Which aircraft will live in history forever?

The Comet was important, much as the Fokker F.VIIb Trimotor was
important.

Or the Boeing 247. Beautiful aircraft, ahead of its time, much too
small, fated to irrelevancy. 75 were built.

The Comet was the 247 of the 1950s. 36 passengers! What were they
thinking?

(Well, the answer to that is clear. The Comet was designed by a
government committee, or at least the specs were laid down by one.)

Even if the Comet hadn't developed a habit of falling into the ocean,
it would have been swept away by the Boeing 707. Modern transportation
was created by the 707. In an alternate universe, the rich would be
traveling to Yurrup by Concorde (the logical granddaughter of the
Comet) while the rest of us would be traveling Tourist Class in the
Queen Mary II.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

In article ,
Cub Driver writes:

The Comet was important, much as the Fokker F.VIIb Trimotor was
important.

Or the Boeing 247. Beautiful aircraft, ahead of its time, much too
small, fated to irrelevancy. 75 were built.

A very good analogue. I can see that.

The Comet was the 247 of the 1950s. 36 passengers! What were they
thinking?

(Well, the answer to that is clear. The Comet was designed by a
government committee, or at least the specs were laid down by one.)

Well, Air Travel was a different proposition to the Brits. The
purpose of Imperial Airways/B.O.A.C. was to deliver Official Mail and
the occasional King's Messenger to the far-flung reaches (But stopping
at every villiage along the way) of the Empire. It's one of the
reasons why they were never able to get that structure weight to
payload/fuel fraction thing straightened out. Another good example is
the Brabazon. Nearly the size of a B-36, and fewer passengers than a
DC-4. (A very well stocked Bar, no doubt, and servants up the
Ying-Yang. Did it have 4-poster beds?)

In the U.S., we viewed Air Travel as a tool of Commerce. It was a
way to get as many people from Point A to Point B in as quick a time
as practical. The longer stage langths here inside the U.S. led to a
drive to produce more efficient aircraft that could carry more
disposable load, and make as much of that load be passengers as possible.

For another example, consider the Shorts 'C' and 'G' Class Flying
Boats mentioned elsewhere in this thread in connection with B.O.A.C.'s
Air Refuelling experiments, and how they stack up to the Boeing 314s
that Pan Am was using on the same routes. (Pan Am originally wanted to
make the North Atlantic run in the early '30s, but the British
Government wouldn't grant Landing RIghts until Imperial/B.O.A.C. could
compete. The way that B.O.A.C. matched the 314 was to buy a batch of
them.

Even if the Comet hadn't developed a habit of falling into the ocean,
it would have been swept away by the Boeing 707. Modern transportation
was created by the 707. In an alternate universe, the rich would be
traveling to Yurrup by Concorde (the logical granddaughter of the
Comet) while the rest of us would be traveling Tourist Class in the
Queen Mary II.

Quite so.
In the same speed/commerce vein as related above, I think you could
say that the logical succesor to the Concorde is really the Internet,
and the vastly improved communication and presence that it brings.
When I was with Duracell, and having to troubleshoot systems all over
the globe, it was much more efficient for e to be at my desk,
connected directly into whatever system I nedded to be in, no matter
where I was. Aarshot, Belgium was just a keystroke away from Hong
Kong.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

do you know us are not alone in the aero stories ?

--
Franck

www.pegase-airshow.com
www.picavia.com

In article ,
(ArtKramr) wrote:

Which ones?


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer


1. Wright Flyer
2. Space Shuttle
3. Concorde
3. DC-3 and all of its subvarieties
4. Piper Cub
5. Stuka
6. Fokker Triplane
7. Ryan NYP
8. B-52

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Which ones?

Spitfire
Mustang
Sabre

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Which ones?

Wright Flyer
Sopwith Camel
Fokker Triplane
Ford Trimotor
Zero
Me 109
C-47
B-25
B-17
P-51
Spitfire
Me 262
B-29
MiG 15
707
U-2
Blackbird
B-52

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Which ones?


Albatross
Sopwith Camel
Spitfire
Hurricane
P-51
Lancaster
B-17
B-29


Keith

Wright Flyer
B-29 (nuked Japan)
U-2 (Cold War Symbol)
Concord
SR-71
Harrier (First real VTOL)
B-52 (if it ever *becomes* "history")
Me 262
X-1
X-15
KC-135


(there are lots of candidates such as the F-4, Mig-21, Zero, P-51,
etc. etc. but I think the above are unique and for that reason will
stand out)

Scott Ferrin wrote in
:

Wright Flyer
B-29 (nuked Japan)
U-2 (Cold War Symbol)
Concord
SR-71
Harrier (First real VTOL)
B-52 (if it ever *becomes* "history")
Me 262
X-1
X-15
KC-135


(there are lots of candidates such as the F-4, Mig-21, Zero, P-51,
etc. etc. but I think the above are unique and for that reason will
stand out)

And, perhaps, the most noteworthy aircrafts in history?

Spitfire (Battle of Britain)
DC-3 Dakota (worlds workhorse and lifesaviour)
Fokker Dr.1 (Red Baron)


Regards...

"Bjørnar" wrote in message
...
(there are lots of candidates such as the F-4, Mig-21, Zero, P-51,
etc. etc. but I think the above are unique and for that reason will
stand out)

And, perhaps, the most noteworthy aircrafts in history?

Spitfire (Battle of Britain)
DC-3 Dakota (worlds workhorse and lifesaviour)
Fokker Dr.1 (Red Baron)


Regards...



Cessna 152, 172


Jenny Simmonds



You never forget your first.



Cheers

Dave Kearton