De Havilland Comet - Kev Darling (AirlinerTech) Review
A Good Look at a Pioneering Airliner
Presented in a single volume are the histories and technical specifications of the De Havilland DH.106 Comet and its offspring, the Nimrod. Starting with an overview of the Brabazon Committee's plans for postwar airliners, Mr. Darling describes the design of the various Comet variants. The author covers the design flaws of the early Comet in very good detail. He describes the Comet 4 in service in England and throughout the world, and covers the RAF military Comets, including the Nimrod. The reference section covers significant dates but covers little else. There is no chart on the individual histories of the commercial airframes or even a section on preserved examples residing in museums, an unfortunate shortcoming.
A center spread contains some nice color pictures of civil and military Comets. However, considering that Dan Air was the largest operator of the Comet, that airline is vastly underrepresented. There are a few shots of the Comet and Nimrod flight decks, but very little in the way of interior shots, which is a pity. In these respects, this book is less detailed than the volume on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser in the same series.
This book is a slightly abridged version of the original Crowood edition, which has the production lists and photos of individual airframes not present in this volume. It is up to the individual reader to determine whether those features (and the hard covers) are worth the extra money. Overall, Mr. Darling presents a readable and interesting text. If, like me, you want to learn about this pioneer jetliner, this book is bound to please.
De Havilland Comet - Kev Darling (AirlinerTech) Review
A Good Look at a Pioneering Airliner
Presented in a single volume are the histories and technical specifications of the De Havilland DH.106 Comet and its offspring, the Nimrod. Starting with an overview of the Brabazon Committee's plans for postwar airliners, Mr. Darling describes the design of the various Comet variants. The author covers the design flaws of the early Comet in very good detail. He describes the Comet 4 in service in England and throughout the world, and covers the RAF military Comets, including the Nimrod. The reference section covers significant dates but covers little else. There is no chart on the individual histories of the commercial airframes or even a section on preserved examples residing in museums, an unfortunate shortcoming.
A center spread contains some nice color pictures of civil and military Comets. However, considering that Dan Air was the largest operator of the Comet, that airline is vastly underrepresented. There are a few shots of the Comet and Nimrod flight decks, but very little in the way of interior shots, which is a pity. In these respects, this book is less detailed than the volume on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser in the same series.
This book is a slightly abridged version of the original Crowood edition, which has the production lists and photos of individual airframes not present in this volume. It is up to the individual reader to determine whether those features (and the hard covers) are worth the extra money. Overall, Mr. Darling presents a readable and interesting text. If, like me, you want to learn about this pioneer jetliner, this book is bound to please.