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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0394.PDF
174 FLIGHT FLIGHT in the COMET A Passenger's Impressions of a Two-hour 1,000-mile Tour over France in a Standard B.O.A.C. 36-seater IT is difficult for an aeronautical journalist to derive any new stimulation from flying as such; but I must admit at once that when, last Friday, I flew in a Comet on a test flight from Hatfield, I experienced a degree of enjoyment which comes my way but rarely: so much so that it is not easy to keep enthusiasm within the bounds of the accuracy which factual description demands. The opportunity for the ride came when No. 3 Comet, the first production aircraft, was to be demonstrated to a number of distinguished official and other visitors from France: fortunately, there was a vacant seat which de Havillands at very short notice offered me, and even more fortunately, the aircraft was fully furnished and thus represented precisely the appointment which B.O.A.C. passengers will enjoy when the Comet shortly goes into service. As may be remembered from the description of the Comet interior published in the September 7th, 1951, issue of Flight, at the forward end of the main cabin there is an eight-seat com partment with its chairs arranged in facing pairs separated by tables each side of the central aisle. I sat in the port outboard seat of the front row, i.e., facing aft. Just before mid-day the four Ghosts were started and we taxied out for take-off. We had, however, to wait for a few moments whilst John Derry took-off in the D.H. no prototype all-weather fighter—an event which was excitedly commented on by my French fellow-passengers. Then John Cunningham taxied us forward on to the runway, lined-up and we were off. Although the static floor line of the Comet is level, seated as I was facing aft, I fully expected that, what with the acceleration to take-off speed and the nose-up take-off attitude, I should not be very comfortable. On the contrary, however, the acceleration seemed to be less marked than that one experiences in airscrew- driven airliners, and the initial climbing angle was scarcely perceptible in terms of seat attitude. What was so very impressive was the tremendous sense of height gained and forward speed: one expects it in a fighter but not when one is seated in a comfort able armchair. It was astonishingly quiet in the forward cabin, quieter even than I had expected knowing full well that turbojet travel is quiet. Livid masses of cloud fled past, and quick ripples of cobblestone-bumping made the aircraft quiver, whilst the wing tip seemingly almost lazily flexed to the turbulence: and then we were in the glittering effulgence of clear sunlight, brilliantly reflected from the snowfield of strato-cumulus below. There were ragged holes through the cloud layer which let us glimpse the gloomy earth, but so sporadically as to be, at least to me, unrecognizable. From the position of the sun I could see that we were heading roughly south-south-west and, muddling with mental sums, I tried to calculate when we should cross the coast. In the event, as so often happens, the cloud thinned over the edge of the land, and there below us lay the sprawling shallow expanse of Chichester harbour: we had been in the air for 13 minutes. I left my seat to go forward and have a word with John Cunningham, but so many other people had the same idea that it was some little time before I managed it. We were over mid- Channel at 25,000ft, and climbing normally at i,oooft/minute; the Machmeter indicated 0.59, and the A.S.I. 228 kt, whilst the outside air temperature was registered as - 37 deg C. The Ghosts were turning over at 9,500 r.p.m., and their jet-pipe temperatures were all in the region of 600 deg. John was talking into his microphone to John Derry in the no some thousands of feet above us and scores of miles astern. Back in the main cabin, I moved about sampling the various teat positions and with senses cocked for vibration and noise levels. The least quiet seats in the main cabin are those of the two foremost rows where, more or less abreast the compressors, the noise is a medium-pitched hum which I can best liken to that wonderful sound one hears from an Alfa cruising at about 80 m.p.h. Farther aft, the noise gets appreciably less, and the quietest seats are those of the second, third and fourth rows from the back. In making these comments on the noise level in the cabin, I must emphasize that the whole thing is relative, and even at its loudest the noise is appreciably less than that which one experiences in other aircraft. This, too, applies so far as vibration is concerned, and perhaps it will be enough for me to state, without reservation, that I have never flown so quietly or so smoothly in anything. On the score of comfort, the standard B.O.A.C. Comet will offer the passenger almost everything he can desire. I say "almost" because, although the chairs themselves are delightfully comfortable and easily adjusted, the integrally moulded headrests are of a kind which, whilst providing a soft support for the top of the head, leave an uncomfortable gap at the nape of the neck. When I inspected the furnished mock-up some months ago, the chairs were fitted with small headrest pillows and it is to be hoped that such adjuncts to comfort will be supplied by the Corporation when the Comet services start. This is perhaps a minor criticism, but in view of the entirely new standard of travel which Comet passengers will enjoy, it seems unquestionable that no detail of appointment should be allowed to mar it. Over the Channel Islands, 23 minutes after take-off, we could see the brown arrow-head of Portland Bill not far short of roo miles away on our starboard quarter. And so we flew on, steadily gaining height, turning inland to port over St. Nazaire, and heading for Paris. Over France, as over England, the land was shrouded by a riddled veil of strato-cumulus, and so it was that, although John Cunningham swung the Comet round in a large circle, little of the French capital could be seen. The autodrome at Montlhery was glimpsed; the huge runway at Bretigny could be seen quite clearly, and my companion pointed excitedly at what he said was Les Tuileries. Shortly after we turned back for Hatfield the engines' note underwent a perceptible change, and when I once more went forward into the cockpit, I found that the inboard engines had been cut back to 5,320 r.p.m., whilst the outboards were turning over at 6,250. I asked John if this was normal practice, and was told that it was, the idea being that the let-down should be made from 40,000ft at —40 minutes E.T.A., the descent being kept constant at about i,oooft/min and 220 kt I.A.S. We arrived back at Hatfield at 12 minutes past two, having been in the air for two hours, nine minutes, and having flown very nearly one thousand miles. One knows that the Comet will put existing airliners in the shade; but truly one has to fly in it to realize how wholly dissatisfied passengers will be with other types once they have experienced Comet travel. C. B. B-W. BLACKPOOL'S BIG RUNWAY NEGOTIATIONS have recently been completed for the construction of a new main runway at Squire's Gate Airfield, Blackpool, and work will begin in the near future. It will be used in the flight-testing of Hawker aircraft, the makers of which have taken over the big "shadow" factory alongside the airfield, where Vickers built 3,406 Wellingtons during the war. Nearly £1,000,000 will be spent on the new runway, which must be completed before Hawkers can go fully ahead with their jet-fighter programme (their existing airfield at Langley, Bucks, is inconveniently near London and Northolt Airports). Initially the runway will be 2,000yd long and later will be extended to 2,500yd; its width will be 200ft. Because the runway will cut across a main road and into valuable agricultural and building land, it has been the subject of prolonged negotiations between Government departments and the local authorities concerned (Blackpool and Lytham St. Annes). The road it will cross—the only alternative road link between Blackpool and Lytham St. Annes—will, of course, have to be closed to traffic. The new runway will be sited in the direction of the pre vailing wind. When the airfield was originally built the main runway ran 1,420 yd E.N.E.-W.S.W., but since then it has been realized that the prevailing wind in the area is W.N.W.; it would therefore be impracticable to extend the existing main runway.
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