Facts about The De Havilland Comet

1. 13

   Four Comet variants were produced between 1949 and 1958, with the Series 4 model featuring more powerful Rolls-Royce Conway engines and increased fuel capacity for transatlantic routes.

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2. 12

   Approximately 44 Comet aircraft were delivered to airlines worldwide between 1952 and 1958, with most operators retiring their fleets by the early 1960s due to safety concerns.

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3. 11

   British Airways operated Comet aircraft on routes to Africa and Asia throughout the late 1950s, with flights from London to Khartoum taking approximately 6.5 hours compared to 24 hours by piston-engine transport.

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4. 10

   Comet flights required pilots to manually control cabin pressurization, a labor-intensive task that later jet airliners automated through sophisticated pressure regulation systems.

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5. 09

   Pressurized cabins allowed Comet passengers to breathe comfortably at 36,000 feet without supplemental oxygen, a luxury unavailable on unpressurized aircraft of the 1950s.

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6. 08

   Only 114 De Havilland Comets were built across all variants before production ended in 1958, making it a relatively rare aircraft compared to later jet airliners.

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7. 07

   Square windows on early Comet fuselages created stress concentration points that contributed to catastrophic failures, leading designers to switch to rounded windows on subsequent models.

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8. 06

   De Havilland's engineers designed the Comet with swept wings angled at 20 degrees, a pioneering aerodynamic feature that influenced jet aircraft design for decades.

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9. 05

   The original De Havilland Comet carried only 36 passengers across its fuselage, compared to 100+ seats in later jet designs, reflecting early jet aircraft constraints.

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10. 04

    At 36,000 feet, the Comet could cruise at 490 miles per hour, making it 100 mph faster than contemporary piston-engine airliners of the early 1950s.

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11. 03

    Rolls-Royce Ghost jet engines powered the De Havilland Comet, producing 5,050 pounds of thrust per engine on the original prototype.

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12. 02

    Structural metal fatigue from pressurization cycles caused three De Havilland Comets to suffer catastrophic in-flight breakups between 1954 and 1955, killing 110 people.

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13. 01

    In 1954, the De Havilland Comet became the world's first commercial jet airliner to enter scheduled service, flying from London to Johannesburg.

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