film in 1960, and Beaty also recounted the story of the Comet's takeoff accidents in a chapter of his non-fiction work, Strange Encounters: Mysteries of the Air (1984). Hall's team began considering fatigue as the most likely cause of both accidents and initiated further research into measurable strain on the aircraft's skin. The sole surviving Comet fuselage with the original square-shaped windows, part of a Comet 1A registered F-BGNX, has undergone restoration and is on display at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in Hertfordshire, England. The trip took 33 hours. Herman. [112] This time, the entire fuselage was tested in a dedicated water tank that was built specifically at Farnborough to accommodate its full length. [66] On 22 January 1952, the fifth production aircraft, registered G-ALYS, received the first Certificate of Airworthiness awarded to a Comet, six months ahead of schedule. [116] Based on these findings, Comet 1 structural failures could be expected at anywhere from 1,000 to 9,000 cycles. The MoT subsequently backed BOAC's order of Conway-powered Boeing 707s. The next was at Karachi on 2 March 1953 when a Canadian Pacific Airlines Comet, on its delivery flight to Sydney, had a similar crash killing all on board, including some Australians. [74], In their first year, Comets carried 30,000 passengers. [13][18][19] The entire forward fuselage section was tested for metal fatigue by repeatedly pressurising to 2.75 pounds per square inch (19.0kPa) overpressure and depressurising through more than 16,000 cycles, equivalent to about 40,000 hours of airline service. [32] Amenities included a galley that could serve hot and cold food and drinks, a bar, and separate men's and women's toilets. The Comet was painted in BOAC livery in July 1978 and transported to the Museum on 17 September 1978 where it is currently on display. G-ALYR a/f 6004. The airline eventually became British Airways through a merger and continues flying the Boeing 747 between London and several U.S.. Worldwide International 134457089011 The move was cancelled due to the level of corrosion and the majority of the airframe was scrapped in 2013, the cockpit section going to the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum Airfield[193], Six complete Comet 4s are housed in museum collections. On 10 January 1954, the flight took off at 09:34 GMT for the final-stage flight to London. [190] A Comet C2 Sagittarius with serial XK699, later maintenance serial 7971M, was formerly on display at the gate of RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, England since 1987. USA et International; Australie; Canada; France; Allemagne; Italie; Espagne; Royaume-Uni; Qui sommes-nous; de Havilland Comet 1 jet airliner . On 22 nd September this BOAC Comet was flown from Stansted to London Airport. The first flight of Concorde 001 from Toulouse, France took place and was shortly followed by Concorde 002 from Filton . [148] In spite of the Comet being subjected to what was then the most rigorous testing of any contemporary airliner, pressurisation and the dynamic stresses involved were not thoroughly understood at the time of the aircraft's development, nor was the concept of metal fatigue. For other aircraft called Comet, see, Comet 4B 3-view schematic (front, side, and dorsal views), Comet 1 3-view in silhouette (note differences in Comet 4 insert, reproduced in same scale), During the same era, both Lockheed with their, The "Type IV" Specifications issued on 3 February 1943 provided for a "high-speed mail-carrying airliner, gas-turbine powered. It used a redundant Comet 2 front fuselage, but with functioning cockpit equipment and instruments installed to Comet 4 standard. Las mejores ofertas para BOAC DE HAVILLAND COMET 4 LAVATORY ORIGINAL VINTAGE B.O.A.C. [49] The Comet's high cabin pressure and fast operating speeds were unprecedented in commercial aviation, making its fuselage design an experimental process. [165] Although these aircraft performed well on test flights on the South Atlantic, their range was still not suitable for the North Atlantic. Chief designer Bishop chose the Comet's embedded-engine configuration because it avoided the drag of podded engines and allowed for a smaller fin and rudder since the hazards of asymmetric thrust were reduced. Hall, Geoffrey de Havilland and Bishop were immediately called to the scene, where the water tank was drained to reveal that the fuselage had ripped open at a bolt hole, forward of the forward left escape hatch cut out. The Imperial War Museum Duxford has a Comet 4 (G-APDB), originally in Dan-Air colours as part of its Flight Line Display, and later in BOAC livery at its AirSpace building. BOAC, British Airways' predecessor, operated the first transatlantic jet engine flight on 4 October, 1958, beating arch-rival Pan Am to become the first to do so. Free shipping. [97] Aviation author Bill Withuhn concluded that the Comet had pushed "'the state-of-the-art' beyond its limits. ", "Report of the Public Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of the accident which occurred on the 10 January 1954, to the Comet aircraft G-ALYP, Part IX (c): Action taken after the accident and prior to the accident to Comet G-ALYY: Naval search for wreckage. "Preludes and Overtures: de Havilland Comet 1". $75.00. "The Daily Express were offering one reader the chance to win a seat on the first . The Comet 4 was a further improvement on the stretched Comet 3 with even greater fuel capacity. Range: 3,225 miles (5,190 km) Passengers: 60 to 81 On display at the Museum: The Museum's exhibit is a Comet 4 analogue flight simulator for crew training was built for BOAC by Redifon Flight Simulation at Crawley. The most extensive modification resulted in a specialised maritime patrol derivative, the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, which remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 2011, over 60 years after the Comet's first flight. Two of these were found to be caused by structural failure resulting from metal fatigue in the airframe, a phenomenon not fully understood at the time; the other was due to overstressing of the airframe during flight through severe weather. ", "De Havilland DH.106 Comet 4, G-APDJ, Air Ceylon. [26] Both prototypes could be externally distinguished from later Comets by the large single-wheeled main landing gear, which was replaced on production models starting with G-ALYP by four-wheeled bogies. [28] The clean, low-drag design of the aircraft featured many design elements that were fairly uncommon at the time, including a swept-wing leading edge, integral wing fuel tanks, and four-wheel bogie main undercarriage units designed by de Havilland. On October 4th, 1958, a British Overseas Aircraft Corporation ( BOAC) de Havilland DH.106 Comet conducted the first-ever regularly scheduled commercial jetliner transatlantic crossing. A countersunk bolt hole and manufacturing damage that had been repaired at the time of construction using methods that were common, but were likely insufficient allowing for the stresses involved, were both located along the failure crack. Prins, Franois. [82][143], In 1959 BOAC began shifting its Comets from transatlantic routes[N 21] and released the Comet to associate companies, making the Comet 4's ascendancy as a premier airliner brief. The De Havilland Aircraft Company DH106 Comet was the World's first pressurised commercial jet airliner and it was the source of enormous national pride. [113], The RAE also reconstructed about two-thirds of G-ALYP at Farnborough and found fatigue crack growth from a rivet hole at the low-drag fibreglass forward aperture around the Automatic Direction Finder, which had caused a catastrophic break-up of the aircraft in high-altitude flight. [62], The Comet 2 had a slightly larger wing, higher fuel capacity and more-powerful Rolls-Royce Avon engines, which all improved the aircraft's range and performance;[161] its fuselage was 3ft 1in (0.94m) longer than the Comet 1's. [110][128], Following the Comet enquiry, aircraft were designed to "Fail safe" or "Safe Life" standards,[129] though several subsequent catastrophic fatigue failures, such as Aloha Airlines Flight 243 of April 28, 1988 have occurred. The inquiry concluded that the aircraft had encountered extreme negative G forces during takeoff; severe turbulence generated by adverse weather was determined to have induced down-loading, leading to the loss of the wings. The route was London, Frankfurt, Beirut, Karachi, Delhi, Calcutta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo. [10], A design team was formed in 1946 under the leadership of chief designer Ronald Bishop, who had been responsible for the Mosquito fighter-bomber. On 3 March 1953, a new Canadian Pacific Airlines Comet 1A, registered CF-CUN and named Empress of Hawaii, failed to become airborne while attempting a night takeoff from Karachi, Pakistan, on a delivery flight to Australia. [159], The Comet was involved in 26 hull-loss accidents, including 13 fatal crashes which resulted in 426 fatalities. [27], The Comet was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane powered by four jet engines; it had a four-place cockpit occupied by two pilots, a flight engineer, and a navigator. [28], One of the most striking aspects of Comet travel was the quiet, "vibration-free flying" as touted by BOAC. (Pan Am's DC-6B was scheduled for 46 hours 45 minutes). Las mejores ofertas para BOAC COMET HUGE VERY LARGE OVERSIZE VINTAGE ORIGINAL DE HAVILLAND PHOTO 1 estn en eBay Compara precios y caractersticas de productos nuevos y usados Muchos artculos con envo gratis! [82], Both early accidents were originally attributed to pilot error, as over-rotation had led to a loss of lift from the leading edge of the aircraft's wings. [94], The inquiry's recommendations revolved around the enforcement of stricter speed limits during turbulence, and two significant design changes also resulted: all Comets were equipped with weather radar and the "Q feel" system was introduced, which ensured that control column forces (invariably called stick forces) would be proportional to control loads. ", Duncan Sandys, Minister of Supply, 1952. In 1949 BOAC introduced the first of what was termed an 'all-land' service using Canadair Argonauts on their London to Hong Kong/Tokyo route, via Rome, Cairo, Basra, Karachi, Calcutta, Rangoon and Bangkok. Among those also on board were the respective BOAC and de Havilland managing directors, Basil Smallpeice and Aubrey Burke. [88], On 19 October 1954, the Cohen Committee was established to examine the causes of the Comet crashes. "Database: D.H. 106 Comet". [57] The Comet's buried-engine configuration increased its structural weight and complexity. ), BOAC, and de Havilland. Trischler, Helmuth and Stefan Zeilinger, eds. BOAC would go on to dominate the London-New York route in the 1960s and early 1970s with Pan Am, but when it came to airliners the Americans were the long-term winners. [72], Prince Philip returned from the Helsinki Olympic Games with G-ALYS on 4 August 1952. However, the route was suspended in October 1943, and a UK-Cairo-Karachi service was launched. The Monarch Service is the name BOAC used for the on board experience on routes across the Atlantic. While the report noted that stress around fuselage cut-outs, emergency exits and windows was found to be much higher than expected due to DeHavilland's assumptions and testing methods[122] the passenger windows shape has been commonly misunderstood and cited as a cause of the fuselage failure. Two passengers sustained minor injuries, but the aircraft, G-ALYZ, was a write-off. The airplane operated on a return flight from London, UK to Singapore. ", GB-High Wycombe: "Dismantlement and relocation of Gate Guardian Comet C2 XK699. [52], Operationally, the design of the cargo holds led to considerable difficulty for the ground crew, especially baggage handlers at the airports. He stated "Every time we pulled 2 1/2-3G to go around the corner, Chris found that the floor on which he was standing, bulging up and there was a loud bang at that speed from the nose of the aircraft where the skin 'panted' (flexed), so when we heard this bang we knew without checking the airspeed indicator, that we were doing 340 knots. Davies and Birtles 1999, p. 22 (Route map illustration). [102], Media attention centred on potential sabotage;[88] other speculation ranged from clear-air turbulence to an explosion of vapour in an empty fuel tank. BOAC COMET 4 Captains Folder Africa routes original 1960s document - EUR 54,29. [171] In BOAC colours, G-ANLO was flown by John Cunningham in a marathon round-the-world promotional tour in December 1955. Just before the 747s came along and bumped the 707s onto other services. [86][87] The accident was the first fatal jetliner crash. [175][N 24], The last two Comet 4C aircraft produced were modified as prototypes (XV148 & XV147) to meet a British requirement for a maritime patrol aircraft for the Royal Air Force; initially named "Maritime Comet", the design was designated Type HS 801. ", "Report of the Public Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of the accident which occurred on the 10 January 1954, to the Comet aircraft G-ALYP, Part IX (d). Vintage BOAC Airlines travel . Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for BOAC REVIEW AIRLINE STAFF MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 1965 B.O.A.C. Courtesy British Airways. Rival manufacturers heeded the lessons learned from the Comet when developing their own aircraft. Was: $999.99 57% off. BOAC said, "the Comet 4 was largely responsible for the fact that between April 1 st and September 19 th traffic was up by 40% on the North Atlantic compared to the summer period of 1958. The overall flight takes under 30 hours. A de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1 passenger plane, operated by BOAC, was destroyed in an accident near Calcutta, India. [29], The original Comet was the approximate length of, but not as wide as, the later Boeing 737-100, and carried fewer people in a significantly more-spacious environment. [61] Comet 1s subsequently received more powerful 5,700lbf (25kN) Ghost DGT3 series engines. [170] Only two Comet 3s began construction; G-ANLO, the only airworthy Comet 3, was demonstrated at the Farnborough SBAC Show in September 1954. [140] Olympic Airways was the only other customer to order the type. [149], According to de Havilland's chief test pilot John Cunningham, who had flown the prototype's first flight, representatives from American manufacturers such as Boeing and Douglas privately disclosed that if de Havilland had not experienced the Comet's pressurisation problems first, it would have happened to them. [17] The majority of hydraulic components were centred in a single avionics bay. AUSTRALIA 1959 BOAC Comet 4 illustrato FFC da Sydney a Singapore - EUR 3,97. British South American Airways merged with BOAC in 1949. Engineers at de Havilland immediately recommended 60 modifications aimed at any possible design flaw, while the Abell Committee met to determine potential causes of the crash. [27] The Ghost engines allowed the Comet to fly above weather that competitors had to fly through. Explore our past: 1969. To this end we propose to use thicker gauge materials in the pressure cabin area and to strengthen and redesign windows and cut outs and so lower the general stress to a level at which local stress concentrations either at rivets and bolt holes or as such may occur by reason of cracks caused accidentally during manufacture or subsequently, will not constitute a danger. [102] The prestigious nature of the Comet project, particularly for the British aerospace industry, and the financial impact of the aircraft's grounding on BOAC's operations both served to pressure the inquiry to end without further investigation. All airline customers for the Comet 3 subsequently cancelled their orders and switched to the Comet 4,[63] which was based on the Comet 3 but with improved fuel capacity. G-APDM Comet 4. Both of these aeroplanes would continue to operate side by side until the formation of British Airways PLC in 1974. [135] The Comet 4 enabled BOAC to inaugurate the first regular jet-powered transatlantic services on 4 October 1958 between London and New York (albeit still requiring a fuel stop at Gander International Airport, Newfoundland, on westward North Atlantic crossings). On Sunday 10 January 1954, British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 781, a de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1, registered G-ALYP, [1] took off from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy, en route to Heathrow Airport in London, England, on the final leg of its flight from Singapore. The Comet was withdrawn from service and extensively tested. [107][108] The forensic reconstruction effort had just begun when the Abell Committee reported its findings. Sections of pressurised fuselage were subjected to high-altitude flight conditions via a large decompression chamber on-site [N 10] and tested to failure. [38], Several of the Comet's avionics systems were new to civil aviation. ", "De Havilland Comet 4C G-BDIX Interior View Scottish Museum of Flight. PASSENGER: London-Miami London-New York London-Montreal-Chicago London-Tel Aviv London-Anchorage-Tokyo-Osaka Hong Kong-Tokyo-Honolulu-San Francisco Manchester-Glasgow Prestwick-Montreal-Toronto London-Montreal London-Toronto BOAC South Pacific Route Menu, New York - 204250723949 Singapore arrival mark on back. [5][N 6] With no time to develop the technology necessary for a proposed tailless configuration, Bishop opted for a more conventional 20-degree swept-wing design[N 7] with unswept tail surfaces, married to an enlarged fuselage accommodating 36 passengers in a four-abreast arrangement with a central aisle. "Comet Service To South America Planned" (News). [4], The committee accepted the proposal, calling it the "Type IV" (of five designs),[N 3] and in 1945 awarded a development and production contract to de Havilland under the designation Type 106. [166], The Comet 3, which flew for the first time on 19 July 1954, was a Comet 2 lengthened by 15ft 5in (4.70m) and powered by Avon M502 engines developing 10,000lbf (44kN). Winchester, Jim, ed. The event would open up new opportunities for the aviation industry, leaving a legacy over six decades later. Also in that year the Comet route to New York was extended to Nassau and Montego Bay. [63] Upgraded Avon engines were introduced on the Comet 3,[63] and the Avon-powered Comet 4 was highly praised for its takeoff performance from high-altitude locations such as Mexico City where it was operated by Mexicana de Aviacion, a major scheduled passenger air carrier.
