Memorable Trip

A couple of days ago I came across a program on Discovery about the first commercial jetliner in the world. It was the De Havilland Comet and they had a lot of problems with it. There were a number of mysterious crashes where the aircraft just broke up in the air with no warning and plummeted from the sky with no survivors. Not the best of starts to the jet age.

After exhaustive testing, including submerging a full size aircraft in a specially built water tank and forcing water in and out of the cabin to simulate pressurization, the problem was discovered. The skin was to thin and the windows and doors square shapes caused stress to build in the corners and cracks to form. These cracks gradually grew until the fuselage failed and the aircraft broke up in flight. This was the first documented aircraft failure from metal fatigue and the start of the balancing act between strength and weight which is still being played out today.

Another reason I watched the show was a sentimental one. The Comet was the first aircraft I flew overseas on when I was in the RAF. That is dating me but I don’t think I mind anymore. We were on our way to Peru from England and I had expected to go in a Britannia which was a four engine turbo prop but to be going in one of the five Comets that the RAF had was a real treat.

When we had boarded the ‘treat’ turned into a slog with a fuel stop in Shannon, Ireland and another in Gander, Newfoundland before the overnight stop in Washington DC. The next morning suffering from an underestimate of the strength of the American beer we boarded and headed for the island of Jamaica.

The airport staff also was surprised by the Comet and we spent fifteen minutes dying from the heat, trapped on board as they ‘rushed’ Jamaica style to find a set of steps to get us off the aircraft. After a couple of hours we were on board again for the final leg to Lima in time for the evening meal, if only we had learned Spanish. Still for a nineteen year old the trip was memorable and ten weeks in South America and the return in the Britannia were even more so. But that is another story.