June 2004 - Issue 6

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The History of Commercial Aviation

Early Planes

Modern Airliners

Jet Age

Jumbo Jets

DeHavilland Comet

The Comet's sleek design included engines mounted inside the plane's wings.

When the first de Havilland Comet took off from London for Johannesburg on May 2, 1952, it seemed as if Britain had produced a nearly insurmountable lead in aircraft development. Although American planes such as the Lockheed Constellation, the Douglas Aircraft DC-6 and the Boeing Stratocruiser were in wide use, these planes were powered by piston engines. The Comet was different. It was the world's first jetliner.

Until the Comet's arrival, jet engines had only been used to power small fighter aircraft during World War II. Many thought jet engines wouldn't be economically viable on a commercial plane since jets had such high fuel consumption. But jet engine development was the one part of the aircraft industry in which Britain had an enormous lead over the United States. Britain's edge was due in large part to Frank Whittle's initial development of the jet engine. Britain's Air Ministry initially had ignored Whittle's early designs for the jet engine. After the jet had proven tremendously successful during WWII, Britain wasn't about to squander the opportunity to develop the world's first commercial jetliner.

The world's first commerical jetliner, the Comet, began service on May 2, 1952.

From the moment the Comet took to the skies, it was an immediate success. Passengers gushed with adoration after flying on the Comet. Able to cruise at 35,000 feet where the air is less turbulent, the Comet was smooth and fast. Hours were cut off trips. New York was only twelve hours flying time away from London instead of the eighteen hours it took piston-engine planes. The plane's sleek design also drew raves. The Comet incorporated its four engines inside the wing of the plane. Pan Am and other airlines were soon beating a path to de Havilland's door to order Comets.

But only a year after it began commercial service, Comets started to fall out of the sky. Extensive investigation revealed a devastating design flaw - metal fatigue. The constant stress of re-pressurization would weaken an area of the fuselage near the Comet's square-shaped windows. The Comet's thin-skin exterior would become so stressed that high pressure cabin air would burst through the slightest fracture, ripping a large slice in the aircraft's wall. All Comets were grounded until the line of jets could be redesigned.

The Comet re-entered commercial service in 1958, but its reputation was forever damaged. Airlines opted for the new American-built jets, the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8, each of which could seat almost twice as many passengers as the Comet. Even though the Comet became the first jet airliner to fly nonstop between London and New York, its seemingly bright future was cut short. Britain's lead in the commercial aviation industry race was lost, never again to be regained.

Plane Specifications
Manufacturer	De Havilland
First Flight:	July 27, 1949
Wingspan:	114 feet, 9 inches
Length:	93 feet, 10 inches
Height:	28 feet, 6 inches
Weight:	77, 000 lbs
Top Speed:	503 mph
Cruising Speed:	452 mph
Flight Altitude:	42, 000 feet
Range:	1, 500 miles
Engines:	4 engines de havilland ghost 50 Mk1
Passenger Accommodations:	36 passengers