Comet 5?

[Tu.114]

Ladies and Gentlemen,
occasionally have I stumbled upon a planned ultimate DeHavilland 106 variant being mentioned. I gather it was to feature Conway engines mounted atop a strongly revised wing, much like the VFW-614.

But I have never been able to find any drawings, model photos, three-views or in fact anything at all about it, just some obscure lines and nothing more.

So I wonder - is there anybody out there able to point me to a picture or any more detailed information on this aircraft? Was it to be as graceful as the Comet 4 series or rather an ugly sibling?

Thank You;

Tu.114

[skytrain10]

Please see PM with info on source for the Comet 5 plus additional information on the DH118.

Cheers
Ken

[twochai]

Why PM only?? Why not tell us all you know about the Comet V?

After all, the statute of limitations is long past, if that's the issue!

[chevvron]

After 'RAF Flying Review' became 'Flying Review International' I remember they published outline drawings of several DH/HS projects which came to nothing. If there are any copies of these in archives, they might have at least an 'artist's impression'.

[izod tester]

No picture, but a discussion of the dH 118 is at the following site:

de havilland | 1956 | 1537 | Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%201537.html)

A J Jackson's de Havilland Aircraft from 1909 mentions it briefly but doesn't have and drawings.

[Tu.114]

Thank You all a lot! Seems like there are really a few mentions on the web of this aircraft.

It might have been the absolute maximum that could be squeezed out of the basic Comet design and not quite what the airlines wanted, but although it was never built, it is easily the most elegant Comet subseries, I think. A pity it has fallen that deep into obscurity.

[tornadoken]

0752431722, R.Payne, Stuck on the Drawing Board, Tempus,2004,p.47, 3-view Comet 5, p.48, D.H.118.

12/2/55: RAE/Cohen Report on Comet 1 disasters;
17/3/55: Govt. funds BOAC order for 19 Comet IV;
during 1955: DH Props to be Prime Contractor, Blue Streak IRBM; DH Engine Co. to provide Gyron and Spectre to SR.177 interceptor. To sustain DH Enterprise through a production hiatus after most Venom/Vampires, Govt. funded £6.5Mn. on D.H.118 study;
13/10/55: Pan Am launch orders for DC-8/30 and 707-120: baseline definition of turbojet seat/mile and payload/range numbers, all superior to paper Comets...and to VC.7 on offer to BOAC, and to V.1000 on order for RAF, thus cancelled 11/11/55;
20/7/56: DH buys 33.3% of Saro to protect business on SR.177, which would now be assembled at Airspeed/Christchurch. BOAC continues to dally with D.H.118 until:
24/10/56: when Govt. allows them to order 15 707-420, subject to early replacement with a new Br. type. That became VC10.

[chevvron]

Anyone remeber this little ditty?:

Twinkle twinkle little Boeing,
How I wonder where you're going,
Up above the world so high,
Like a Comet in the sky!

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Here is an image of the proposed DH.118 Comet 5....

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo227/Kiwithrottlejockey/Aviation/dh118.jpg

Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL), now Air New Zealand were interested in the Comet 5 to replace their Dougas DC-6 airliners, but because BOAC wasn't interested, the type never went beyond the initial concept idea and TEAL purchased Lockheed L.188C Electras instead.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL), now Air New Zealand were interested in the Comet 5 to replace their Dougas DC-6 airliners, but because BOAC wasn't interested, the type never went beyond the initial concept idea and TEAL purchased Lockheed L.188C Electras instead.

One of the problems of the time.

An over-controlling government who still thought that the loss of the empire was a temporary blip would only allow the UK industry to develop aircraft for the UK operators. Boeing on the other hand, had no such daft restrictions, and a clear understanding that you should develop aircraft for the maximum number of overseas customers.

G