In the latter half of World War Two, the War Cabinet sanctioned the formation of a committee to consider a post-war world of air transport. The committee, headed by John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, the first man in Britain to hold a private pilot’s license, had the foresight to embrace an emerging method of propulsion: gas-turbine or jet engine technology. They, rightly, placed piston-engines – which were quite advanced at the time – at the forefront but made a case for the gas-turbine. This enabled Geoffrey de Havilland and Ronald Bishop to begin building a pure-jet airliner to be powered by engines designed by Frank Halford. This was a very brave move from de Havilland and one that gave Britain the lead over the rest of the world. The de Havilland DH106 Comet aircraft made history as the first jet airliner to fly and as the first to offer a scheduled jet passenger service. Even though more than 60 years have elapsed since that first flight, the story of the Comet continues to excite and inspire. With over 90 images and with first-hand accounts from de Havilland’s chief test pilot, this book covers the creation, development, testing, successes and failures of the Comet, and looks at its lasting impression on aircraft history. This is a new edition of Aeroplane magazine’s
De Havilland Comet
.