de Havilland DH.106 Comet Family
The de Havilland DH.106 Comet introduced commercial jet passenger service in 1952. Its early Comet 1 and the substantially redesigned Comet 4, which returned the programme to airline service in 1958, represent different stages of the design. Investigation of the 1954 losses showed how repeated cabin pressurization could drive fatigue at local stress concentrations. In the full-scale water-tank test, cracking began at an escape-hatch window corner; recovered wreckage from the Elba accident located the initial fracture near the roof-mounted automatic-direction-finder windows. The lesson includes pressure-cycle testing, structural details and crack growth, rather than window shape alone. Later Comets served airline, military and research roles.
Future launches and major activity directly linked to this vehicle family.
Identity
- Aliases
- DH.106 CometDH 106 CometComet 1Comet 2Comet 3Comet 4Comet 4BComet 4C
- Family Name
- de Havilland DH.106 Comet
- Full Name
- de Havilland DH.106 Comet Family
- Roles
- airlinermilitaryresearch
- Status
- retired
- Type
- aircraft
Details
- Aircraft Specs
- Configuration
- fixed_wing
- Operating Modes
- land
- Takeoff Landing Capabilities
- conventional
- Description
- The de Havilland DH.106 Comet introduced commercial jet passenger service in 1952. Its early Comet 1 and the substantially redesigned Comet 4, which returned the programme to airline service in 1958, represent different stages of the design. Investigation of the 1954 losses showed how repeated cabin pressurization could drive fatigue at local stress concentrations. In the full-scale water-tank test, cracking began at an escape-hatch window corner; recovered wreckage from the Elba accident located the initial fracture near the roof-mounted automatic-direction-finder windows. The lesson includes pressure-cycle testing, structural details and crack growth, rather than window shape alone. Later Comets served airline, military and research roles.
- First Flight Year
- 1,949
- Manufacturer
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Count
- 4
- Placement
- wing
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- airframe
- Variant Notes
- Four Ghost 50 Mk 1 turbojets in the Comet 1 buried wing installation; BAE lists four 4,450 lbst DH Ghost 50 engines for Comet 1. No later Ghost mark or Avon substitution is inferred.
- Name
- de Havilland Comet 1 Ghost 50 Mk 1 installation
- Notes
- Comet 1 production configuration only. Comet 2/2X/2E and Comet 3/4 family alternatives, including Avon-powered variants, remain intentionally unmodeled until exact variant packets are separately sourced. This alternative is not a claim that every DH.106 subseries used Ghost 50 Mk 1.
- Entries
- Count
- 4
- Placement
- wing
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- airframe
- Variant Notes
- Four exact Rolls-Royce Avon Mk 524 turbojets, two embedded in each Comet 4 wing; no other Comet branch is inferred.
- Name
- Comet 4 exact Avon Mk 524 configuration
- Notes
- Applies only to the de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4 branch. The sealed Comet 1 Ghost 50 Mk 1 alternative is preserved; Comet 2/2X/2E, Comet 3, Comet 4B, Comet 4C, and other Comet variants remain unmodeled until exact variant packets are separately sourced.
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 29, 2026 at 09:16:33 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 17, 2026 at 12:04:32 UTC