Quite a few people have commented on the topic of the round windows. Check out the 'Square window myths' paragraph on Wikipedia :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet
Well that was an interesting read, so much for my earlier post. It was a well spread myth even Air Crash Investigation got it wrong, we are never too old to learn!
If circumstances had not been so cruel to the British then the De-Havilland Comet 2s would get Avon which would have allowed the Comet 3 and 4 to take the 15,000ibf Rolls-Royce RB.106 engine
@@speedbird737Have you actually seen any pictures of the De-Havilland Comet 1? They had rounded square windows and it was the way they were installed that was the problem and not the design of the windows because the De-Havilland Comet 1 was actually a very sound design but no one understood about metal fatigue and do not even try to bring up the BS of "De-Havilland did not know about pressurisation" De-Havilland did know about pressurisation but we should remember that no one had built a jet airliner before the De-Havilland Comet
@@Knight6831 correct so in conclusion the windows were an issue (regardless of if a good design or not) even the BAE website said :"It identified that despite extensive testing in the design stage, the cyclical pressurisation and subsequent depressurisation of the fuselage had accelerated the stress levels. This had caused cracks and fissures around the corners of the ADF, and some the main passenger windows, causing disastrous fractures in the structure and an almost instant failure of the airframe."
Reminds me of the young Americans in the 1st Gulf War……. Victors arriving, them thinking it was some new super secret Limey wonder weapon…… ……..again, a sort of Flash Gordon steam punk vibe 🥳
Nothing about this aircraft says "future" maybe in the context of the time it was designed, sure but now, no it doesn't. You're conflating "Futuristic" with "Different".
I flew twice as a passenger on this aircraft, 30.09.1962 flown from Culcutta to Singapore, 6.12.64 flown from Culcutta to London,. I know this thanks to something called the "Junior Jet Cub" who provided me with a log book and its all recorded in there. A great aircraft!
@@Rich72James I was very young at the time but I do remember flying in the aircraft and being shown the cockpit. To my small eyes it was very spacious and comfortable, ofcourse the reality was that it was quite "snug" up front! According to my log book I also flew in G-APDH as well as G-APDB. I believe DH was written off after a heavy landing broke the undercarrage in Singapore.
During the early 60s my late father was Chief Instructor with East African Airways. As a teenager I had the pleasure of flying in each of the airline’s three Comet 4s including on the flight deck across the Sahara and for a landing at Heathrow where we taxied slowly so the crew could watch a VC10 takeoff. The Comet 4 was a beautiful aeroplane in its day. Many thanks for rekindling memories and for a very well-balanced video.
Wow. I flew a few times with East African but on VC10s. My father was however in the drawing office of de Havilland from the war on (with a break till 1957) and worked on the Comet.
Excellent...what lovely memories. I lived in Zanzibar in the early 50s and 60s and remember all the Royal Mail DC 3 aircraft of the time. There was the odd DH89a and then F27 Friendship turboprop came later. I purchased a book about the history of East African Airways. 🙌.
I was a passenger in a BEA Comet 4B in early 1960’s. Rome-Paris-London. Your shot of the flight deck was of interest to me especially the nose wheel steering. When leaving Paris the aeroplane started to accelerate on the taxiway, rounding a curve picking up speed, entered the runway, continued to accelerate and took off in one continuous movement. I can now visualise the captain sitting there with one hand on the ‘steering wheel’ and the other on the throttles. The aeroplane was lightly loaded, very few passengers and probably not much fuel. I don’t know what angle we were at initial climb but it was steep. We were pressed back in our seats and a fellow passenger on the adjacent aisle had a bag suspended on the seat in front of him. I recall looking at the angle this freely suspended bag was making and thinking Wow
Hello, my grandfather was one of the first Captains of DH Comets of Aerolíneas Argentinas in the sixties. Then he flew Boeing 707 till 1975 when he retired with 22000hs of flight. Great job with your Chanel, sorry about my english... Greetings from Buenos Aires Argentina 🇦🇷
I’m an airline captain. I have been flying since age three way back in the 1960’s. I have lived aircraft all my life. I’ve been blessed to fly a lot of aircraft and can identify 90% of all aircraft at quite a distance. The comet was a beautiful aircraft. It’s just a shame there were pressurization fatigue issues early on. I still think the 707 would ultimately have won out but the comet, had it been successful, would have lead to an updated jet that most certainly would have give boing a run for its money.
The Comet’s nose, fuselage, and wings look so sleek and modern, yet the tail section looks like it was borrowed from a ‘40s propeller aircraft. Great video.
Actually the Comet has a very distinctive 1920s Art Deco style that was very dated looking for the 1950s... The nose is copied from the Boeing 307 which was introduced in 1937.
Great video Paul! I remember your previous tour around this aircraft at duxford so it's good to see it again in 4K and much longer with more information!
note the comet 1 square windows, where these are oval. the corners are the cracks formed which brought down the 1's. No corners in later models to remove the crack issue
Seeing a De-Havilland Comet at Melbournes then International airport at Essendin in the early 1960’s as a young boy made a big impression with me still to this day and obviously was one of the few Jetliners that could land there as Melburnians had to go to Sydney mostly to travel overseas on a 707 or DC-8 as they were not able to use Essendon until Tullamarine opened in the 1970’s, thanks for the great tour to my mind the most aesthetic jetliner that has ever been built! 👌
Very interesting. Being a young plane spotter in the late 70s, I only ever saw a Comet in operation once, as we generally went to Heathrow, where no Comets were operating at that time. But one Sunday afternoon in 1978, we made a brief stop at Gatwick on the way home to London from Brighton. We got there just in time to see a Dan Air Comet take to the air, it was quite a sight!
Thank you stating the facts. A lot of people complain about the coach class seating nowadays and compare it with the flying quality 50 years ago, without considering the fact for the price they have to pay for a coach class today vs flying back in the "good old days"...
It’s tragic downfall failures were definitely, well, sad. However could you imagine stepping out of a DC3 and into flying in the comet, I would be like flying to Texas in a 737 or a320 and flying home on starship l. The difference in technology for the day was outstanding. Regardless of it’s inevitable downfall she was the queen of the skies in her time. Nice little video Paul 👌🏻
This is fantastic. I flew Comet 4C DanAir Manchester to Athens around Aug 1977 I think. I was 11 at the time and remember being sat by the large window. Just a beautiful aircraft in my humble opinion. I've been interested in civil aircraft ever since. Thanks for this well presented video.
Thankyou so VERY MUCH for this video. The Comet is my favourite aircraft of all time irrespective of my never traveling on one or the unfortunate accidents that in hindsight benefited the world aviation technology to be safe today. Thankyou so much once again - it's really and truly appreciated
Oh my goodness! This is nostalgia on steroids. I flew on the Comet 4c from 1960 to 1966 from Malaya to England and back every year, and first class too (it's a long story). It is such a gorgeous looking aircraft, and I recall many hours gazing out of the windows at the clouds below where it was always sunny in daytime. But the real treat of a flight would be invited to go into the cockpit and sit in the Captain's seat. Awesome. Your walk through the inside brought tingles to my spine. It did indeed seem to be the golden age of air travel. I still have my BOAC Junior Jet Club Certificate and Log Book.
Thank you for sharing this. I really enjoyed this tour on the DeHavilland Commet. The whole story of how this aircraft came into existence as well as it going in connection with the leap into the jet age is beautiful and amazing.
My father flew this exact aircraft many times as navigator. From his logs, the first entry for G-APDB is 19 September 1959 London-Gander (6h35m) and the final one is 19 December 1960 Sailsbury-Nairobi-Khartoum (3h00m+3h05m). Shortly after, he switched to Boeing 707s as pilot.
@@stevetaylor8698 Since many neighbours were also flight crew, this was normal, daily life for us as children. It was just a job, like a bus driver, or a train driver. What I noticed as I grew up was that they all seemed to be exceptionally clever, capable people, apparently able to do anything and everything.
@@mal_752 Thanks: you deserve a story from days of yore. As often happened, when we were taken to a museum, such as Duxford, the adults would be reminiscing about the exhibits they has flown, while the children would be laughing their heads off about the fact that that their parents were so old that they had flown these ancient, obsolete machines. That is the way it was. 🙂
I am 70 years old and being from central U.S.I have little memory of the Comet especially the early designs. It is a tremendous history I appreciate reference to the early body warping and the beautiful shots of the cockpit. Thanks for another great presentation!
Thank you, sir, for commenting on anything your many years of experience may have seen so it can be recorded forever here on TH-cam for prosperity's sake and for the benefit of those younger and less experienced than yourself. Any comment you make can only improve the younger generation's knowledge. Best wishes from Australia.
@@Denis_v1.0_beta In Washington DC I knew a British Colonial Administrator who grew up in England during WWII and was assigned to Malaysia. He commented that he flew on the Comet and loved the appearance of the design. He was very proud of it. In the 1960s I attended an Strategic Air Command airshow and the flight crew of a Nimrod took my aboard for a tour. Maybe more likely a Hadley Page Victor Bomber. I would of been eleven years old and the British Officers were extremely good to me. I regret I was likely deplorable child. In closing in the 1980s I flew in a 1950s Lockheed Electra turboprop passenger plan. That class of plane at its introduction experienced engines ripping themselves off the wings with I believe the total loss of the planes. I was amazed at just how heavily the fuselage was constructed it felt like a flying tank. The designers were very conservative and regardless had engines flying off the wings. This Lockheed was used by the United States military for a similar purpose as the Nimrod.
@@josephpiskac2781 Nimmy's, eh? I worked on an RAF base (now Army) as a civvy worker in one of the Messes that operated Nimrod MR2's. So, very much a regular sight in my area. The house I live at was under one of their landing circuit paths and there was rarely a quite moment, when those old Rolls Royce Spey engines got close. I was in the local ATC back in the Nineties, and went on few Air Experience Flights in them. Very sad day when they stopped operating. Nowadays, our local aviation museum has a forward fuselage/nose section that's open for the public to walk through and a whole Nimrod on the camp, that sits engineless on a dispersal area near the coast, after the MoD had it kicked out of its hanger.
Always liked this plane. Smooth body no protruding engines under the wing just looks so slick. I amagine working on engins was a bear, though. Thanks for the show.
Great video Paul! Your videos keep getting better and better and I always learn something new about the iconic aircraft you feature. Well done to the IWM Museum for preserving this classic and letting you film this video for us all on the internet!
I really enjoy your tours round British aircraft and museums. I've always loved Duxford and cosford museums two of our best ones. The smaller museums are really interesting too.
There was a cockpit from a Comet on display at Gatwick for a while back in the 90's. I remember being amazed at how cramped and complicated it looked compared to modern aircraft.
Totally Priceless Aircraft Review! Huge aircraft enthusiast here, the art advertisement for the Comet was totally dreamy and inspiring. I totally love the Comet design and I wish that it had had a chance at a normal service life and it would be nice to fly on an actual jet as an airline passenger. For turbofans, early Boeing 777s had exceedingly, in fact, insanely powerful engines, but they were loud in business class but I still totally love them!
I grew up in Hatfield around the corner from British Aerospace & DeHavilland Comets always held a special interest for me. I’ve never been to IWM Duxford although done most of the other IWM branches over the years.
Been in and worked on this very Comet at Duxford.Fascinating.ln immaculate condition and well looked after,and a thorough insight in to the "Golden Years" of airliner operations👍
Suprized you didn't mention the biggest visual change. The windows. Changed from square to round due to cracks and metal fatigue causing 2 planes to break up mid flight.
Another great plane I often flew back and forth from the UK to Cyprus in the 1960’s…very comfortable…I still recall the rather old fashioned cockpit…even back then , to my eyes…..lovely to fly in, seeing the Alps for the first time, looking out the large windows…..oh those were the days….lucky 5 year old….
Ah love this plane. This one used to be sitting on the tarmac at Hatfield Aerodrome long after they shut down. Every weekend as a kid we'd drive past it on the way to go shopping.
I flew in a Comet from London to Berlin (I think) I was only about 5 years old and can barely remember it, but can recall walking across the tarmac to the plane, on a cold, windy, rainy day.
Excellent video. I was lucky enough to fly on the Comet 4 twice with MSA in December of 1967 and again a year later, from Singapore to Hong Kong. Both flights were memorable as each time I had a window seat on right side for the Kowloon approach to Kai Tak.
The integrated engines look very attractive in my opinion it’s a pity they turned out to be impractical. Thanks Paul I’ve enjoyed every one of your videos. Thank you so much Peter
A friend of mine use to work on the engines. He hated it. Extremely difficult. This compare to the Being engine pylon mounts. This was a few years ago.
I flew on a Comet IV of United Arab Airlines in 1964. (The Year of Living Dangerously!) My preferred aircraft in those days was the VC10. Now my favourite is the A380.
I've always considered the Comet to be a very beautiful design, especially with regards to the engines being incorporated into the wings. Not the best idea, but still very pretty. I remember my mother saying she flew on a B.O.A.C. Comet once, and she thought it was a wonderful experience.
Takes me back! I had my first ever flight deck visit on a Dan Air Comet IV when I was 7 years old, on our way to the Canaries. Passing the Pyrenees, the skipper had his feet up, reading a newspaper. He turned round, peering over the top of his half-moons, and said 'Don't touch anything!' I thought this was super cool, and it ignited my passion for aviation (that, and growing up, near Binbrook)! Some 50+ years later, and I'm now a skipper of the 787 with a rather well known British outfit. Nowhere near as cool as the Comet though!
My late father was a BOAC Captain on the Comet, I've flown many times First Class with him and on the flight deck, not only comfortable but compared to today the service was superb.
Beautiful. Now almost every airliner has engined hanging from the wings. Maintenance is obviously easier, but the lines of the Comet with it’s inboard engines was a true design classic.
My Uncle worked for De Haviland in the 1950’s at the time this aircraft was developed. Another example of British leading the way, before being overtaken by foreign competitors. He later went on to work for Lockheed in USA, which I suppose was a logical progression of the time. The Comet really was a beautiful aircraft ahead of its time.
A truly shameful and humiliating chapter in British aviation history... de Haviland was decades behind in aircraft technology and its collapse in in 1958 was inevitable
@@WilhelmKarsten We feel we can shed some light on some common myths & misunderstandings. That's correct of course, at the time the Comet wasn't particularly dangerous. It was also definitely not the worst aircraft engineering disaster in aviation history obviously. Obviously the Comet's engine position & inlet position had some distinct advantages at the time & of course pylon mounted podded engines have some problems including excessive induced drag. The Comet engine inlet design was not a fatal flaw & didn't cause any incidents. Examples of all Comets mks including some Comet 1 airframes continued flying with certification at some point after 1954. Flying carried on until 1997. Losses comparisons. How things were in those days. DeHavilland Comet 4 UK 14% DeHavilland Comet all mks 17% Boeing 307 70% Boeing 247 48% Boeing 707 . 20% Boeing 377 19% MD DC-8 15% Lockheed Electra Turboprop 29% Canadair CL-44 Turboprop 46% Convair CV-580 Turboprop 22% Convair CV-880 (ff 1959) 27% Convair CV-990 (ff 1961) 35% Of course De Havilland had prior experience building many all metal construction airframe aircraft & thousands of jet powered fighter aircraft that were primarily of metal construction with pressurised cockpits & jet engines built by De-Havilland. Yes, that's true, De Havilland carried out full stress analysis & engaged in a comprehensive & protracted testing program which is why key De Havilland people were happy to be aboard flying DH Comet aircraft. The Comet was the first airliner where stress due to pressurisation significantly exceeded flying load stress for a full length passenger cabin fuselage. We agree, that's correct, the DH Comet was the first passenger airliner with full length fuselage pressurisation at 8psi pressure differential. Handley Page built the world's first all metal construction airliner during the 1920s. In all cases other earlier pressurised aircraft were larger, needed thicker fuselage skins due to flying stresses alone & had much lower pressurisation differential pressure or were military aircraft with relatively small heavily built pressurised capsules. Of course ripstop provision was provided. The skin alloy used became unavailable at the time due to R & D at the manufacturers which resulted in the original alloy being discontinued. Later alloys had very similar properties. The skin thickness used for the Comet was used for similar size later aircraft. Frame spacing was not found to be too large & frame width was not found to be too small. Without doubt De Havilland did indeed always work to better than industry standards at the time, used up to date knowledge for the design & construction & no evidence of negligence or criminal negligence was ever produced in relation to the DH Comet. Obviously the DH Comet had no effect on the course of the aerospace industry in the UK. The UK now has the world's highest combined nuclear, aerospace & defence sectors per capita activity. Of course anyone currently flying on a wide body airliner stands a good chance of being on an aircraft powered by RR gas turbine aero engines designed & built in the UK. That's correct, the investigation committee did not find hundreds of fatal flaws or evidence of design defects, structural defects, defective materials or shoddy workmanship. Indeed it is the case that ripstop provision was included. Claimed incidents did not involve cracks starting from passenger cabin window corners. Pretty much all changes were just in case changes or were planned development modifications & improvements that were scheduled regardless of incidents. Obviously De Havilland designers knew all there was to know about metal fatigue at the time they designed the DH Comet. It is in fact true to say that the way airliners were built changed everywhere, including in the US, after the Comet incidents. We hope this helps, obviously. Cheers indeed of course as always etc. 👍
The first and deadliest.. they fell apart in mid air several times until they were stopped. My favourite the 707, 727 Dc8 Dc9 abd the Dc8 stretch, and the 747 B. These comets crushed around the passenger windows, thats why we got square rounded corner windows we still see today Good video mate
Hi Paul, great tour of an aircraft that was ahead of it's time. My Father worked on the earlier models. It had three catastrophic failures, breaking up in flight and killing all on board. It was caused by metal fatigue in the skin caused by having square windows rather than oval ones. The hard corners were a point of stress which led to metal fatigue which unfortunately brought those three planes down.
A thoroughly modern aircraft, using a sextant like Ferdinand Magellan, lol. My father navigated a B17 using a sextant in WWII and he pilfered it after the war ended. I played with it as a kid. It was fascinating. He showed me how it worked by shooting some stars and referencing his charts. Years ago I was able to tour a B17 and sit at the navigators table. What a life he had at 18.
Beautiful! I love this plane and how innovative Comet was. I love how the engines look like. So badass! The interior just felt like a plane from the 80s, not like the first jet engine airliner. (though I have no idea how turbine planes were at that time). thank you so much, this video really made me vibe. I first heard about the Comet a few years ago in a Mustard video, this time a real visit! hope I can go on day to England and visit this museum. Awesome!
I'm going to guess there aren't any square window comets still in existence for a museum to get a hold of. It. Would be super neat to see one up close though
![The Giant Airliner With Cabins In Its Wings | Junkers G38 [Aircraft Overview #19]](/img/n.gif)
Quite a few people have commented on the topic of the round windows. Check out the 'Square window myths' paragraph on Wikipedia :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet
Well that was an interesting read, so much for my earlier post. It was a well spread myth even Air Crash Investigation got it wrong, we are never too old to learn!
If circumstances had not been so cruel to the British then the De-Havilland Comet 2s would get Avon which would have allowed the Comet 3 and 4 to take the 15,000ibf Rolls-Royce RB.106 engine
the FAA according to their website will dispute its not a myth - the windows were a factor
@@speedbird737Have you actually seen any pictures of the De-Havilland Comet 1?
They had rounded square windows and it was the way they were installed that was the problem and not the design of the windows because the De-Havilland Comet 1 was actually a very sound design but no one understood about metal fatigue and do not even try to bring up the BS of "De-Havilland did not know about pressurisation"
De-Havilland did know about pressurisation but we should remember that no one had built a jet airliner before the De-Havilland Comet
@@Knight6831 correct so in conclusion the windows were an issue (regardless of if a good design or not) even the BAE website said :"It identified that despite extensive testing in the design stage, the cyclical pressurisation and subsequent depressurisation of the fuselage had accelerated the stress levels. This had caused cracks and fissures around the corners of the ADF, and some the main passenger windows, causing disastrous fractures in the structure and an almost instant failure of the airframe."
Whats amazing is the design of this airplane looks more futuristic than current model airplanes.
It looks very 40s. The integrated engines, the square windows. The big landing gear
@@MrJimheerenthe comet 4 has circle windows. Perhaps if it had modern oval windows it would change your perspective
@@ScotlandTheBrave_1 I was thinking about the Comet 1. But yeah the 4 definitely looks quite futuristic and old fashioned at the same time
Reminds me of the young Americans in the 1st Gulf War……. Victors arriving, them thinking it was some new super secret Limey wonder weapon……
……..again, a sort of Flash Gordon steam punk vibe 🥳
Nothing about this aircraft says "future" maybe in the context of the time it was designed, sure but now, no it doesn't. You're conflating "Futuristic" with "Different".
I flew twice as a passenger on this aircraft, 30.09.1962 flown from Culcutta to Singapore, 6.12.64 flown from Culcutta to London,. I know this thanks to something called the "Junior Jet Cub" who provided me with a log book and its all recorded in there. A great aircraft!
It is kind of sad seeing that aircraft land locked forever. The places it's been, the memories made by it. A shell of its former self
What was the experience like
@@Rich72James I was very young at the time but I do remember flying in the aircraft and being shown the cockpit. To my small eyes it was very spacious and comfortable, ofcourse the reality was that it was quite "snug" up front! According to my log book I also flew in G-APDH as well as G-APDB. I believe DH was written off after a heavy landing broke the undercarrage in Singapore.
Are you aware this class of plane had a fatal design flaw that resulted in crashes and hundreds of fatalities?
@@glieseseventen4921 they fixed that. I'm sure it did not help it's credibility. That is probably why the 707 was much more successful
During the early 60s my late father was Chief Instructor with East African Airways. As a teenager I had the pleasure of flying in each of the airline’s three Comet 4s including on the flight deck across the Sahara and for a landing at Heathrow where we taxied slowly so the crew could watch a VC10 takeoff. The Comet 4 was a beautiful aeroplane in its day. Many thanks for rekindling memories and for a very well-balanced video.
Wow that’s incredible thanks for sharing
Wow. I flew a few times with East African but on VC10s. My father was however in the drawing office of de Havilland from the war on (with a break till 1957) and worked on the Comet.
@@stevenr2463 amazing how these videos can bring people with similar experiences like this together
Excellent...what lovely memories. I lived in Zanzibar in the early 50s and 60s and remember all the Royal Mail DC 3 aircraft of the time. There was the odd DH89a and then F27 Friendship turboprop came later. I purchased a book about the history of East African Airways. 🙌.
@@stevenr2463 🙏👍👍👍👍🙏🙏
I was a passenger in a BEA Comet 4B in early 1960’s. Rome-Paris-London. Your shot of the flight deck was of interest to me especially the nose wheel steering. When leaving Paris the aeroplane started to accelerate on the taxiway, rounding a curve picking up speed, entered the runway, continued to accelerate and took off in one continuous movement. I can now visualise the captain sitting there with one hand on the ‘steering wheel’ and the other on the throttles. The aeroplane was lightly loaded, very few passengers and probably not much fuel. I don’t know what angle we were at initial climb but it was steep. We were pressed back in our seats and a fellow passenger on the adjacent aisle had a bag suspended on the seat in front of him. I recall looking at the angle this freely suspended bag was making and thinking Wow
Hello, my grandfather was one of the first Captains of DH Comets of Aerolíneas Argentinas in the sixties. Then he flew Boeing 707 till 1975 when he retired with 22000hs of flight.
Great job with your Chanel, sorry about my english...
Greetings from Buenos Aires Argentina 🇦🇷
I’m an airline captain. I have been flying since age three way back in the 1960’s. I have lived aircraft all my life. I’ve been blessed to fly a lot of aircraft and can identify 90% of all aircraft at quite a distance.
The comet was a beautiful aircraft. It’s just a shame there were pressurization fatigue issues early on. I still think the 707 would ultimately have won out but the comet, had it been successful, would have lead to an updated jet that most certainly would have give boing a run for its money.
You've simply got to love that retro futurism of the age
Paul thanks for this wonderful video about Comet
Very welcome
The Comet’s nose, fuselage, and wings look so sleek and modern, yet the tail section looks like it was borrowed from a ‘40s propeller aircraft. Great video.
Actually the Comet has a very distinctive 1920s Art Deco style that was very dated looking for the 1950s...
The nose is copied from the Boeing 307 which was introduced in 1937.
My old man flew the Comet 4 and Super VC10 for East African Airways. He loved the Comet
It was so beautiful and looked incredibly ahead of it’s time people must have been in awe of this back in the 50s
if we are in awe in 2023, surely they were in even more awe 70 years ago!
its*
Its really sleek and looks awesome
Great video Paul! I remember your previous tour around this aircraft at duxford so it's good to see it again in 4K and much longer with more information!
What a beautiful aircraft.
note the comet 1 square windows, where these are oval.
the corners are the cracks formed which brought down the 1's. No corners in later models to remove the crack issue
Seeing a De-Havilland Comet at Melbournes then International airport at Essendin in the early 1960’s as a young boy made a big impression with me still to this day and obviously was one of the few Jetliners that could land there as Melburnians had to go to Sydney mostly to travel overseas on a 707 or DC-8 as they were not able to use Essendon until Tullamarine opened in the 1970’s, thanks for the great tour to my mind the most aesthetic jetliner that has ever been built! 👌
Such a beautiful plane. I love the look of the integrated engines.
Very interesting. Being a young plane spotter in the late 70s, I only ever saw a Comet in operation once, as we generally went to Heathrow, where no Comets were operating at that time. But one Sunday afternoon in 1978, we made a brief stop at Gatwick on the way home to London from Brighton. We got there just in time to see a Dan Air Comet take to the air, it was quite a sight!
I remember Dan Air comets at Gatwick, way back in the day, seen when disembarking from British Caledonian VC10 and 707s.
Flew to Corfu in 1980 with Dan Air on a Comet.
I flew to Portugal from Gatwick 1979 dan air , felt lucky to fly in it , must have been coming to the end of its service , nice smooth flight
First time I saw a vid in this channel! Love it! What a mountain of info! Keep it up
Thank you stating the facts. A lot of people complain about the coach class seating nowadays and compare it with the flying quality 50 years ago, without considering the fact for the price they have to pay for a coach class today vs flying back in the "good old days"...
It’s tragic downfall failures were definitely, well, sad. However could you imagine stepping out of a DC3 and into flying in the comet, I would be like flying to Texas in a 737 or a320 and flying home on starship l. The difference in technology for the day was outstanding. Regardless of it’s inevitable downfall she was the queen of the skies in her time. Nice little video Paul 👌🏻
This is fantastic. I flew Comet 4C DanAir Manchester to Athens around Aug 1977 I think. I was 11 at the time and remember being sat by the large window. Just a beautiful aircraft in my humble opinion. I've been interested in civil aircraft ever since. Thanks for this well presented video.
I also flew Dan Air Comet about the same time and same age!
This plane must have been a true heartbreaker for Britain's aerospace industry.
The Comet might be, to me, the most beautiful jet ever designed. Brilliantly sleek!
Best videos I have seen on this channel yet
Glad to hear. Why do you think it’s the best? I’m always keen to hear co constructive feedback! :)
Thankyou so VERY MUCH for this video. The Comet is my favourite aircraft of all time irrespective of my never traveling on one or the unfortunate accidents that in hindsight benefited the world aviation technology to be safe today. Thankyou so much once again - it's really and truly appreciated
Took me up to 30sec before i realized that this wasnt a new plane xD. Love the design!
Oh my goodness! This is nostalgia on steroids. I flew on the Comet 4c from 1960 to 1966 from Malaya to England and back every year, and first class too (it's a long story).
It is such a gorgeous looking aircraft, and I recall many hours gazing out of the windows at the clouds below where it was always sunny in daytime. But the real treat of a flight would be invited to go into the cockpit and sit in the Captain's seat. Awesome. Your walk through the inside brought tingles to my spine. It did indeed seem to be the golden age of air travel.
I still have my BOAC Junior Jet Club Certificate and Log Book.
Wao!! What a beautiful airplane
Killing machine..
Comet was a deathtrap.
Thank you for sharing this. I really enjoyed this tour on the DeHavilland Commet. The whole story of how this aircraft came into existence as well as it going in connection with the leap into the jet age is beautiful and amazing.
My father flew this exact aircraft many times as navigator. From his logs, the first entry for G-APDB is 19 September 1959 London-Gander (6h35m) and the final one is 19 December 1960 Sailsbury-Nairobi-Khartoum (3h00m+3h05m). Shortly after, he switched to Boeing 707s as pilot.
Dream job, I am sure he had many exciting tales to tell you.
@@stevetaylor8698 Since many neighbours were also flight crew, this was normal, daily life for us as children. It was just a job, like a bus driver, or a train driver. What I noticed as I grew up was that they all seemed to be exceptionally clever, capable people, apparently able to do anything and everything.
@@cdl0 👍👍👍👍👍
@@mal_752 Thanks: you deserve a story from days of yore. As often happened, when we were taken to a museum, such as Duxford, the adults would be reminiscing about the exhibits they has flown, while the children would be laughing their heads off about the fact that that their parents were so old that they had flown these ancient, obsolete machines. That is the way it was. 🙂
He must have flown with my late father Jim Manning, a captain at that time.
I am 70 years old and being from central U.S.I have little memory of the Comet especially the early designs. It is a tremendous history I appreciate reference to the early body warping and the beautiful shots of the cockpit. Thanks for another great presentation!
Thank you, sir, for commenting on anything your many years of experience may have seen so it can be recorded forever here on TH-cam for prosperity's sake and for the benefit of those younger and less experienced than yourself. Any comment you make can only improve the younger generation's knowledge. Best wishes from Australia.
@@Denis_v1.0_beta In Washington DC I knew a British Colonial Administrator who grew up in England during WWII and was assigned to Malaysia. He commented that he flew on the Comet and loved the appearance of the design. He was very proud of it. In the 1960s I attended an Strategic Air Command airshow and the flight crew of a Nimrod took my aboard for a tour. Maybe more likely a Hadley Page Victor Bomber. I would of been eleven years old and the British Officers were extremely good to me. I regret I was likely deplorable child. In closing in the 1980s I flew in a 1950s Lockheed Electra turboprop passenger plan. That class of plane at its introduction experienced engines ripping themselves off the wings with I believe the total loss of the planes. I was amazed at just how heavily the fuselage was constructed it felt like a flying tank. The designers were very conservative and regardless had engines flying off the wings. This Lockheed was used by the United States military for a similar purpose as the Nimrod.
@@josephpiskac2781 Nimmy's, eh? I worked on an RAF base (now Army) as a civvy worker in one of the Messes that operated Nimrod MR2's. So, very much a regular sight in my area. The house I live at was under one of their landing circuit paths and there was rarely a quite moment, when those old Rolls Royce Spey engines got close. I was in the local ATC back in the Nineties, and went on few Air Experience Flights in them. Very sad day when they stopped operating.
Nowadays, our local aviation museum has a forward fuselage/nose section that's open for the public to walk through and a whole Nimrod on the camp, that sits engineless on a dispersal area near the coast, after the MoD had it kicked out of its hanger.
This aircraft is gorgeous.
Thank You Paul.
Always liked this plane. Smooth body no protruding engines under the wing just looks so slick. I amagine working on engins was a bear, though. Thanks for the show.
Until now I had not realised how beautiful the Comet is.
Love the contours on this aircraft. The enclosed engines look Cool. I've never seen one of these before.Nice looking Bird.
Great video Paul! Your videos keep getting better and better and I always learn something new about the iconic aircraft you feature. Well done to the IWM Museum for preserving this classic and letting you film this video for us all on the internet!
Good video Paul.
I agree
I really enjoy your tours round British aircraft and museums. I've always loved Duxford and cosford museums two of our best ones. The smaller museums are really interesting too.
An absolute work of art!!!!!
There was a cockpit from a Comet on display at Gatwick for a while back in the 90's. I remember being amazed at how cramped and complicated it looked compared to modern aircraft.
Totally Priceless Aircraft Review!
Huge aircraft enthusiast here, the art advertisement for the Comet was totally dreamy and inspiring.
I totally love the Comet design and I wish that it had had a chance at a normal service life and it would be nice to fly on an actual jet as an airline passenger.
For turbofans, early Boeing 777s had exceedingly, in fact, insanely powerful engines, but they were loud in business class but I still totally love them!
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Thank you so much for making these videos and documenting/sharind these dying marvels of engineering! ❤️
Been to duxford. Amazing place and well worth a visit.
I grew up in Hatfield around the corner from British Aerospace & DeHavilland Comets always held a special interest for me. I’ve never been to IWM Duxford although done most of the other IWM branches over the years.
Been in and worked on this very Comet at Duxford.Fascinating.ln immaculate condition and well looked after,and a thorough insight in to the "Golden Years" of airliner operations👍
Suprized you didn't mention the biggest visual change. The windows. Changed from square to round due to cracks and metal fatigue causing 2 planes to break up mid flight.
Another great plane I often flew back and forth from the UK to Cyprus in the 1960’s…very comfortable…I still recall the rather old fashioned cockpit…even back then , to my eyes…..lovely to fly in, seeing the Alps for the first time, looking out the large windows…..oh those were the days….lucky 5 year old….
What a fantastic and informative video, thank you
Ah love this plane. This one used to be sitting on the tarmac at Hatfield Aerodrome long after they shut down. Every weekend as a kid we'd drive past it on the way to go shopping.
I flew in a Comet from London to Berlin (I think) I was only about 5 years old and can barely remember it, but can recall walking across the tarmac to the plane, on a cold, windy, rainy day.
Absolutely beautiful aircraft
The Commet ❤ it . Really appreciate the 4 engines built in2 the Wings
Excellent video.
I was lucky enough to fly on the Comet 4 twice with MSA in December of 1967 and again a year later, from Singapore to Hong Kong.
Both flights were memorable as each time I had a window seat on right side for the Kowloon approach to Kai Tak.
If you go to Cosford (free entry) you can see many aircraft including a complete Comet 1. (msn7) This Comet also has round windows.🙂
The integrated engines look very attractive in my opinion it’s a pity they turned out to be impractical.
Thanks Paul I’ve enjoyed every one of your videos.
Thank you so much
Peter
A friend of mine use to work on the engines. He hated it. Extremely difficult. This compare to the Being engine pylon mounts. This was a few years ago.
most beautiful commercial jet by far, ever created. gorgeous.
Great video, thank you
I love the sextants in the cockpit. I love old school tech. Fab plane, superb museum. Love all your videos.
Another fascinating tour paul👌
Thanks Paul for the great tour of this wonderful aircraft.
Cool vid. It is still a magnificent looking airliner!
I flew on a Comet IV of United Arab Airlines in 1964. (The Year of Living Dangerously!) My preferred aircraft in those days was the VC10.
Now my favourite is the A380.
Was hoping you would do a video on the Comet. I looked and looked the other day. Thank you for your work.
Beautiful lines and paint scheme.
I've always considered the Comet to be a very beautiful design, especially with regards to the engines being incorporated into the wings. Not the best idea, but still very pretty. I remember my mother saying she flew on a B.O.A.C. Comet once, and she thought it was a wonderful experience.
A sleek beauty. Now if you could just find us a Caravelle ❤
My parents flew to their honeymoon in London on a BOAC Comet 4. And luckily, they also took a photo of it!
Another fantastic tour! Can't wait to see this one myself in a few months 😍
Cheers and enjoy! Duxford is brilliant! Might need two days, though. :)
Takes me back!
I had my first ever flight deck visit on a Dan Air Comet IV when I was 7 years old, on our way to the Canaries. Passing the Pyrenees, the skipper had his feet up, reading a newspaper.
He turned round, peering over the top of his half-moons, and said 'Don't touch anything!'
I thought this was super cool, and it ignited my passion for aviation (that, and growing up, near Binbrook)!
Some 50+ years later, and I'm now a skipper of the 787 with a rather well known British outfit. Nowhere near as cool as the Comet though!
Thanks for this. Very informative. Had always wondered why many older, larger aircraft had the twin rudder configuration.
The cockpit looks sick AF too, what a sexy plane
Thanks for adressing the seating. So many people think flying used to be so much grander but it's just not true.
Yes it's a bug bear of mine. Flying back then was much, much worse.
My late father was a BOAC Captain on the Comet, I've flown many times First Class with him and on the flight deck, not only comfortable but compared to today the service
was superb.
That was an incredible tour. What a great piece of History. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Beautiful. Now almost every airliner has engined hanging from the wings. Maintenance is obviously easier, but the lines of the Comet with it’s inboard engines was a true design classic.
If the engine would catch fire or explode it could out take out the wing. that is the reason they moved away from this design.
Interesting video with lots of good information. She's still a beautiful airliner
I was nine years old when my family flew in a Comet from Merida Yucatan to LAX. Yes we survived, and we have home movies of the flight.
Makes me jealous! Are you going to convert and upload some of the footage?
The Comet 4 was one of the best looking airliners IMO.
This is tv good. Quality. And from just one guy, the complete whole production. And it's a series.
Thanks for the kind words
My Uncle worked for De Haviland in the 1950’s at the time this aircraft was developed. Another example of British leading the way, before being overtaken by foreign competitors. He later went on to work for Lockheed in USA, which I suppose was a logical progression of the time. The Comet really was a beautiful aircraft ahead of its time.
A truly shameful and humiliating chapter in British aviation history... de Haviland was decades behind in aircraft technology and its collapse in in 1958 was inevitable
@@WilhelmKarsten
We feel we can shed some light on some common myths & misunderstandings.
That's correct of course, at the time the Comet wasn't particularly dangerous. It was also definitely not the worst aircraft engineering disaster in aviation history obviously.
Obviously the Comet's engine position & inlet position had some distinct advantages at the time & of course pylon mounted podded engines have some problems including excessive induced drag. The Comet engine inlet design was not a fatal flaw & didn't cause any incidents.
Examples of all Comets mks including some Comet 1 airframes continued flying with certification at some point after 1954. Flying carried on until 1997.
Losses comparisons.
How things were in those days.
DeHavilland Comet 4 UK 14%
DeHavilland Comet all mks 17%
Boeing 307 70%
Boeing 247 48%
Boeing 707 . 20%
Boeing 377 19%
MD DC-8 15%
Lockheed Electra Turboprop 29%
Canadair CL-44 Turboprop 46%
Convair CV-580 Turboprop 22%
Convair CV-880 (ff 1959) 27%
Convair CV-990 (ff 1961) 35%
Of course De Havilland had prior experience building many all metal construction airframe aircraft & thousands of jet powered fighter aircraft that were primarily of metal construction with pressurised cockpits & jet engines built by De-Havilland.
Yes, that's true, De Havilland carried out full stress analysis & engaged in a comprehensive & protracted testing program which is why key De Havilland people were happy to be aboard flying DH Comet aircraft. The Comet was the first airliner where stress due to pressurisation significantly exceeded flying load stress for a full length passenger cabin fuselage.
We agree, that's correct, the DH Comet was the first passenger airliner with full length fuselage pressurisation at 8psi pressure differential. Handley Page built the world's first all metal construction airliner during the 1920s.
In all cases other earlier pressurised aircraft were larger, needed thicker fuselage skins due to flying stresses alone & had much lower pressurisation differential pressure or were military aircraft with relatively small heavily built pressurised capsules.
Of course ripstop provision was provided. The skin alloy used became unavailable at the time due to R & D at the manufacturers which resulted in the original alloy being discontinued. Later alloys had very similar properties. The skin thickness used for the Comet was used for similar size later aircraft. Frame spacing was not found to be too large & frame width was not found to be too small.
Without doubt De Havilland did indeed always work to better than industry standards at the time, used up to date knowledge for the design & construction & no evidence of negligence or criminal negligence was ever produced in relation to the DH Comet.
Obviously the DH Comet had no effect on the course of the aerospace industry in the UK. The UK now has the world's highest combined nuclear, aerospace & defence sectors per capita activity. Of course anyone currently flying on a wide body airliner stands a good chance of being on an aircraft powered by RR gas turbine aero engines designed & built in the UK.
That's correct, the investigation committee did not find hundreds of fatal flaws or evidence of design defects, structural defects, defective materials or shoddy workmanship. Indeed it is the case that ripstop provision was included. Claimed incidents did not involve cracks starting from passenger cabin window corners. Pretty much all changes were just in case changes or were planned development modifications & improvements that were scheduled regardless of incidents.
Obviously De Havilland designers knew all there was to know about metal fatigue at the time they designed the DH Comet.
It is in fact true to say that the way airliners were built changed everywhere, including in the US, after the Comet incidents.
We hope this helps, obviously.
Cheers indeed of course as always etc.
👍
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Honestly one of the best looking planes in all of aviation
The first and deadliest.. they fell apart in mid air several times until they were stopped. My favourite the 707, 727 Dc8 Dc9 abd the Dc8 stretch, and the 747 B. These comets crushed around the passenger windows, thats why we got square rounded corner windows we still see today
Good video mate
Great video. I loved this aircraft having flown them many times.❤
Wow what a amazing video showing a plane i can never see with a modern camrea. I love this content!
Absolutely beautiful 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Hi Paul, great tour of an aircraft that was ahead of it's time. My Father worked on the earlier models. It had three catastrophic failures, breaking up in flight and killing all on board.
It was caused by metal fatigue in the skin caused by having square windows rather than oval ones. The hard corners were a point of stress which led to metal fatigue which unfortunately brought those three planes down.
The American Liberty ships in WW2 had suffered a similar problem at the corners of the hatch-coamings.
Fantastic presentation !
It still looks really cool with the engines built into the wing, even though its not practical.
Brilliant tour Captain Paul 👨🏻✈️
Flew to Majorca in a Dan Air Comet in 1974! A beautiful looking aircraft!
Its a thing of beauty from any angle
Overland and close to land navigation was by radio navigation. Over sea magnetic and celestial navigation was used.
Comets fuselage is just like Gulfstreams ...Incredible !
A thoroughly modern aircraft, using a sextant like Ferdinand Magellan, lol. My father navigated a B17 using a sextant in WWII and he pilfered it after the war ended. I played with it as a kid. It was fascinating. He showed me how it worked by shooting some stars and referencing his charts. Years ago I was able to tour a B17 and sit at the navigators table. What a life he had at 18.
Beautiful! I love this plane and how innovative Comet was. I love how the engines look like. So badass! The interior just felt like a plane from the 80s, not like the first jet engine airliner. (though I have no idea how turbine planes were at that time). thank you so much, this video really made me vibe. I first heard about the Comet a few years ago in a Mustard video, this time a real visit! hope I can go on day to England and visit this museum. Awesome!
Love your videos. Beautiful narration and presentation.❤
It has a definite Thurderbirds look about it. Very retro-futuristic and sleek.
The Comet and the Super Connie are 2 of my favorites! They are beautiful to me.
Yes they're brilliant! Hope to upload my Super Connie tour video soon.
@@PaulStewartAviation The engines in the wing look so cool.
I'm going to guess there aren't any square window comets still in existence for a museum to get a hold of. It. Would be super neat to see one up close though