De Havilland Comet - Airliner Tech Vol. 7

107 Pages·2001·68.93 MB·English

by  Kev Darling

KEVDARLING
AIRLIlVERTECH
5 E R I E 5
7
VOLUME
De HAVILLAND
By
KEV DARLING
COPYRIGHT © 2001 KEVDARLING
Published by
SpecialtyPress Publishers and Wholesalers
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Distributed inthe UK and Europe by
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ISBN 1-58007-036-1
All rights reserved. No part ofthis bookmaybe reproduced or transmitted inany form or by any means,
electronic or mechanicalincluding photocopying, recording, orby any information storage
and retrieval system, without permissionfrom the Publisherinwriting.
Material contained inthisbookisintended for historical and entertainmentvalue only,
and is not to be construed as usable for aircraft or componentrestoration,'maintenance, oruse.
PrintedinChina
Title Page: Prior to gaining its own Comet fleet Olympic Airways hired spare capacityfrom BAE. Preparing to depart on
another European journey this Comet is taxiing pastoneofitsgreatestrivals the French builtCaravelle. Ofinterestis that the
noseandflight deck design were astraight copyofthe DeHavilland setup. (C P Russell SmithCollection)
Front Cover: This is the second Comet to havebeen allocated the registration G-APDJ. It wasfirst operated by BOACwhich
latersold it to Dan Airin whoseearlyfinish itis seen here. (HuwBowen Collection)
Back Cover (LeftTop): Aircraftor speedboat, Canopus lands at rain-drenchedFairford. (BBACollection)
BackCover(RightTop): Gearingsystemswereappliedto theComet'sflight controlsurfaces toreduce theriskofoverstressing
the airframe in the higher speedranges. The oneshown isfor the elevator. (Capt. PeterDuffeyvia ChrisDuffey)
Back Cover (Right Lower): On today's modern jets, airliner passengers are encouraged to place their possessions
in the bins over their heads. In the Comet cabin these were parcel shelves. Of note are the cabin dividers.
(MarcSchaeffer)
.A..IRLINERTECH
we
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DE HAVILLAND COMET
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4
And Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Brabazon Committee 7
Planning for the Future
Chapter 2 Disaster Strikes 25
The Comet Crashes
Chapter 3 The Comet from 2 to 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 33
Testing-Rework-Relaunch
Chapter 4 At Home & Abroad 47
The Comet 4 in Airline Service
Color Section In Glorious Colour 65
The De Havilland Comet
Chapter 5 Comets for the Military 69
From Canada to Canopus
Chapter 6 The Ultimate Comet. 91
Nimrod and the Development Aircraft
Appendix A Comet Alphabet 101
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Significant Dates 103
Key Dates in the History of the De Havilland Comet
DeHAVILLAND
~@li~T
INTRODUCTION
AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T he De Havilland Comet is a almostdisappearedforever. of Britain plus many of those that
unique airliner that has for Itwas the faith ofDe Havilland, were influenced by such choices.
ever carved out a place in and to some extent BOAC, that kept Thus it was possible to see working
the annals ofaviationhistory. Abold the project alive. Extensive redesign Comets appearing in many parts of
statementfor sure, althoughitis one and strengthening of the fuselage the world in a range of colour
that its aficionados would agree coupled with the installation of schemes. The only country that real
with. The author in fact can only Rolls-Royce Avon engines finally ly avoided the Comet's influence
think of one other aircraft that has put the Comet back on the right was the United States and its nearest
had such an effect on civil air travel track. The first exponents of this neighbour, Canada, where the prod
and that is the Concorde. rework never entered civil airline ucts of Boeing and McDonnell Dou
From its inception the Comet use, being confined entirely to the glas ruled the roost.
was a blend of the old and the new, military and the various test organi Eventually all good things must
the safe and the innovative. Howev sations in the UK. The Comet 3 was come to anend and so it was for the
er, it was born with one inherent a step closer to the mark with its Comet. The type's last major opera
flaw that was to mar its earliest lengthened fuselage and other tor and its greatest champion was
years. AsDeHavillandwasreaching improvements. It was eventually to Dan Air which consumed one way
to the future a design miscalculation act as a prototype for all those air or anothermuchofthe Comet4fleet
was appearinginthestructure ofthe craftthatwere to follow. beforeitwasfinally retired.
fuselage. This was to lead inevitably Representing the greater majori This left only a few examples
to the destruction of some of the ty of the production run, the Comet stillflying inmilitarymarks withthe
early Mk.ls with tragic loss of life. 4 in its various guises was to be the UK's aviation test organisations.
Such was the reaction worldwide to success of the whole story. It was to This was eventually whittled down
these tragedies that the Comet be operated by the primary airlines to just one, the famous XS253 Cano-
Comet4, G-APDC, isphotographedatHeathrowbeingpreparedforflight. Clusteredaroundtheaircraftarethevehiclesrequiredfor
supportpurposes. Thissituationstillprevailstodayalthoughthegroundtransportismoremodern. (CPRussellSmithCollection)
AIRLIlVERTEC.H..
4
Onefor the De Havilland employees as John Cunningham brings G-ALVG on afly-by over Hatfield. At this time the aircraft
hadanose probefittedfor testing purposes. (BAE Systems)
pus which soldiered on in the 11 spare airframes for the AEW role. for his exploits in civilian aviation,
colours of A&AEE. Even Canopus This was a vain attempt to put a which stretches from the Comet 1 to
had to retire, thus it was flown to quart into a pint pot that was the flight deckofthe Concorde.
Bruntingthorpe for preservation doomed to failure. After large quan Others deserving of thanks
although it was kept in a taxiable tities ofthe defencebudgethadbeen include Ray Deacon, John Nickolls
condition. Things, l'lowever, are expended in an attempt to make the who sent me a photo all the way
looking brighter as I write these thing work, it was thankfully can from New Zealand, and of course
words as talks between interested celed and replaced by the Boeing Huw Bowenwhose help and encour
parties are in progress with a view builtAWACS. agement pointed me in the right
to flying the machineonce again. In compiling such a work as directioninthehuntfor those elusive
The retirement of Canopus did this, the help and encouragement of facts. Finally, mention must be made
not quite mark the end of the Comet others has been vital to its comple of Marc Shaeffer whose Comet web
story as two unsold airframes were tion. Therefore I would like to men site on the internet is a work always
converted by the then primary con tion Peter Russell Smith for again in progress and the DH Comet e
tractor, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, delving deep into his collection, Mel group whose members' vast knowl
to act as prototypes for the new RAF James for again having those photos edgehelped thisbooknoend.
MRaircraft- the Nimrod. that no one else has, and of course Although always last in any
Occasionally known as "Nor Jennifer Gradidge, a stalwart of avi introduction, mentionmustbe made
man the mighty grunter," a play on ation photography for many years, of those who brought this work to
the words "Nimrod the mighty for herkind andinformativehelp. fruition, namely Dennis R. Jenkins
hunter," this last manifestation of Others who have stepped for for anotherdesignjobwell done and
the Comet has served the Royal Air ward include Damien Burke whose the crew at Specialty Press for their
Forcewell. Sowellinfact that select in-depth photography ofthe various hard work, inputs, and encourage
ed MR.2s are being slowly reworked bits of Canopus filled in many of the ment.
to the new MRA.4 standard for con technicalgaps.Alsomentionmustbe
tinued servicewellinto this century. made ofChris and PeterDuffeywho
The only danger dropped granted me access to early Comet Kev Darling
throughout the Nimrod programme documentation not freely available South Wales, UK
was the abortive attempt to rehash elsewhere. The latter is well known April2000
DeHAVILLAND
C@I~1r 5
This undersideviewof
G-AMXAreveals the
slightlyenlargedintakes
required to providethe
increasedmass airflow
for the Avonengines that
werefitted as standard
from theComet 2
onward. Afterthe
aircraftwas rejected by
BOACitwas refurbished
andpassed to theRAFas
aComet C2. (Capt.
PeterDuffeyviaChris
Duffey)
Taxiing to its standat
Heathrow, this Comet
C2 has smallerintakes
aroundthemain engine
inlets. These werefor
coolingpurposes.
(C PRussellSmith
Collection)
An EAAComet4,
VP-KP], is shown
awaiting preparationfor
departurefrom
Heathrow. Unlike the
earlierComet versions,
the wheel hub covers
have been deleted in this
marque to improve
maintenance.
(C P Russell Smith
Collection)
..
AIRLINERTECH
6
BRABAZON OMMITTEE
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
T he De Havilland Comet story shape of the Douglas DC-4 and the mentofa range ofaircraftfrom vari
really begins in 1938 when Lockheed 049 Constellation. Both ous manufacturers that covered
.the British Government aircraft featured tricycle undercar long-range airliners and smaller
announced sponsorship for two air riages, a novelty at the time, and feeder-type airliners.
craft designs firmly targeted at the four powerful piston engines plus Included in this inventory was
transatlantic passenger and airfreight the range, eventually, to cross the the Bristol Type 167 Brabazon (Type
market. Operating through the aus Atlantic. 1), a large behemoth far in advance
pices of the UK's primary airline In 1942 such was the confidence of its time in many respects,
ImperialAirways, laterto evolveinto that the tide of war would change although it was eventually doomed
BOAC, the aircraft manufacturers toward the Allies' favour that to failure due in part to its too high
Short Brothers and Fairey Aviation thoughts were turning toward the operating costs. Also included were
were encouraged to enter designs for path that commercial aviation the Airspeed AS 57 Ambassador
tacklingthisprestigiousroute. would follow oncehostilities ceased. (Type 2A), Vickers Type 630 Vis
Producing designs designated To that end, a committee under the count (Type 2B), Avro Type 688
the S.32 and EC1 respectively, it chairmanship of Lord Brabazon of Tudor (Type 5), Armstrong Whit
was obvious from the outsetthat the Tara, a memberofmanycivilianand worth AW55 Apollo (Type 2B), De
British firms were playing catch-up military aviation committees, was Havilland DH104 Dove (Type 3),
as theywere facing potentialopposi formed on23 Decemberto studythe Miles M60 Marathon (Type 5), and
tion from such aircraft as the Dou various options available. It took the subject of this work, the DH106
glas DC-3, the Boeing 247, and their into account current and projected Cometfrom DeHavilland (Type4).
respective offspring. developments in the aviation indus The Comet was referred to as
The eruptionofwar inEuropein try with regard to structures, sys Type No.4inthe listoffive primary
September 1939 brought develop tems, andpowerplants. aircraft tasks being examined. The
ment of passenger and transport air This first Brabazon Committee, initial thoughts on its development
craft of any kind to a halt as manu as it inevitably became known, and role were first specified in a
facturers turned to producing the eventually sponsored the develop- report submitted to the government
fighters and bombers required to
defend the UK. This left the remain
ingvestigesofairtransport,bothmil
itary and civilian, struggling to pro
vide services with outdated biplane
airliners andadaptedbombers.
The entry ofan isolationistUnit
ed States into the global conflict
after the bombingofPearlHarbor in
1941 was to change the face of air
transport and how itwas catered for
immeasurably. Blessed with a mas
sive industrial base the aircraft
industry in the United States was
soon gearing up to provide the
armed forces with the aircraft need When the Brabazon Committee began its deliberations, the Douglas DC-4 was
us
edto defeatthe Axisforces. already making its appearance as the C-54 in the service of Army Air Forces.
More importantly, long-range This particular aircraft was registered to British United Airways as G-AOXK.
transports began to appear in the (JenniferM Gradidge Collection)
DeHAVILLAND
COM~T 7
on 9 February 1943. Here it was
described as a jet-propelled mail
plane for the North Atlantic trans
port route that was capable ofcarry
ingatleastone (UK) ton ofcargo.
It should be noted that there
was no specific mention of passen
gers at this time, vestiges ofwartime
thinking and priorities were to per
meate development in many fields
long after the conflict had ended.
Veryfew firm details ofperformance
and weights were included in this
The AirspeedAmbassadorwas designatedas theType 2Abythe committeeandwas initial report. In fact, the only set
visualised as a feeder liner. This example is G-AMAC of BEA. (Jennifer M parameters appeared to be those of
Gradidge Collection) speed, which was set at 400 mph,
and the methodofpropulsion.
Further specifications were
worked out for the Type 4 and its
five companions (another had been
added in the intervening time)
between August 1943 and Novem
ber 1945 by a second Brabazon com
mittee, formed on 25 May 1943. The
committee included members from
both the aircraft manufacturing
industries and the airlines as a
greater majority. These deliberations
finally culminated in the last of five
reports that maintained the Type 4
The turboprop Vickers Viscount, an intermediate distance airliner, was designated as the only turbojet powered air
as the Type 2B by the Brabazon Committee. (JenniferM GradidgeCollection) craft; the others were seen as turbo
prop or piston powered from the
One ofthefirst aircraft outset.
designs sanctioned by the The evolution of the Type 4
Brabazon Committee was specification had really begun to
the Bristol Type 167 take shape in mid-1944. By this time
Brabazon. (PhotoJennifer the jet engine, albeit crude in this
M Gradidge Collection) first outing, was seen as a viable
o
a c> 0 00
..
AIRLINERTECH
8
powerplant whilst the first ventures
into the area of swept wing technol
ogy were being explored. Although
the perceived aircraft was intended
to challenge for the North Atlantic
route, early studies were more cau
tious, concentrating mainly upon
the European and Empire network
that had been firmly established
beforethe war.
The first aircraft specification
tentatively putforward featured two
or more turbojets of the centrifugal
type that would be capable of carry
ing 14 passengers at 450 mph at an The other turboprop from the Brabazon proposals was the Armstrong Whitworth
altitude of30,000 ft. The given range Apollo. Eventually three were orderedfor MoS trials work. VX244 was the last of
was in the 700 to 800 mile mark this order. (JenniferM Gradidge Collection)
whilst an all up weight of30,000 lbs.
was specified. A small payload of
3,000 lbs. was also included in the
final total. Powerplants would be
chosen from the two then available,
namely the Whittle (later to evolve
into the Derwent) and a developed
version of the De Havilland engine,
the Goblin, later to evolve into the
morepowerfulGhost.
A few months later, in Novem
ber, the specification had increased
the projected range to 1,000+ miles.
Itwas also atthis pointthatDe Hav
illand Aircraft of Hatfield was con Avro's contribution to the Brabazon line-up was the Avro Tudor. This version,
firmed as the builder. A further bold registeredasG-AHNM,was therenamedSuperTraderwhichwasintendedmorefor
move saw BOAC ordering 25 of the freight than passengers. (JenniferM Gradidge Collection)
new aircraft in order to stimulate
domestic and foreign sales. Formed
in November 1939 as a nationalised
concern from Imperial Airways and
British Airways, BOAC was seen as
theprimarylong-range carrier.
However, theAAJC, formed as a
civilian transport organisation by
the rest of Britain's smaller airlines,
managed to impress upon the gov
ernment that another smaller con
cern should come into existence to
cover internal and European routes.
Thus once hostilities had ended Designed as afeeder airliner, the Handley Page Marathon was not an outstanding
BEA, another well-known Comet success. Most ofthe production run endedup as Navigation Trainers with theRAF.
user, came into being albeit initially This is one that did not, becomingG-AMGWofDerbyAirways instead. (Jennifer
as anoffspringofBOAC. M Gradidge Collection)
DeHAVILLAND
~@I~T 9