de Havilland Comet jet airliner

Flight aboard the de Havilland Comet to Johannesburg (South Africa)and some history related to the Comet

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• de
• Havilland
• Comet
• jet
• airliner
• aviation
• history

[Maxwell2323]

I remember flying from the UK to Seattle in 1967 in the 707 as a child (vivid memory), and how everyone dressed up. The pilots let me come into the cockpit for an hour and they talked all about the airplane and controls, etc. Led me to become an aeronautical engineer.

I remember the good food, the 'cologne' in the bathrooms et al, and the stewardesses were thin and attractive back then.

[deville69btk]

and made the plane crash:-)

[RainfulPhenix]

Back when pilots were pilots and planes were planes.

One thing that pulls me back to become an airline pilot in the future is that todays planes, virtually fly on their own.

[freethoughtmusic]

So sad to see so many once-peaceful places where she stopped are now torn apart by war and fanaticism. Oh well, at least apartheid is gone.

[tim60s321]

Why is your image squashed horizontally ?

[gaguy1967]

the tail is quite small...was the Comet unstable?

[Nabokov50]

If I recall, it was either a Disovery or History channel special that identified window design as the culprit that brought down the Comet.

[flyingxk]

@Maxwell2323 same here

[mabhekaphansi]

@Watcher3223 Yebo! It was actually a superb design, great for hot and high takoffs and landings. I saw it often here in Jhb, and it looked so much more .... attractive .... than the Boeing 707.

[Watcher3223]

@mabhekaphansi "All details of the findings were published,and other manufacturers modified their designs."

Including de Havilland; the Comet had design and assembly revisions that did away with square windows and used proper riveting techniques in building the aircraft, all to help prevent structural failure due to premature metal fatigue.

After the revisions, the Comet was a safe jet in spite of its tarnished reputation and continued to be so until the last Comet was decommissioned in 1997.

[acmalaga]

This plane (G-ALYP) was crashed near Elba Island (Italy) in 10 Jan 1954. All 35 occupants was dead. Probable cause structural failure.

[natebot321]

He took off, headed over the ocean, and blew up.

Facinating.