The world's first jet engine plane ever made: The Comet

What is the Comet you may ask? Well its a long story. It all started in 1943 when the British needed passenger airplanes after the second world war. One of its recommendations was for the development and production of a pressurised cabin, transatlantic airplane that could carry non-stop, one long ton of weight at a cruising speed of 600kmph and one company was interested and that was de Havilland. They got to work and in 1949, the first prototype started flying. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland turbojet engines buried in the wing roots, a pressurised cabin, and large square windows. The plane entered into service in 1952 but after a year, there were many crashes due to structual failures and many more and that meant that the plane got grounded. After a long while of fixing, the comet went back into service with no problems but sales never recovered because of the rise of the DC-8 and the Boeing 707. The airplane stopped being manufactured in 1981 and retired in 1997. While it seemed like a failure, it actually was the start to the airplanes we see today!

Have you flown on a Comet before?

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Image: Wikipedia

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Written by: Sohail Sawlani