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De Havilland Comet Report
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Peter_L



Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 2680
Location: New Brunswick. Canada.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 6:59 pm    Post subject: De Havilland Comet Report Reply with quote

Those of age may well remember the Comet airliner crashes and the popular press stories that quoted "Square Windows" as being the cause. Strangely enough these reports missed the fact that many aircraft had "squarish windows" in the cockpit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rvx-r2itrE
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Churchill Johnson



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 359
Location: Rayleigh Essex

PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I vividly remember headlines in paper, i am sure it was Daily Mirror "count to seven and the Comet has flown a mile".
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Penman



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4746
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi
If that was a Comet 1 cruise was 400 Knots 460mph so 7.83 sec per mile
Comet 2 430 kn and Comet 3 and 4 450 kn
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1948
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Depends on how quickly one counts to seven?
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1948
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I flew as a passenger {!} in a Comet [Middle East Airlines] back in early 1969.
Aden-Jeddah-Beirut.
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Miken



Joined: 24 Dec 2012
Posts: 543

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a small boy in the early 70's The second type of aircraft i ever flew in was a Dan Air Comet with Mum and Dad to Spain for a fortnight. We sat over the wing and i remember it being extremely noisy as of course the engines are in the wing roots.
The first aircraft i flew in was a channel hop in a "Carvair" which was a car carrying derivative of the DC4.
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ukdave2002



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4092
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Square windows are so much harder to clean...all those corners!
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22423
Location: UK

PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

An interesting film, I hadn't realised a) about the type of holes used for the rivets and b) the effects that the ground pressure testing of a fuselage had on subsequent tests.

RJ
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Churchill Johnson



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 359
Location: Rayleigh Essex

PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A film made in 1951 staring james stewart, No Highway in the Sky, was about metal fatigue in the tail of an aircraft.
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Keith D



Joined: 16 Oct 2008
Posts: 1127
Location: Upper Swan, Western Australia

PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No highway in the sky was based on Neville Shute's book No Highway that was almost prophetic in it's dealing with metal fatigue in airframes. Neville Shute was actually Neville Norway, co-founder of Airspeed Aircraft and so was a very highly qualified aviation author.

Keith
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roverdriver



Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 1210
Location: 100 miles from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very interesting video. I well remember the controversy surrounding the Comet.

Incidentally, Neville Shute wrote "No Highway In the Sky" in 1948. As well as a prolific author, he was involved with aircraft professionally. Several of his books have aeronautical themes.

Thanks Keith D. We were writing at the same time!

Yes, Peter, Slide Rule is IMHO a "must read" for anyone interested in mechanical things.
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Last edited by roverdriver on Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:17 am; edited 1 time in total
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 7112
Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

He also wrote "Sliderule" which is effectively his autobiography and fascinating.

Peter
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PapaJoe



Joined: 09 Nov 2020
Posts: 73
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 1:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for posting the Comet video, Peter. In the early 90s, I attended the USAF Aircraft Accident Investigation School. As a part of the "Material failure" curriculum, we studied the Comet accidents to illustrate the effects of stress concentrations on metal failure. At that time, the Comet pressure vessel breach was blamed on the square windows. I had never heard of the subsequent study blaming the rivet holes for the failure. Very interesting.
Regards,
Joe
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