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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0012.PDF
The Comet 3 on course for Whenuapai Airport, Auckland, flies over the upper reaches of New Zealand's big seaport. THE COMET 3's TOUR 30,000-mile Round-the-World Voyage in 67 Hours' Flying Time AT 10.51 hr G.M.T. on Wednesday, December 28th, the- de Havilland Comet 3 landed at London Airport at the end of its 30,000-mile round-the-world proving flight. The aircrafthad flown the 3,250 miles from Montreal in 6 hr 18 min at an ayerage speed of 515 m.p.h. Summing up the tour, chief testpilot John Cunningham said: "Apart from our delay in Montreal [caused by the detachment of the extension jet-pipe from the star-board inner engine a few minutes out from Montreal on December 22nd], which we put right from our own resources, wehad no delay whatsoever throughout the trip, and the general reliability and easy maintenance of the aircraft and ••:engines were outstanding." Demonstration nights had been given at Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Honolulu,Vancouver and Montreal, carrying some 50 people on each flight. Among the operators who sampled the air-craft were Australian National Airways, Trans- Australia Airlines, Qantas, Canadian Pacific Airlines,Tasman Empire Airways, and Trans-Canada Air Lines. "People were particularly impressed," said Cunningham,"by the airport behaviour of the Comet—especially its short take-off and landing." At the conclusion of the flight, the de HavillandCompany acknowledged the help given by B.O.A.C.: "The company was delighted to fly in B.O.A.C. coloursand greatly appreciated the decision of the Corporation to send Capt. Peter Cane to accompany the aircraft, as amember of the crew, throughout the tour." The Comet was flown strictly in accordance with normal jet airlinerprocedure and, as far as Montreal, no departure had to be made from a schedule drawn up before leaving Hatfield. The original flight plan was achieved within very close limits of time and fuel consumption. In this respect the primary aim of the tour—to make a practical assessment of the Comet 4's commercial capabilities—was fulfilled; and there is no doubt that the eager de Havilland effort to establish the Comet in the world market could not have been more confidendy demonstrated. The tour is summarized in the accompanying table. The de Havilland company states that further Comet 3 flights are envisaged. These may include a tour of North and South America later this year. Dec. 2 3 3 3-4 4 6 8-9 9 12 13 13-14 16 18 20 28 ••••••-"-.. TIMES, DISTANCES Stages Hatfield-Cairo Cairo-Bombay Bombay-Singapore Singapore-Darwin Darwin-Sydney ... Sydney-Melbourne Mefbourne-Perth... Perth-Sydney Sydney-Auckland... Auckland-Fiji Fiji-Honolulu Honolulu-Vanccuver Vancouver-Toronto Toronto-Montreal Montreal-London Dep.* (G.M.T.) 10.54 06.08 13.07 20.15 02.25 05.09 23.00 07.10 21.00 03.13 19.50 15.59 15.43 13.39 04.33 Arr.* (G.M.T.) 15.53 11.19 18.25 00.53 07.12 07.00 04.40 11.32 23.40 06.07 02.46 21.47 19.55 14.48 10.51 AND ! Time (hr, min) 4.59 5.11 5.18 4.38 4.47 1.51 5.40 4.22 2.40 2.54 6.56 5.48 4.12 1.09 6.18 SPEEDS Cumu. time (hr, min) __ 10.10 15.28 20.06 24.53 26.44 32.24 36.46 39.26 42.20 49.16 55.04 59.16 60.25 66.43 Dist. (St. mi.) 2,346 2,710 2,456 2.090 1,968 440 1,689 2,047 1,336 1,326 3,178 2,707 2,078 320 3,243 Cumu. dist. («•mi.) 5,056 7,512 9,602 11,570 12,010 13,699 15,746 17,082 18.408 21,586 24,293 26,371 26,691 29,934 Speed (m.p.h.) 471 523 463 451 411 238 298 469 501 457 458 467 495 278 515 • Airport timing procedures vary: may be take-off to touch-down. most of the times quoted are chock-to-chock, but some Sir Geoffrey de Havil- land and Sir Miles Thomas were at London Airport on December 28th to welcome the crew of t/ie Comet 3 home, (Right) Davies, of the charge found snag where stayed Harold crew-member Comet 3 in of inspection, nothing to at Hawaii, the Comet for two days.
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