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.
