Fliegerhorst 1/72nd (resin kit) De Havilland Comet 1 By Gerry Niles

History:

The Comet 1 was the first all jet passenger aircraft to provide commercial service. Its inaugural flight occurred on May 2, 1952, when B.O.A.C. Comet G-ALYP departed London bound for Rome. Considering the fact that it would be another six and a half years before the first Boeing 707 went into service this date becomes very significant. However being first doesn’t always mean success.

The initial design requirements for the Comet originated as early as 1943. At that time the British government had become concerned by the war time advances made by American aircraft manufacturers in long range transport aircraft and their post war civil applications. As a result the Brabazon committee was formed to initiate their own post war commercial aircraft program. On April 19, 1944 the Barbazon committee gave De Havilland the go-ahead to design and build a pure jet airliner. In 1946 a design was approved and work on the prototypes was initiated. Roll out of the first of two prototypes occurred on April 1949, followed by the first flight in late July. Performance of the new all jet airliner was very competitive with its contemporaries and many new records were establish by the aircraft.

Order for the Comet started to pour in and by 1954 forty-seven Comet 1, 1A and 2 had either been order or delivered. Customer airlines were happy with the aircraft. At this time orders for the longer range Comet series 3 were just being accepted. However with all new technology comes new problems and sometimes with tragic results. Such was the case with the Comet 1.

The history of the effects of metal fatigue on the Comet 1 and the resulting catastrophic failures is well known and well documented. Needless to say as a result of these problems the Comet program suffered an unprecedented set back. The Comet 3 never went into production and to say the least the aircraft became a bit of a pariah with air travelers. By the time the problems were solved and the new and improved Comet 4 became available the American Aircraft manufactures had not only caught up but were well on their way to controlling the market.

The Kit:

Fliegerhorst’s Comet 1 kit is one of the best engineered resin kits I have seen to date. Dimensionally the wing span and the fuselage length are accurate. Although I do not have a set of drawings to compare the kit with the shape looks right, and I have no doubt that Fliegerhorst did its homework. The fuselage is done in hollow halves with provisions for individual windows. A sheet of clear material is provided for this purpose. The tail section including the horizontal stabilizers is cast separately as is the vertical stabilizer. The individual wings, including the fairing, join the fuselage at the natural break line. The engine intakes and exhausts recesses are equally well done especially the intakes. All the control surfaces and flaps are cast separately, as are the cabin doors and cargo hatch doors, which are all nice touches. The cockpit windscreen treatment comes with several options including a vac-u-form piece, a resin section for individual clear panels or a decal. Overall the kits recessed panel lines are as good if not better than most injection molded offerings. The landing gear looks to be fairly well detailed and is reinforced by a steel wire for the extra weigh of the resin airframe. The only negative are the instructions. They are brief to say the least with no illustrations. Decal placement is partially defined by the box art but other than that you are left to your own research.

Decals:

The kit provided to Internet Modeler came with marking for UAT, probably the most colorful of the Comet 1 customers, however the kit also can be ordered with marking for B.O.A.C. and Air France. The decals are well done and registration is excellent. They are computer generated and printed decals and as such need to be clear coated prior to use.

Conclusion:

This is an exceptionally well done 1/72nd resin kit of an historically significant aircraft. Fliegerhorst has put a lot of thought into the design and quality of this release. Decals are also very well done. The only down side are the instructions or rather the lack of.

Many thanks to Dave Cooper and DMC Models for supplying this sample kit. DMC Models carries an impressive line of resin kits, so be sure to check out their website for this and other interesting kits.