RAeS Stevenage Branch - de Havilland Comet Talk

In this talk, Alistair Hodgson, former curator of the de Havilland Air Museum, gave a fascinating insight into the de Havilland DH.106 Comet, the world's first jet airliner. It made its maiden flight seventy-five years ago and revolutionised air travel overnight. However, the aircraft had significant design flaws, leading to several fatal accidents. While the popular belief is that the Comet’s square windows were the cause, the reality is much more complicated. Following redesign, the Comet enjoyed a successful career and its iconic shape has inspired many preservation projects on surviving airframes, some of which are looked at more closely in this talk.
Alistair Hodgson is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. His early career was spent in the energy and rail transport industries, but a fascination with historic aeroplanes drew him to the aerospace sector initially working on restoration projects, culminating as the former Curator of the de Havilland Museum in Hertfordshire. Alistair is currently the Curator of a small museum in the old Headquarters of the de Havilland Company at Hatfield. His particular interest is naval aviation and he is currently restoring a Sea Venom fighter at the de Havilland Museum.

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Thank you for an interesting talk!