A bit harsh, it was the Comet 1 that was the 'death trap'. That one had square windows and several were lost due to metal fatigue. These were early days for pressurised jets and many lessons were learnt.
The later Comet 3's and 4's flew well into the '70's and had an exccellent safety record and there is a version of the Comet airframe still flying today, the RAF's Nimrod.
If only thay had lised to Sir Frank Wittle he comented on the air frame and the windows being unsutable. Tho saying that the way he got dumped on was terrable ignored, then his ider stolen by the Germans then serpoterted but not enuf then his Rover kept on changing things, then the Minstery gave his Designs to the USA then he got forsed to Resign from the very industry he Created!!!!!!
How did Germany steal his idea? Germany produced a completely different engine. The Whittle engine was a centrifugal compressor and the German engine was axial flow (the mother of todays engines). They are so different that had the Germans stolen plans to the Whittle engine, they threw them in the bin and did their own thing. It is like trying to compare a 4 pot and a rotary engine.
Matt
People Eating Tasty Animals.
