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Pride of Britain


jaapv

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If I remember well, quite a few people lost their lives flying the Comet:o....

That was the first version, with the rectangular windows. Stress cracks at the corners destroyed the structural integrity. Once they found that out and fitted oval windows, there were no more crashes.

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It was because the square windows on the first model. They where used to crack because of the metal fatigue. Last models had round windows

 

They failed for a really stupid reason; the original design called for the interior window trims to be bonded in but the "glue" specified was no good; someone took a decision to drill and pop-rivet them in, adding thousands of stress-risers to a previously sound airframe. :(

It took De Havilland quite a while to figure out how to put together metal aircraft.

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  • 3 weeks later...
That was the first version, with the rectangular windows. Stress cracks at the corners destroyed the structural integrity. Once they found that out and fitted oval windows, there were no more crashes.

 

...until they called it the Nimrod!

 

Nice shot of a rather maligned plane

 

Charlie

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