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| The Douglas DC-3 had the industry at a stalemate. |
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| The Lockheed Constellation, another American offering. |
To be honest, it wasn't a very fast transition. Although people immediately saw commercial potential in what literally started in a barn at Kittyhawk, passenger aviation didn't take off until the 30s, and when World War II emerged, the entire industry was grounded as the focus shifted to building fighters and military transports. However, during the post war era, a golden age for passenger aviation began, and the industry reemerged. The number of passengers increased, and airlines started to thrive. But, the most impressive advancement was in the field of manufacturing planes themselves. The United States left the second world war with more experience designing and building cargo planes. They were able to modify their designs to allow for passenger transport, and by doing so cornered the industry. In fact, around this time, about 90% of the world's air travelers were flying aboard American-built Douglas DC-3s. Other countries– Britain for example– had been focusing on bombers and other aircraft not suited for carrying commercial payload during WWII, and therefore had to rebuild their industry. But in order to gain the spotlight, they had to do something incredible. Alas, the Comet was born.
The accepted reasoning of aircraft propulsion was that jet engines did not produce enough thrust relative to the amount of fuel they consumed. But that reality was starting to slide, as piston engines were becoming larger and being loaded with superchargers to squeeze out what more thrust they could produce, and with these new efforts, their efficiency was starting to diminish. So the De Havilland company of Britain was given the task of creating the first commercial jetliner. During the design process, they used decoy designs to give the public the wrong idea, so when the final design of the Comet was revealed, the world was shocked. Even today, I consider its design to be awesome. Its sleek wings, elegant look and beautiful aerodynamics were straight out of the future. Its four ghost jet engines were integrated into the wing, making it look even more stunning. With this aircraft looking modern even today, you can imagine the impression it had on the public back then. Not only was it good-looking, but it was also more advanced. Instead of flying at the conventional altitude of 10,000 feet, it would cruise at 40,000 feet, where the air was thinner and weather was less problematic. But, to do so, it had to have a highly pressurized cabin, and while other planes had these kinds of cabins, no other flew so high.
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| A Comet 1, one of the original types. |
The Comet made its maiden flight on January 9th of 1951, and immediately started receiving orders from airlines all over the world. It cut travel times in half, and became renowned for its pristine service and passenger comfort. To fly on this plane was considered a luxury mostly done by upper middle class and wealthier individuals. This is one of the reasons I envy the travelers that flew on this plane.
De Havilland was enjoying their new-found superiority in the industry, and produced several early models of the Comet. But within a year, things started to go wrong. Most travelers didn't question the safety of this plane, and when two Comets overshot the runway in 1952 and 1953, the pilots were blamed. However, De Havilland later corrected a wing fault that resulted in loss of lift. Not long after though, another Comet disintegrated in a thunderstorm just after takeoff from Calcutta, and in 1954, another accident occurred, this one far worse. While flying in perfect conditions near Rome, a Comet exploded during its climb. After these incidents, BOAC, the company operating the planes from Calcutta and Rome, grounded their fleet of Comets while an investigation occurred. but after no conclusions were drawn, BOAC resumed their operations as planned ten weeks after the incident. But, only two weeks later, another Comet suffered the same fate outside of Rome. With this, public confidence in the Comet shattered, and its Airworthiness Awards were revoked. De Havilland had no choice but to stop all operations of their once famed fleet. for months, an investigation was conducted, and the cause of the accident was revealed to be fatigue in the fuselage caused by pressurization and amplified by the square windows on the plane.
Unfortunately, this was the end of De Havilland's superiority. While they rushed to correct the faults in their plane, other companies were catching on. The same year that the Comet 4 was released, Boeing released their 707 and Douglas began their jet era with their DC-8. Then came Tupolev's 104 and Ilyushin's IL-62. These larger, and less expensive options offered a further flight range, and therefore were easily able to compete with the original jetliner. The Comet 4 had just 76 deliveries to airlines, a fraction compared to over 500 DC-8s and more than 1,000 Boeing 707s.
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| Douglas DC-8 (556 Deliveries) |
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| Boeing 707 (1010 Deliveries) |
Although it had its troubles, this plane's mistakes paved the way for the future of the industry. Boeing even admitted that they would have made the same mistakes if it weren't for the Comet. This aircraft may seem normal, but without it, transcontinental flight might still be a dream. The technological marvel of the Comet still inspires me and makes me wonder how humans can achieve such things. Sometimes, I wonder what the future will look like, and with that, transportation. What will the next generation of aerospace look like? Let's just say, "We're not there yet."
