The de Havilland Comet 4 was a medium range British jet airliner, powered by four Rolls-Royce Avon engines. Usually seating 74 to 81 passengers, a special charter package enabled it to seat up to 119 in later life.
British Overseas Airways Corporation or BOAC put the aircraft into service on 4 October 1958, becoming the first airline to operate jets across the Atlantic. Compared to the previous version of the aircraft, this version was more successful, but certainly not in comparison to the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, its main competitors.
de Havilland Comet 4 Video
Following on from the last video about the Antonov An-148 and An-158, this time we head over to England for a look at the de Havilland Comet 4. Produced by WTTW Chicago, this documentary is called “The First Jetliner” and runs for just under half an hour.
It gives an excellent overview of the original de Havilland Comet 1 as well as the de Havilland Comet 4. Next up, is a quick first video that runs for one and a half minutes, showing some Comet 4 action in Beirut, Cairo and Istanbul in the 1960s.
You might not recognise United Arab Airlines, but they became EgyptAir in 1971. Finally, there is a cute video called “The Last ‘Flying’ Comet”. A guy bought the cockpit of a Comet and turned it into a flight simulator. It runs for just under seven minutes.
He must be very talented as well as very patient to put something like that together. I’d certainly love to have a go of that sometime!
Overall Thoughts
Just 114 Comet 4s were produced, with production ending in 1964. Scheduled passenger services ran through to 1981 with Dan-Air, with the last flight by a plane owned by the British Ministry of Technology taking place on 14 March 1997.
I’ve been on board an ex-Dan-Air example at the aviation museum in East Fortune in Scotland. It is definitely an interesting thing to go inside, especially as it has exceptionally tight seating in its charter configuration.
Have you been on a de Havilland Comet 4? What did you think of the videos? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Eddy J. Gual on AirlineFan.com via Wikimedia Commons.
Beautiful bird, particularly the Comet 4.
Personally, I’ve always preferred the looks of the Comet 1 for some reason. Maybe it’s that classic navy blue and white BOAC livery that does it for me. Nothing wrong with the 4 though, of course!
I saw the O’Hare Comet several times when flying out of ORD. As far as I know, that’s the only Comet I’ve seen in person. Could be wrong though, but I usually have a decent memory about such things. Truly a historic airliner.
I think I’ve only seen one in person too, which is that one I mentioned in Scotland. I would like to go and see the only Comet 1 still remaining at some point too. Wish there was one flying – now that would be an experience!