The jet age is 60 years old. The British-built de Havilland Comet made its first revenue flights in 1952 and - though the type had a terrible safety record and was supplanted by the Boeing 707 as the real breakthrough jet airliner, it heralded the start of a new era of long-haul flight at speeds and altitudes not that much different to today.
Much has changed since then - for a start many thousands times more people around the world can afford to fly now than in the early 1950s, when it was the preserve of the privilaged few. And in terms of technology, the past six decades have given us Concorde, jumbos and superjumbos, fly-by-wire, composite structures and a whole host of cabin and cockpit gizmos.
But look at the basic design of the Comet or 707 and - engines aside - it doesn't look too different from today's airliners. True, they can fly for much longer distances and the larger types carry many more people - but in many ways aerodynamics and aero engineering reached a point of perfection in the early to mid-50s that has evolved only slowly in the six decades since.
In the 19 June issue of Flight International, to mark its 60th birthday, we come up with the 60 major milestones from the jet age, from the first revenue flights of Comet to the launch of final assembly of the Airbus A350, and everything in between.
See if you agree with our choices.
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