The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
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Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#2It's indeed a beautiful aeroplane.
But what's striking, and indeed rather UFO-like, are the small engine intakes. Anyone know what's up with that?
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#3It's indeed a beautiful aeroplane. But what's striking, and indeed rather UFO-like, are the small engine intakes. Anyone know what's up with that?
Compact turbojet engines rather than high-bypass turbofans like modern airliners. Blended into the wing for less drag compared to underslung wing pods like the contemporary rival 707.
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#4It's indeed a beautiful aeroplane. But what's striking, and indeed rather UFO-like, are the small engine intakes. Anyone know what's up with that?
They're turbojet engines, not the turbofans that you see today.
Turbojets have a smaller intake and the entire thing produces thrust. Unlike today's much more efficient turbofans, where a small turbojet turns the larger fans to produce most of the thrust.
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#5Peter Duffey first flew during WW2
https://www.buckinghamcovers.com/celebrities/view/127-captai...
he also wrote a book about his flying experiences https://www.amazon.co.uk/Comets-Concordes-Peter-Duffey/dp/18...
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#6It's indeed a beautiful aeroplane. But what's striking, and indeed rather UFO-like, are the small engine intakes. Anyone know what's up with that?
There's a course on edX, Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering, that explains quite nicely why engines have these huge intakes these days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2PBOdTk3vE
https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:DelftX+AE1110x+3T2...
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#7Such a wasted opportunity. Around the same time, the UK was throwing away its leadership in computing too. Weirdly, both ended up in Seattle.
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#8The British Nimrod, a submarine hunter, as well as other roles, was based on the Comet and was in service until 2012.
Modified Comets apparently flew until 1997.
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#9It's indeed a beautiful aeroplane. But what's striking, and indeed rather UFO-like, are the small engine intakes. Anyone know what's up with that?
They're turbojet engines, not the turbofans that you see today. Turbojets have a smaller intake and the entire thing produces thrust. Unlike today's much more efficient turbofans, where a small turbojet turns the larger fans to produce most of the thrust.
OK, I get it. Thanks :)
They are very cool looking.
Re: The de Havilland Comet changed aviation for good
#10My biggest "surprise" always is how little we have progressed if you just look at how the planes look and how fast they fly (6h11m NY->London in 1958, that's pretty much what they do today, not?). It seems like the airline industry got a lot of stuff just right the first time and since then just has been doing performance tweaks (where I take "performance" to be very broad to include things like safety, economy, ...).