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BIRTH OF THE COMET
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By
A Staff Correspondent
ON a grey winter afternoon early in 1943 five men gathered in the ground floor office of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland of the de Havilland works at Hatfield, Hartford- shire for the usual afternoon tea-break with their chief.
The Ave men were the company's top executives and technicians, Sir Geoffrey liked to have them with him to "forget the war" for a few Overseas Airways, de Haviland exceed the speed of sound. minutes each day and on this day there was a good talking point to distract their minds. The Brabazon committee, which was to investigate sengers and 1,000 Britain's post-war civil aircraft needs had just been established..
such
$0
At
which gave de Havilland's ex-
the suggestion of British and the first British aircraft to
started work on a jet plano to. It was this guinea-pig plane
pounds of mail across the perts the data for a 40 rent bir-
Biner. Atlantic Ocean, at high speed,
They toyed with the Let's look at some of the
idea at first at designing "some early plans of the Comet: starting shape" for the fuselage; The frat plans WETO for a bul as first one problem eropged twin-boomed-plane like a Van up and then another, they ro- Fire fighter, with three Jet Jected it and chose the conven- engines in the rear of the tonal shape of the modern fuselage. There was a tailless piston-engined airliner. That swept wing plane and even one was the Comet I. with is, tall first,
None of the six men who attended the ten-break that day can remember who brought up the idea. But one of them said: "These new jet engines we are fitting in our fighters don't you think there's a future for them in passenger carrying planes when the war's over?”
The suggestion started dis At that stage, British aircraft new lead in aircraft develop cussion aniong the five de manufacturers
de ment when his first jet engine Havilland experts, Sir Geoffrey's Havilland, Armstrong Siddeley was flown in a Gloster fighter. The most promising plan-and
UNA chief engineer, Charles Walker, and Handley Page were, vir- A year later, the de Havilland the only one to survive the
14. his chief
designer, Ronald tually masters of the air, pro- Golln engine was tested at drawing board, stage-wan tie Bishop, his jet-engine designar dueling the best civil aircraft in Hathetd and following this was talless aircraft with its swept-
Without theso orders, Ar Major Frank Halford, his chict, the world,
the formation of the Brabazon back wings, The company Havilland officials frankly admit aerodynamleist, Richard Clark- And then, early in the 1030's Committee and the tin decided to modify one of its that the Anancial risk in son, and the managing director the Douglas Aircraft company formal talks at de Havilland Vampire fighters, remove the developing the Comet would not
of de Haviland, Nixon.
Mr Wilfred
★☆★
For Sir Geoffrey, the meet- Ings at that stage meant more than just forgetting the war. A few days before, his 23-year-old sun John had crashed to his death testing a new Mosquito aircraft. The meetings continu- ed each day, however, informal affairs Inating the duration of two cups of tea and the d's- tusstons Invariably turned to tio fot planes of the future.
In this way, the idea of de Havilland's jetliner, the Comet was conceived.
The sleek Comet IV in flight.
Bode saw the plans. That enough. They ordered
have been justified.
The company believed that with Comets operating on 'Bone' routes there would be good op- portunities of showing, their aircraft to the airlines of the world.
When the ili Koted firat neries was abandoned, de Havil- Jand were convinced that they still had a winner. 'Press on re- gardless was the big decision they made.
The Comet II series were de- Ilvered to the RAF and the 'RCAF~and they have been fly- produced it all-metal classic shout applying the jet engine to tail booms and the tall by ing since without mishap. To understand the full signi~ "incnaplane, the DC-3 airliner, civil aircraft,
subsiunting wings swept at forty Six years later enmo a new fisünce of this revolutionary a faster streamlined aircraft, De Havilland began their degrees, taga
version Comet "Which in 1853 aircraft, however, we zaist ६० ntid British manufacturers lost, investigations in earnest later in This was the experimental de was only a plan on the draw- back about 23 years when that lead and their reputation 1043 not merely to produce a Havilland 100, the aircraft with ing boards. British airlines were still flying as the world's foremost aircraft plane that would rival the best which John Derry (ded in ungainly piston-engined biplanes builders.
Amorlean aircraft, but one that September 1952 when flying the with fixed undercarriager, the Up to 1940, most of the major would restore to Britain the now de Havilland 110 at the Armstrong Siddeley Argosy and airlines of the world used the lead in the development of Farnborough Air Display) cap- the Handley Page Honniunt, on moriem American aircraft, civil aircraft that she had Jost tured the International 100, km restricted routes to Europe and In May 1941, however, Sur to America about 13 years closed-circuit record with П the Middle East.
Frank Whittle gave Britain a before.
... speed of 005.22 miles an hour,
•
And the man
MODEST, Sandy-
haired, boyish- looking John Cunning- ham, de Havilland's chief test pilot and the first man to fly the world's first jetliner, took the Comet in his stride,
De Havilland's em- the ployees remember
who
first
flew it
Silver Star of the U.S.A. and splą, during the summer of day July 27, 1949-the the Soviet Order of Patriotte 139
He carried his youthful 35-year-old test pilot War. There Was the time, his enthusiasm for flying into the
took the first Cometa Rede Er. friends null-talk-RA-Fal-the-vibruak of wate
into the air for the first time.. "He handled it as if he'd been flying a Comet all his life-and what a perfect landing," a senior official of the de Havilland Company told
me.
For flying planes is second nature to John Cunningham; it was just the come when he was an ace fighter pilot in the R.A.F., the same when he sat a new high altitude record.
It
is the same when he pushes aircraft through the sound barrier to set new speed records, and when he's testing revolu- tionery new planca.
about, when Cunningham Bow Brst Blenheims and that brought down 2 German Beaufighters, and two years raider without firing a shot, Inter was given command of his He dashed through the cloude 'squadron.
In his Mosquito, almost on At that stage, the British top of a Heinkel III komber.. public were following his tally The surprised German pilot of kills with keen interest. The tried to slip away in a sieep name of John Cunningham and dive but was pursued relent, another German bomber falling
to tely until he finally crashed victim
his guns mache" into a hill,
heartening reading In the On another night, he shat columns of despair of 1941 when down three German bombers... the German advance continued John Cunningham has always unchecked through Europe..
By
A China Mail Reporter
ад
Arsia Boad
demonstrated. Its confidence and placed an initial order. The Comet that dies Into Hongkong today on i lia first regular servico la ona of them....
John Cunningham at the controls.
fectly an its maiden fight in through the air at just over 100 July 19497
miles an hour--"walking Queb" said. Cunningham later." Virtually from the drawing was when the Comet "no". board singe, he worked with the section was fitted on to a glider designers of the Comet to learn and towed by a Halifax bomber as much as possible, about the for weather foals.
Watch the firm steady hands of Jolin. Cunningham at work In a Comet. Veteran pilots: who have been flying as long
been fascinated by aeroplanes. After he was demobilised, new alreruft, He assisted in. Just after his eighteenth birth- Cunningham returned to do testing parts of the now alteraft,
He familiarised. himself with Apocryphal
of airlinera by or true, the day he joined the de Havilland Havillands and in October 1040 flow the Comet Ghost engine the operation
the death of his which had been specially fitted dying with regular Bouc stories of this unassuming man aeronautical technical school fallowing
the Royal Auxiliary Air friend, Geoffrey de Havilland, into a Vampire fighter to try it fights across the Atlantic and and his exploits as a night and
learn to Gy. to
Hia who was killed in an expert out at operational attitudes of to Australia, fighter pilot during the last war Forco
Little wonder·· youngster mental "flying-wing" aircraft, 16,000 feet 50 more, and then that he felt quite at home" on turned him- Into à legendary enthusiamm · 13, 1
appointed chilet test flew the Ghost engines of the the Comet's maiden fight, Agure in the eyes of the British quickly carried him through his he was
Cómat in an airliner, the. Avro public and his fellow pilots," training and in 1938 at the age pliot.
Veteran pilots were astound- of 21, bq was a. junior test In the rapid development of Lancastrian, al: to hear that he phoned up pilot in the light aircraft, British aviation after the war his mother to make sure she development department of the he revealed himself as was safe and well after many de Haviland Aircraft Company, exceptional pilot in a class with an al-raid In which ho had To become the expert of the the test pilots John, Derry and The two outboard propeller- been in the thick of the dog-jet-age, the young test pliol had Neville Duke, In August 1947 driven engines were removed fights.
lcorn about his aircraft the gained the 100 king closed from this - aircraft and: Ghost: Before being ported to thoroughly. And if flying, like circuit record in Vampire jet engines fitted in their place ---and in this way John ground operationat duties as a any ofher vocatión, is in the mail fighter. In March 1948, whils Group Captain in March 1944 the better for a few intill not he was carrying out tests for Cunningham few hundreds of after. 31⁄21⁄2 years nyjng," John | backs,
Cunningham", the new Comet airliner, he hours gaining experience in the Cunningham had: 20 kills to his emerged, as more experienced flew as Vampiro fighter fitted operation of a multi-jet engined to the successful development
Geoffrey with a Ghost engine to the credit, 19 of them shot down at aviator after he and
r of the Comet as an airliner.con airliner VENE
be singled out for sociali renk night, and lia; decorations, in- de Havilland, this molor pilut record height of 89,148 "fect. *** ellided the D.5.0, with two palod but of! ■ D.H. Mothy How was John Cunningham". On one occasion he sat at the tour then Joking, Cunningham bars, the D.F.C) und ber, the -Minor when it went into a flat i kable to fly the Comet, ao per Comet controland-wallowed must, be aventi gaatershed
thien
as and longer than he, au?
“It is a pretiu sight to watch he work easily and Thith mically, never hesitated
If any one man's contribution
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