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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0905.PDF
113 memm m m m ' i. 4 -^i|f «£«••-: "^ .A. " * COMET PRODUCTION AT CHESTER IN October 1952 it was announced that the de Havilland Aircraft Company had decided to build Comet 2s—and later 3s—at their Broughton (Chester) factory, as well as at Hatfield, and that Short Bros, and Harland were to provide a third production line at Belfast. This decision was taken on the basis of potential rather than actual orders for Comets and represented a bold approach to the delivery-date problem. These photographs, taken at Broughton last week, indicate the remarkable progress made there in the past 18 months. At the head of the line, and due for flight-test in July or August, is The heading picture, taken last week in the de Havilland factory at broughton, Chester, focuses attention on the new production line for Comet 2s. On the right, Comet constructicn is seen in relation to the entire productive effort— civil and military—of this huge plant, which also builds Venoms, Vampire Trainers, Chipmunks, Doves and Herons. The assembly line in the fore ground has already turned out more than 40 Herons, and 20 more are due for completion in the next few months. "FLIGHT" photographs the first of three Comet 2s for U.A.T. It has been allocated the works number 6045, meaning that this is the 45th airframe in the basic D.H. 106 series. Farther back on the assembly tracks, the fuselage shells of Nos. 46-49 inclusive are taking shape as the various trolley-mounted sections are aligned and "sewn up." The first few Chester-built Comet 2s embody a number of Hatfield- supplied components, but the factory is now almost independently capable of building complete Comets, having its own Reduxing shop, pressure-test section and full jigging for the major assemblies. The D.H. spares organization—as described on the previous page—is also centred at Broughton.
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