Aah, de Havilland. Fifty-three years and an era in British civil aviation separate these two pictures. Above: John "Cats-Eyes" Cunningham flies the world's first purpose-built jet airliner - the de Havilland DH106 Comet - from Hatfield on 27 July, 1949. Right: The last Avro RJ (neé DH146!) takes off from Woodford on 24 June, marking the end of jet airliner production in the UK. During that period, UK manufacturers BAC, British Aerospace/BAE Systems, de Havilland, Hawker Siddeley and Vickers delivered over 900 BAe 146/RJs, Comets, Concordes, Tridents, and VC10s. I am sure that many nephews will spot the irony that as the sun sets on the last British airliner design, BAE is looking to resurrect production of the Nimrod fuselage for its US Navy MMA bid - an aircraft that is of course based on the Comet.
Source: Flight International
