Britain's Lead in the Air
Although there has been distress and disappointment at the aCcidents to the Comet and to the Britannia turbine-enginetl aircraft, there has been, in the British industry, no sign of any Wavering from the belief that turbine-engined machines must eventually oust all others on the airlines of the world. In some ways, indeed, the aircraft industry seems to thrive on adversity; for production plans for the Britannia are being pressed forward and experience with the Comet II is suggest- ing by which the Comet III will be made even better an its original specification. Apart from the historic Handley Page 42, no big air line transport machine has ever gone through aL! the stages from prototype to production and 'operation Without accidents. But the fact that they use turbines and not EIS.t011 engines directs special attention at the Comet and the fintannia. The Comet is a matter of public notice whatever It does; for it is a radical departure from previous machines and it achieves the astonishing feat of setting up transport sPeeds on the main air routes by as much as 200 miles an hour —not a step forward, but an enormous leap forward. There l'ere many experienced pilots who expressed regret at the isOAC decision to suspend the Comet services after the Elba Ft:ash and they were able to give parallels from air transport nistory in which services were continued in spite of worse a.ect.dents. But most people will approve of Sir Miles Thomas's oecision for there is always the suggestion of mystery about accident to a new type of machine and it is this mystery that adversely affects passenger confidence. Nevertheless in silPport of the view that the services could be re-started is most Ctt the work of investigation done so far. All this testifies to e soundness of the Comet structure and to the trustworthiness f its turbojet engines.
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