The Wordsmith's Page
featuring the writings of Virginia Tolles
The Dawn of the Jet Age
This BOAC DeHavilland Comet is on display at RAF Cosford, England.
(Used by permission of Dave Thompson via the Geograph Britain and Ireland Collection and Wikimedia Commons)
On May 2, 1952, 74 years ago, the first commercial jet aircraft entered service. It was the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) DeHavilland Comet. With its four engines and sleek design, it bore a certain resemblance to the Boeing B-707 and the Douglas Commercial DC-8, both of which would follow before decade’s end.
Although the DeHavilland Comet was the first commercial jet to fly, it was not the first successful one, for within a short period of time, it experienced three fatal crashes. At that point, all Comets were grounded. Examination of recovered wreckage showed the problem to be the square, somewhat large windows that weakened structural members surrounding them, resulting in fuselage rupture.
This Pan Am B-707 was known as the Clipper Yankee Ranger. It is seen coming in for a landing at RAF Mildenhall on May 25, 1979, on a military charter flight. (From the Mike Freer Collection. Used under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons)
On December 20, 1957, the B-707 made its first flight. It entered service with Pan American Airlines (Pan Am) on October 26, 1958. The B-707 is still in military service as the United States Air Force’s KC-135, a refueling aircraft; the RC-135, a reconnaissance aircraft; and the E-3, an early warning and control aircraft. Several retired B-707s have been placed on static display around the world. The noted actor John Travolta donated his retired ex-Qantas Airlines B-707 to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society in Australia. Repairs are being made to ensure that the plane is airworthy for the long flight to the Shellharbour Airport in Australia.
This Delta Air Lines DC-8 is shown in the airline’s livery as it was between 1959 and 1963. (Original photographer unknown – in the public domain as per Wikimedia Commons)
The DC-8 made its first flight on May 30, 1958, and entered service with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines on September 18, 1959. Today, the DC-8 serves a single cargo carrier, Trans Air Cargo Service, operating in the Congo. Until November 14, 2025, it also served Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian humanitarian organization as a cargo and personnel carrier on its missions. Upon retirement, it was donated to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and is on static display at the Lynchburg Regional Airport.
And, so, we celebrate those three big contributors to the development of commercial jet travel. Job well done, both for showing us how to do it and then going on to do it.