The de Havilland Comet at 75: From Troubled Jetliner to Military Icon | Aviation

July 27, 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the de Havilland Comet, the world’s first jet-powered airliner. This airliner had a troubled start to service, but eventually became a reliable workhorse.

The contract to produce the Comet was issued by the British government to the de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1945. The company, headed by engineer Geoffrey de Havilland, had gained a reputation for innovative and well-performing aircraft designs.

Before the Second World War, de Havilland had made its name producing a series of successful biplane designs. These included the DH.82 Tiger Moth, which became prolific as the Royal Air Force’s primary basic trainer aircraft from the early 1930s to the early 1950s, and the DH.89 Dragon Rapide which saw service as a civilian airliner and military transport across the world.

The DH.88 Comet, a very different aircraft to the DH.106 Comet that is the subject of this article, was a monoplane designed and constructed for the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from London to…