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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1135.PDF
De Havilland D.H.iiO THE prototype of this night and all-weather fighter now on test is being developed to meet Fleet Air Arm requirements and will be flying at Farnborough in Naval colours. It may be supposed that folding wings and an arrester hook will be demanded, as on the Sea Venom, though these are not, for the present, installed. The "HO" is a machine of excep tional qualities and on very numerous occasions has achieved supersonic speed in a dive. Powered with two Rolls-Royce Avons, fed from wing-root intakes and having provision for afterburners, it has a thin swept wing with pronounced taper, and (somewhat of a surprise to many tech nicians) retains the characteristic de Havilland twin-boom tail. The tail- plane, it will be noted, has no sweepback, though it is, of course, of very thin section. The pilot's cockpit is offset to port and has a "blister" enclosure; the radio operator is housed to starboard in a cabin, for which windows are provided on the starboard side. Both crew members have ejector seats. The photograph below shows the wing "fences" and the guides for the large-area wing-flaps. Power plant Span Length . . Gross weight Cruising speed 4 de Havilland Ghost 50 115ft 93ft .. 107,000 lb 490 m.p.h. (Data and drawing for Comet 1; photograph shows Series iA) <£Z ^ De Havitland Comet i NEARLY 28,000 passengers were carried by B.O.A.C. Comets in the first year of scheduled operations. When this historic period ended on May 1st the world's first jet-airliner operators were able to announce that their unique experience of Comet operations had been acquired at a profit sufficient to cover interest on capital. In addition to the B.O.A.C. fleet of eight Ghost-powered Comets, six have been delivered to French operators (U.A.T. and Air France) and two to the R.C.A.F. Although Series 1 and 1A production is now completed, these aircraft have achieved a revolution in air transport by virtually doubling normal operating speeds without economic penalty. The 5,000 lb thrust Ghost turbojets, which are estimated to require only half the maintenance time of conventional power-units, give the Comet a cruising speed of 470-490 m.p.h. at its operating height of 40,000ft. The average stage-length flown by B.O.A.C.'s Comets is in the region of 1,000 miles (the longest is Rome-Beirut, 1,421 miles), but the Comet 1A, with kerosine capacity raised from 6,000 to 7,000 gal ? can tackle longer hauls. Passenger capacity varies from 36-44.
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