De Havilland Comet V Boeing 707

Two very well known aircraft rivals from the early days of aviation. To which aircraft will your vote go to?

707 - 27
DHC - 34

Made for 94boeing!!!

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• havilland
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[MaxxGladiator]

The Comet was a sound aircraft. The square windows and thin skin were the only issues. The embedded engines made it far more efficient than a 707 for it's day. and the shields elimiated all the 'compressor blade failure' theorists.

I think the Comet was the best looking ever - like someone abone - it is similar in some ways to the 787.

But, the 707 was 'da bomb'. That was my first flight as a boy from London to Seattle (PanAm with the hot stewardesses ofcourse). Flew the 707 many times.

[ConcordeCentral]

@MaxxGladiator I also noticed the nose looking like the 787, glad I'm not the only one!

[SteveB801]

So many decisions...so many options. Consider: shall the engines be plac3ed right by the fuselage? The middle of the wing? The outboard tips? Should the wings go over the cabin, the midsection, or below the body? It all had to work perfectly. And, DAMN it still does! I'll NEVER cease to be amazed at the marvel of the engineering that went into building a beautiful, powerful, safe and miraculous contraption-simpkly put, the most amazing machines than man ever built!

Anyone for the DC-8 too?

[ConcordeCentral]

@SteveB801 I take it you are talking about the 707 rather than the Comet?

[busterboulton97]

the comet is a lot better looking

[TWAspacefairy75]

Thank you for showing the TWA 707.....Rob M Flight Service Manager./Flight attendant TWA

JFK 75-02

[jaunty17]

Think I'll take the one that doesn't blow up mid flight.... I'm funny that way.

[telfud2]

@MaxxGladiator I envy you flying "da bomb" as your first flight!

They just went out of service in this country when i started to take an interest in aviation.My first flight was in a DC-9 from Melbourne to Hobart.

To hear those P&W's spool up must have been a real thrill!

[antonioscheel]

@dfwjcj u think this music is stupid?



[victron6]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, great choice in music accompaniment! 

[OlegKostoglatov]

I noticed that some examples have square windows while some have round windows, I gather that DeHavilland must have learned from their mistakes and that the round window examples are later production models.

[hammerogod]

The Comet was an amazing aircraft.

It rocked the world when it was introduced.

If not for the early problems De Havilland would have been a major player and stiff competition for Boeing, Douglas and Convair.

I nearly lived on 707s for several years so I am biased towards Boeing over De Havilland.

But the Convair 880/990 was, and still is, my favorite commercial jetliner.

The sad fact about Comet is knowing that the Nimrod became one of the safest and most reliable aircraft on the planet.

[aspiringdrummer17]

@godzillasdad Exactly. That's one thing many people seem to misunderstand. The 707 would've fallen out of the sky just the same if it had square windows, which it would've done like you said had they not learned from the Comet's mistakes. The aviation industry more than any other industry in the world is one where improvemets are made from mistakes learnt the hard way

[godzillasdad]

I think the comet was better looking, and more fuel efficient. Unfortunately, when the comet came out, no-one knew what stresses would be put on the fuselage by pressurisation, boeing learned from that.