Given that a modified version of the Comet (the Comet IV) was used until recently by the British government as an antisubmarine warfare aircraft, it is clear that the design flaws could have been corrected, given enough time. What, then, do you see as de Havilland’s critical error in the development of the Comet? Classic Case: de Havilland’s Falling Comet The Development of the Comet The de Havilland Aircraft Company of Great Britain had long been respected in the aircraft manufacturing industry for its innovative and high-performance designs. Coming off its excellent work during World War II, the company believed that it stood poised on the brink of success in the commercial airframe industry.

The de Havilland designers and executives accurately perceived that the next generation of airplane would be jet-powered. Consequently, they decreed that their newest commercial airframe, tentatively called the Comet, would employ jet power and other leading-edge technology.

Jets offered several advantages over propellerdriven airplanes, the most obvious of which was speed.

Jets could cruise at nearly 450 miles per hour compared with the 300 miles per hour a propeller could generate.

For overseas flight, in particular, this advantage was important. It could reduce the length of long flights from a mind-numbing two or three days to mere hours, encouraging more and more businesspeople and tourists to use airplanes as their primary method for travel.

Further, jets tended to be quieter than propeller-driven aircraft, giving a more comfortable interior sound level and ride to passengers.

De Havilland engineers sought to create a streamlined airplane that could simultaneously carry up to 50 passengers in comfort, while maintaining aerodynamics and high speed. After working with several design alternatives, the Comet began to take shape. Its design was indeed distinctive: the four jet engines were embedded in pairs in the wing roots, at the point where they joined the fuselage. From the front, the aircraft looked as though its wings were held in place by the engines