A colour image of the Comet during route proving flights, reproduced in the May 1952 issue of The Aeroplane.

Hope and glory

The Comet promised British supremacy in commercial aviation

It was and still is to this day the greatest moment in British commercial aviation.

The first commercial fight of the Comet, the world’s first passenger jet, held so much promise. Yet just under two years later that great moment was shattered after two Comets broke up in flight – effectively the beginning of the end of building aircraft in the UK.

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