Looking at my picture of the airliner I can see a standard piston
engine design airframe with four small Derwent centrifugal engines. I
would posit that the thick airfoils would limit its speed to say .75
max (if that) and probably about 300 IAS just like the Convair 240 it
resembles. The four low-pressure centrifugals guzzle fuel hungrily.
With the Comet all ready to go the bird was a non-starter despite the
PR advantage of offering 'jet service'. The Canadian Gov did their
airlines a service - or they would have been in a fix just like
Eastern was when Eddie Rickenbacker eschewed true jets for the
turboprop Electra and very shortly AA and National ate his lunch.
Walt BJ