Round-the-World Flights
RAF Comet-2 Jet Round-the-World Flight
Page 4g (rev: 1000)
The British understood that to get the lead from America, they had to develope
jet transport aircraft.
Comet Prototype
The first De Havilland Comet prototype flew at Hatfield, England on July 27, 1949.
It used four Dehavilland Ghost 50 turbojet engines and was later registered G-ALVG.
Comet-1
The world's first pure jet flight with fare paying passengers was made on May 2, 1952
in a Comet-1 (G-ALYP). Several accidents endangered the future of the Comets but did
provide valuable design improvements for future aircraft.
Comet-2
A Comet-2 with increased fuel capacity (7,000 gallons) and with Avon-502 axial flow
jet engines flew at Hatfield on February 16, 1952. Several were ordered by commercial
operators but never entered service because of Comet-1 crashes. 22 were built with 5
scrapped, 3 put into storage and the remainder converted into variants primarily used
by the RAF (Royal Air Force). On December 4, 1958 the RAF made a flight round-the-world.
Piloted by S/L Taplin (RAF #216 Squadron) the flight proceeded westerly departing from
Lyneham, England with interim stops in the US, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Rangoon, Karachi returning to Lyneham, England. AAMS TO #1621
Comet-3
The Comet-3 (G-ANLO) was a stretched version with Avon-502 engines. Only one was
made. Piloted by John Cunningham and Peter Bugge, it left Hatfield on December 2, 1955
and flew round-the-world arriving home on December 28, 1955.
It averaged 501 mph and was the first jet airliner to cross the Pacific and the first
jet airliner to circumnavigate the globe. Intermediate stops included Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vancouver and Dorval.
Comet-4
The Comet-4 (G-APDA) first flew at Hatfield on April 27, 1958. The world's first
transatlantic jet flights with fare paying passengers were made simultaneously on
October 4, 1958 by Captain R.E.Millichap (westbound) and by Captain T.B.Stoney
(eastbound). The last Comet-4 service out of Heathrow flown by Sudan Airways was on
November 11, 1972. Comet-4 (G-APDB) was ferried to Duxford for preservation on
February 12, 1974 marking the end of the Comet era.
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