BOEING 707s IN BRITAIN

摘要

The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was Britain's long-haul successor to Imperial Airways. After World War Two, the airline made the extraordinary leap from a dated fleet, which included war-weary flying boats, lend-lease DC-3s and Avro Lancastrian converted bombers, to the world's first jet airline service with the British-built de Havilland Comet 1. The first jet service left London Heathrow bound for Johannesburg, South Africa, with five en route stops on May 2, 1952. However, after three mid-air break-ups the Comet 1 was grounded in April 1954 and a massive investigation revealed the aircraft skin and structure were under-engineered to handle the demands of pressurisation in high-altitude flight. Britain's lead in the jet age was lost.