0:00:03 > 0:00:06In the two decades following the Second World War,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09the British aircraft industry flourished
0:00:09 > 0:00:11in a pageant of ingenuity and innovation.
0:00:11 > 0:00:16REPORTER: A brilliant new all-British achievement made headline news throughout the world.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Aviation was Britain's largest industry and for a few golden years,
0:00:19 > 0:00:20it led the world.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22REPORTER: Britain's Comet jet airliner
0:00:22 > 0:00:25has again been breaking records.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Whichever way you looked at it, there was no plane like it in the world.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33Britain had invented the jet engine and proven it in warplanes
0:00:33 > 0:00:38but the new jet age was set to change passenger transport, too.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41People couldn't understand how a jet aircraft actually worked.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It was a sort of magic, in a way.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Things could happen. Britain could make it.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49We were giving to reach for the sky.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50Tails up for Britain.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Aircraft and the men who flew them were the stars of the age.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Thousands flocked to witness the daring feats of pilots
0:00:58 > 0:01:02like "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham, wartime night fighter ace.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06We needed our heroes. God knows we needed our heroes.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Sometimes, the confidence was shaken by tragedy.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13But this was the age of the jet, when Britain ruled the skies.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18It was going to be the aeroplane that showed
0:01:18 > 0:01:21that we were still world players.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53a lot was happening for Britain.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56We were coming out of austerity, ration books were soon to end,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00Hillary and Tenzing climbed to the top of Mount Everest,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06REPORTER: The tape has broken, and so is the record athletes have long been dreaming about.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Look at that excitement. Look at those achievements.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12There was a kind of feeling,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15that was being quite shamelessly promoted on all sides,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17of the new Elizabethan era,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21leading to a kind of Renaissance, a rebirth of British enterprise.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Thank God we could now put the War behind us,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27but use a lot of the technology we developed in the War
0:02:27 > 0:02:29for peaceful purposes.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33Foremost among those technologies was a new generation of jets,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36powerful enough to turn these new Elizabethans
0:02:36 > 0:02:40into world leaders in civil aviation.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43REPORTER: Here it is.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45In the precise language of the engineer,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47it's called a jet propulsion gas turbine.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50To you and me, it's the jet engine,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53one of the marvels of this century of marvels.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58The jet engine was world beating technology and it was British.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08REPORTER: To Farnborough for the world's greatest airshow.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Britain's faith in jets justified
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and prominent among them, the Avro Ashton.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14This is a development of the Tudor
0:03:14 > 0:03:17with four jet engines installed in pairs.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21It will be used for experimental work on high-altitude jet flights.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Altogether, of the 60 planes on show, nearly half were jets.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30The Farnborough airshow was the showcase for the best of British.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Every September, crowds would flock to Hampshire
0:03:36 > 0:03:40to see the most amazing aircraft the country could produce.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48They were family days of picnics, charabancs and stiff necks.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Going to the Farnborough airshow as a child was a magical experience.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57You saw wonderful, modern aircraft
0:03:57 > 0:04:00that felt so close you could reach out and touch them.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02They were doing aerobatics,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05they were nearly all demonstrated by test pilots
0:04:05 > 0:04:07who could make them do wonderful things
0:04:07 > 0:04:09and to see this was so inspiring.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11I never, ever grew out of wanting to be a pilot.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Gosh! She's wizard.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16It was the best of British technology
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and you had this wonderful meeting of all sections of British society.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21You saw the latest civil planes,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25soaring round, performing near aerobatics right over your head.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29As a child, that was just glorious stuff.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35The aircraft names seemed magical.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Fairey and English Electric, Sopwith and Supermarine,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Vickers-Armstrong, Handley Page, Hunting, Saunders-Roe and Short,
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Gloucester and de Havilland, Bristol and Blackburn.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49It seemed incredible that in peace time,
0:04:49 > 0:04:54one small country could still sustain so many manufacturers,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56turning out so many promising aircraft.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00REPORTER: Final verdict on Farnborough,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Britain's aircraft industry consolidates its supremacy.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08But these bright new aircraft were the results of secret plans
0:05:08 > 0:05:11laid in the darkest days of war.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14ALARM BELL RINGS
0:05:14 > 0:05:17With the outbreak of World War II,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19all production of civil aircraft had halted
0:05:19 > 0:05:23to concentrate on the fighters and bombers that would protect our shores.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29As early as 1942, however, a committee was set up
0:05:29 > 0:05:32to plan the peace time future of British civil aviation.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37The Brabazon Committee was set up, really, in the depths of the War
0:05:37 > 0:05:39but at least we had El Alamein and Stalingrad,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42so it looked like we were going to win.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44So the problem was then,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47how was Britain going to use its big aircraft industry
0:05:47 > 0:05:49to try and compete with the Americans
0:05:49 > 0:05:52when the Americans have got all the transport aircraft
0:05:52 > 0:05:54while we've been building fighters and bombers?
0:05:54 > 0:05:56And led by Lord Brabazon,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59the man who had the first pilot's licence in Britain,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and the famous numberplate, FLY1, to prove it,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05he and the team came up with a set of aircraft
0:06:05 > 0:06:08that they believed, in the long-term,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11would allow Britain to prove its worth
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and compete on world air routes.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16The Brabazon Committee decided that Britain needed
0:06:16 > 0:06:20a family of planes to serve short and medium haul,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23domestic and European destinations
0:06:23 > 0:06:26and the long haul flights of the north Atlantic
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and the routes of Empire.
0:06:28 > 0:06:34With this masterplan in place, tenders went out to leading manufacturers.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35The result was extraordinary.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37An astonishing outpouring
0:06:37 > 0:06:41of wildly different passenger aircraft designs,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44all been produced simultaneously.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46At the time, jet propulsion was fast
0:06:46 > 0:06:48but much too thirsty for long haul flights.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Watch that gallon go!
0:06:54 > 0:06:57So Type I on the Brabazon Committee's list
0:06:57 > 0:07:00was a massive petrol-driven, piston-engined aircraft.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07Unveiled in 1949, this leviathan promised splendid,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11luxurious travel for the rich and privileged.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Awe-inspiring, jaw-droppingly huge.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18REPORTER: Here she comes.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20130 tonnes of superlative engineering.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Six years of research, ingenuity, invention.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Sycophantically, Bristol named this aircraft
0:07:27 > 0:07:29after the great Lord himself.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32It was henceforth the Bristol Brabazon.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40Creating a liner of the air, passengers would travel in style.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45They would have their own bunks in private cabins, powder rooms,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48a cocktail bar and even a separate cinema.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Chief test pilot on the Brabazon and was Bill Pegg.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55He had worked stolidly for Bristol since the mid '30s.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02Crowds would gather wherever it flew.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Faster, faster! The nose wheel is off! The nose wheel is off!
0:08:06 > 0:08:10I'm looking to see the main wheel. The main wheel's come off.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12She's off!
0:08:12 > 0:08:13She's off!
0:08:13 > 0:08:18She's hopped along the grass! The Brabazon is in the air!
0:08:18 > 0:08:22The Brabazon was designed to cruise at 250 mph,
0:08:22 > 0:08:27carrying 100 passengers, and take 17 hours to fly the Atlantic.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31The Brabazon was a good idea at the time.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35They assumed that with a new generation of piston engines,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38it would become very much more efficient.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41It was built for the transatlantic route.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45The wingspan of the Brabazon was 11 metres greater
0:08:45 > 0:08:47than that of a jumbo jet.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49It was stupendously huge.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51It was an aircraft that really harked back
0:08:51 > 0:08:54to the pre-war concept of flying,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57that it would be only for the very wealthy.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00They were after the first-class passengers from the Queen Mary
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and if you were going to cram them for 17 hours crossing the Atlantic,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08they needed space, they needed stewards, they needed a dining room.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11The Brabazon pioneered high-pressure hydraulics
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and electric engine controls.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20But the aircraft was unmistakably old, piston-driven technology,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24out of time and out of place in the new Elizabethan age.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29By 1953, no airline had ordered her.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Impressive as she was, her future was the scrapheap,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36without ever taking a fare-paying customer.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42A contemporary of the Brabazon,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45the Vickers Viscount may have had propellers
0:09:45 > 0:09:49but it was what lay behind them that made the difference,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51and that was the jet turbine.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53The aircraft was revolutionary
0:09:53 > 0:09:57because it introduced a new kind of engine, the turboprop engine,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01which is basically a jet engine with a propeller on the front.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05The major advantage with the turboprop engine, of course, is fuel economy.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09It was so much cheaper to run than a piston engine aircraft.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13REPORTER: The propeller turbine is not a stand-in for the pure jet.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15The air screw is still considered the most efficient
0:10:15 > 0:10:19medium for transforming power into thrust.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25The designer of the Vickers Viscount was the legendary,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29if somewhat tight-lipped, George Edwards.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33It was clear to us as far back as 1945,
0:10:33 > 0:10:37that this was a great advance on anything that had gone before.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40An ordinary, conventional engine vibrates
0:10:40 > 0:10:42because of the pistons jumping up and down inside it.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47Imagine what 14 pistons must do in just one engine
0:10:47 > 0:10:50running at 25,000 piston movements a minute.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53The propeller turbine, on the other hand,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56has no up-and-down moving parts such as pistons or valves.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58This is how it works.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Air is drawn in at the front, compressed in the compressor
0:11:01 > 0:11:03and pushed into the combustion chamber.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06There it's heated and it rushes through the turbine.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09The turbine drives the compressor and in turn a propeller.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13The exhaust provides jet propulsion so that no power is wasted.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18So we designed an aeroplane to give us speed, range, economy
0:11:18 > 0:11:20and four-engine reliability.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24We built it and we called it the Viscount.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29I name this aircraft Discovery.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34- May God bless her and all who fly with her.- Hip, hip, hurray!
0:11:34 > 0:11:38The first aircraft had entered service in 1950,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40well ahead of schedule.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45The nursing mother of the Viscount was BEA, British European Airways.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50The Viscount was funded by them and tightly designed around their needs.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55But its performance and comfort proved enduringly popular
0:11:55 > 0:11:59with airlines and passengers all around the world.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Nowadays, people have no idea, because they've never flown in a propeller driven aircraft,
0:12:02 > 0:12:07how incredibly noisy and uncomfortable they are.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Bumpy and constant vibration.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15Suddenly, with the Viscount, all that went and they were flying higher
0:12:15 > 0:12:18because it was a pressurised cabin, above the weather.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22It was smooth, it was wonderful and passengers just loved it.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- We're off!- Isn't it super?
0:12:25 > 0:12:28REPORTER: This 50-seater medium ranged airliner,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31with a cruising speed of 312 miles an hour,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33is powered by four turbo propeller engines.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38She is here seen flying with three of them.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42The Viscount is arguably the most successful British airliner ever built.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Maybe not in numbers, but as far as success around the world.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50REPORTER: The American visitors were so impressed with the workmanship, economy and design
0:12:50 > 0:12:54that they signed a contract for three of the aircraft to the value of over a million pounds
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and what's more, they have taken an option on a further 37.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59The Viscount will be the first British airliner
0:12:59 > 0:13:02on a scheduled service in America.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06As Americans did not have a turboprop of their own,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08the Viscount was the ideal aircraft
0:13:08 > 0:13:12to take on the all-important US market.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Not only did capital airlines fly the Viscount,
0:13:15 > 0:13:21they also admired its virtues in that warming, homespun way that only Americans can fake.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28Yes, it's a new standard of service. Capital Airlines' Viscount.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33If you've been riding in the cockpit of aeroplanes as long as I have,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36it's a real thrill to see a plane like the Viscount come along.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38It's tops with the pilots.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43Capital Airlines is proud of over a quarter of a century
0:13:43 > 0:13:45of serving air-minded America
0:13:45 > 0:13:48and we're extremely proud to be the first carrier
0:13:48 > 0:13:52in the United States to introduce the Viscount, with its four engines.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58The Viscount also proved its worth in the harshest conditions.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Captain Ron MacDonald was a pilot for Trans-Canada Air.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08Most of my flying was in the Maritimes, which we call in Canada,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12which is New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16The weather, of course, was quite atrocious at times,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19in the Maritimes, but the Viscount was an extremely stable aircraft
0:14:19 > 0:14:22to make an approach on,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27so that you can get her down in 200 foot ceilings of heavy rain or snow
0:14:27 > 0:14:30and it was an excellent aeroplane
0:14:30 > 0:14:34for the environment that we had to use it in.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37We had become the top airline in North America,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40using the best equipment that was available.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44The Viscount, with its Rolls-Royce Dart engines
0:14:44 > 0:14:46was an instant hit with the passengers.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Smooth enough not to shake the Babycham,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51quiet enough to have a conversation.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56And with windows large enough to watch the world go by.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59- These must be the Alps. - Let me see!
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Don't jump about!
0:15:01 > 0:15:04You can see quite clearly. The window's bigger than you are.
0:15:05 > 0:15:12By the end of its production, over 450 Viscounts would fly worldwide for 80 airlines.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14A great British plane.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16But the key thing about it was,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19it did what it was supposed to do,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24which is why a fairly large number of passengers fairly economically,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27because it was a turboprop rather than a pure jet,
0:15:27 > 0:15:33from Stuttgart to London or from Arizona to Nebraska or whatever.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Which is why the plane sold in America.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39The Americans didn't have a plane which could do that job.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44The Viscount was a short haul aircraft.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46On the long haul transatlantic passenger routes,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49it was the Americans who still dominated.
0:15:49 > 0:15:56They used mass production, piston-driven aircraft that were modelled on World War II technology.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01Their Constellation was developed from a wartime military transport.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06While the Superfortress bomber became the Boeing Stratocruiser.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09The Stratocruiser could carry 55 passengers
0:16:09 > 0:16:14and had, as a feature, a spiral staircase down to a cocktail bar.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20In the '50s, even Britain's intercontinental airline BOAC,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24the British Overseas Airways Corporation,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27flew Uncle Sam's planes.
0:16:27 > 0:16:33But American technology was old technology. Noisy, '40s technology.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Britain had the jet
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and with our next big jet-powered aircraft of the '50s,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43it looked as if we would land the killer blow.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49REPORTER: Britain's aircraft may have a winner in the Comet.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51I quote the sober view of aviation critics.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53The de Havilland company have produced
0:16:53 > 0:16:56this four-engine jet airliner, the first in the world,
0:16:56 > 0:17:01largely from experiments carried out on the little 108.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04The pilots are famous war ace Cunningham and Johnny Wilson.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Cunningham talks to Sir Frank Whittle on the left, the inventor of the jet.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12No airliner came close to the Comet's beauty or speed,
0:17:12 > 0:17:17the distinctive whistle of its ghost engines thrilling the crowd wherever it went.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19It was a jetliner that could travel twice as high
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and twice as fast as anything else.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Smooth and high above the weather, it was a transportive delight
0:17:27 > 0:17:32and at least five years ahead of anything proposed by our rivals.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34It was the shape of things to come.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Suddenly, out of very often things
0:17:39 > 0:17:43which were little more than sheds and garages and fairly rundown buildings,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46people had conceived the future.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49A completely new way of flying
0:17:49 > 0:17:52and a completely new way of looking at aeroplanes.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54What struck me about it was
0:17:54 > 0:17:56you looked at this magnificent silver aircraft
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and you looked at the surroundings of the silver aircraft,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02which are chaps in cloth caps,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04ancient movie cameras trying to film this plane,
0:18:04 > 0:18:09in the middle of it is something that is utterly timeless.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11To make the vision reality,
0:18:11 > 0:18:16de Havilland needed sales in volume and that meant getting the backing
0:18:16 > 0:18:20of the state-funded British Overseas Airways Corporation.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Only they could guarantee the Comet's success.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25There were plenty of reasons for caution.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30For one thing, air routes all over the world were only equipped to handle aeroplanes
0:18:30 > 0:18:34travelling about half the speed and half the height of a Comet.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Of course there were plenty of reasons for caution
0:18:37 > 0:18:40but get sufficient numbers of the new aircraft into service quickly
0:18:40 > 0:18:42and Britain might, at one stroke,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45find herself years ahead of her competitors.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50The Comet was stunning when it first emerged.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54It had been kept secret, under wartime levels of secrecy,
0:18:54 > 0:18:56until it rolled out in July 1949
0:18:56 > 0:18:59and then, of course, it caused a sensation.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02It was so new, so sleek, so silver, so beautiful.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08The Comet, with its signature square windows and rakishly swept wings,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11shrank the globe.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15The first four-jet airliner, Britain's already famous Comet,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19made worldwide news by its astonishing flight to North Africa and back.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21This wonderful machine's total time in the air
0:19:21 > 0:19:24for a distance of just under 3,000 miles
0:19:24 > 0:19:25was a mere six hours, 38 minutes.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28De Havilland's test pilot, John Cunningham,
0:19:28 > 0:19:34was the quintessential company man, always facing every interview with a broad, innocent smile.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36And it gave us an average speed,
0:19:36 > 0:19:41from take-off to flying over the airfield at the other end,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44of about 450 miles an hour.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47London to Copenhagen in one hour, 18 minutes.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50The newspapers of the time, free of any doubt,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53proclaimed the Comet as a world-beater.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Karachi, flying time, ten hours, 21 minutes.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00It was at a time when I went off to interview John Cunningham.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03He told me that soon after he first flew it,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05a test pilot from Lockheed,
0:20:05 > 0:20:10and Lockheed, at the time, was one of the principal American aircraft manufacturers,
0:20:10 > 0:20:17Cunningham took that Lockheed pilot up in the Comet to 30,000 feet.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21The Lockheed pilot was completely blown away by it.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24He said, "I cannot believe this plane. This is unbelievable."
0:20:24 > 0:20:27And it was. It represented the future.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30And for a country which had run out of money,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32which Britain had at the end of the '40s,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36a country whose achievements were vast and largely in the past
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and whose present was one of being in hock to the Americans for evermore,
0:20:40 > 0:20:45this suddenly seemed to represent a get out of austerity easily.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50And that, I think, is one of the reasons why the Comet was so important then.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51I remember going to Heathrow,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55dragging my mother to Heathrow, to see the Comet
0:20:55 > 0:21:01when the old Northside passenger terminals were canvas tents, mostly.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05And then this wonderful silver apparition with the BOAC markings,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09whining as it rolled by.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12This great howl from the ghost engines.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Took your breath away. It was so lovely, so smooth. Terrific.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Sir Miles Thomas, chairman of BOAC, greeted the Queen
0:21:26 > 0:21:29and Duke of Edinburgh at London's British Industries Fair.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32The Royal attention focused on a scale model Comet,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34for a few days before, this record-breaking aircraft
0:21:34 > 0:21:38had again made the front pages by going into regular service
0:21:38 > 0:21:42as the world's first passenger-carrying jet airline.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45The Comet's first scheduled service was the air mail run
0:21:45 > 0:21:48down to Rome and on to Africa
0:21:48 > 0:21:52and the dominions of the Empire to set down finally in Johannesburg.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Excuse me, gentleman.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57We shall be arriving at Ciampino Airport, Rome,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59in about five minutes.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02There will be an airport official to meet you and take you
0:22:02 > 0:22:05to the restaurant, where you will be served with afternoon tea.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07In London operations room,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09news of the Comet's landing was flashed from Rome.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15- What time did they arrive there? - 1533.- 1533. One minute late.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18- Could you put it up for me, please? - Yes. Certainly.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25As we approached Entebbe, we saw Lake Victoria beneath us.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28A 200-mile stretch of shimmering water
0:22:28 > 0:22:29right at the end of the runway.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Before we reached Livingstone,
0:22:31 > 0:22:36Captain Marston came in to see how we were getting along.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38It may be a bit turbulent.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40I don't guarantee it every time!
0:22:40 > 0:22:43ENGINE ROAR DROWNS SPEECH
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Oh, well, that's not too bad, is it?
0:22:50 > 0:22:52It shows it's all very smooth, this flight, isn't it?
0:22:52 > 0:22:55And as I was searching my mind for the words to describe
0:22:55 > 0:22:58this completely new experience in flying,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01our destination came into view
0:23:01 > 0:23:04and below us lay the great blocks of city buildings
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and the golden slag heaps from the mines.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19The roots of Empire were still vital.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Yes, the writing was on the wall.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26It was clearly going to be axed, slowly or quickly, nobody quite new.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28India had already gone in '47.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33But we had large areas of the planet to control
0:23:33 > 0:23:36and military to get out there and to service
0:23:36 > 0:23:38and civil servants and all the rest of it.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41So, right to the Far East, right down to the south,
0:23:41 > 0:23:46southern tip of Africa, we had to preserve air routes.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Orders started to pour in from Air France,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Air India, Japan, Venezuela and Brazil
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and even from the United States.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05But then curious accidents started to happen
0:24:05 > 0:24:08that had not featured during Cunningham's testing.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13This Comet belly-landed on Rome's Ciampino airfield at takeoff.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Not one of the 36 passengers or crew of six was hurt,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19a fact which reflects credit on the jet airliner,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22as well as on the coolness and skill of its pilot.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26The design of the Comet's wings appeared vulnerable
0:24:26 > 0:24:30to stalling on takeoff, a problem known as over rotation.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35The pilots could actually raise the nose of the aircraft
0:24:35 > 0:24:39too high on takeoff, which disturbed the airflow into the engine,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42it dropped its efficiency
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and also disturbed the airflow over the wings and that killed the lift.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Conversely, if you didn't rotate enough,
0:24:49 > 0:24:50you just never took off at all.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54You remained in ground effect. So it was very tricky.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57John Cunningham, one of the finest test pilots in the world,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00he knew the aeroplane so well
0:25:00 > 0:25:04that he never got himself into an over rotate position.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08But on a dark, rainy night, which airline pilots work in,
0:25:08 > 0:25:12test pilots very rarely do, the situation is quite different.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16The first accident seemed like straightforward pilot error
0:25:16 > 0:25:19but then one of Ron MacDonald's Canadian friends,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Captain Charles Pentland, crashed on takeoff in Karachi,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26killing all on board.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Everybody thought that Charlie was the one man that would never
0:25:30 > 0:25:33get himself into this situation.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Unfortunately, over rotation occurred
0:25:36 > 0:25:38and the aircraft never left the ground.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It just went off the runway and blew up and killed everybody.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45So it was apparently maybe the instrumentation
0:25:45 > 0:25:49didn't give you the degrees of pitch that you required,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53which we had on later aircraft.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58The real problem with the Comet was that, being a jet aircraft,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02it was much less forgiving than propeller-driven aircraft.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07Mostly because you don't have the slipstream going back over
0:26:07 > 0:26:12the control surfaces until it's already reached quite a fast speed.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15The problem is that all the people who flew it
0:26:15 > 0:26:17and all the people who maintained it
0:26:17 > 0:26:20were still thinking vaguely of the propeller era.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24They didn't realise that the jet era was something totally different.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29While de Havilland set about addressing
0:26:29 > 0:26:31the problems of the Comet, their competitors, Bristol,
0:26:31 > 0:26:36had come up with an aircraft to challenge the Americans on the transatlantic routes.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Bristol needed fuel efficiency so they chose the turboprop.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45This new aircraft they called the Britannia.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48REPORTER: The age of the second Elizabeth,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52bringing with it craftsmanship that leads the designs of the world.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57Bristol Britannia was actually a rather beautiful looking plane.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01It was also, in theory, a plane the world needed.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04It was a turboprop but it was quite fast.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06350, 400 miles an hour.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09It could deliver quite a lot of passengers
0:27:09 > 0:27:12and it could deliver them over quite a long distance.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14So in some ways, at that time,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18it seemed, from a British standpoint, quite a good idea.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21REPORTER: The Britannia. The airliner of tomorrow.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28The plane's first public appearance
0:27:28 > 0:27:31had been at Farnborough in September 1952.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34The test pilot was the vastly experienced Bill Pegg,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38the man who had first flown the ill-fated Brabazon.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41REPORTER: A lovely, graceful machine.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44It ranks as a milestone equal to the regular services of the Comet.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Spectators were astounded at the quietness of the plane
0:27:47 > 0:27:50and it was soon nicknamed the "Whispering Giant".
0:27:50 > 0:27:53The forerunner of a fleet on order
0:27:53 > 0:27:56for the British Overseas Airways Corporation was the star,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58the 100-seater Bristol Britannia turboprop liner.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03The Britannia gave a striking foretaste of the future in a year of aviation history.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06But here, too, problems started to appear.
0:28:06 > 0:28:12There were persistent teething faults with the Bristol Proteus engines.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Bill Pegg, who has Bristol's chief test pilot,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19was showing some KLM people, potential customers,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23how the Britannia worked and all the rest of it
0:28:23 > 0:28:25and took off for a flight from Filton
0:28:25 > 0:28:28and flew them up over South Wales.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30At one point,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33one of the engines developed a serious fault and caught fire.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Eventually, the entire wing was in flames
0:28:36 > 0:28:40and knowing that there were 2,000 gallons of fuel in it,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Bill Pegg was a little alarmed about this
0:28:43 > 0:28:44and I think the KLM people were, too.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Obviously, you couldn't do a crash landing in the mountains of Wales.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53My father was sitting in the back with one of the KLM personnel.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56The other one was in the right-hand seat, Pegg in the left-hand seat.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00I would rather not refer to it as a terrible crash in the
0:29:00 > 0:29:03River Severn of the Britannia in February 1954.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07It, in fact, was a controlled forced landing after an engine fire
0:29:07 > 0:29:09developed in number three.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13The fire had been raging for about 20 minutes
0:29:13 > 0:29:15and they were quietly working out
0:29:15 > 0:29:17how long the structural integrity
0:29:17 > 0:29:21and systems would continue to operate on the starboard wing.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24What they were frightened of was that the fire would be so intense,
0:29:24 > 0:29:27because it was fanned by the slipstream,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30that it would actually start melting the main spar,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32at which point, the whole wing folds up.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34The whole lot of them would die.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37So he had to get to the ground as quickly as possible
0:29:37 > 0:29:40and over the Severn, he could see that the estuary tide was out.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44He landed on the mud flat and they slid about 400 yards and then turned
0:29:44 > 0:29:47slightly towards the sea and came to a halt and the fire was out,
0:29:47 > 0:29:51because the engines had inhaled so much mud, it had stopped the fire.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55Everybody came out perfectly unscathed and all the rest of it,
0:29:55 > 0:29:57and congratulated Bill Pegg.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00There was relief when they got out but that's about it.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04I have to say that KLM did not buy the aircraft.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08Meanwhile, for the Comet, the world's only jet liner,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11things had gone from bad to much worse.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17REPORTER: This is the tragic scene of the Comet disaster near Calcutta.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20Wreckage of the aircraft smashed almost beyond recognition.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22At the time of this terrible accident,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26the aircraft carried 37 passengers and a crew of six.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29All lost their lives.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32The reputation of the world's most celebrated aircraft
0:30:32 > 0:30:33now hung in the balance.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36There is a curious tone in the British press at the time.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39You will find people... It almost seems to come over
0:30:39 > 0:30:43that it's your patriotic duty to fly in a Comet.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47There are articles in which they suggest the plane may be sabotaged.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Within six weeks, with typical British aplomb,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55two plucky Royals were dispatched to Rhodesia on, of course, a Comet.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were at London airport
0:30:59 > 0:31:03only a few hours after their return from Scotland to see Queen Elizabeth,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret
0:31:06 > 0:31:08off on their flight to Southern Rhodesia.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12And then tragedy struck on a grand scale.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17In January 1954 and again in April, two Comets fell from the skies
0:31:17 > 0:31:21into the Mediterranean, killing all crew and passengers.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26The first had been the very plane that had set records
0:31:26 > 0:31:29on that inaugural flight to Johannesburg.
0:31:31 > 0:31:3435 people were on board, including ten children,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36and there were no survivors.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39It was imperative that the cause of the disaster should be known.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Underwater television cameras,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44built by scientists and technicians in a number of days,
0:31:44 > 0:31:48were rushed to the scene and operated by the Royal Navy.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52The wrecked aircraft was located and salvage operations began.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55Brought ashore, too, were the infinitely moving reminders
0:31:55 > 0:31:58of those whose lives were lost in this disaster of the air.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02When I was at school, I must have been around 11 or 12,
0:32:02 > 0:32:07I received an Air Mail letter from my uncle who was in Hong Kong.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11And it was almost illegible because it was all water stained
0:32:11 > 0:32:14and the address had run and everything
0:32:14 > 0:32:16and it turned out that it had been on one of the Comets
0:32:16 > 0:32:18that had crashed in the Mediterranean
0:32:18 > 0:32:22and it was one of the letters they have managed to fish out and deliver.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25It was very strange and slightly uncanny, slightly spooky,
0:32:25 > 0:32:29which I think is probably why I never actually kept it.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35The Comet fleet was immediately grounded,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39pending a full scale investigation.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42All foreign orders were cancelled.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43Barely a year after the fanfares,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47it seemed as if the Last Post had sounded for the Comet.
0:32:48 > 0:32:54At the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, they pieced together
0:32:54 > 0:32:57the remains of the wreckage and forensically analysed the results.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01This was the most painstaking
0:33:01 > 0:33:06and thorough safety examination in British aviation history.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11When the Comet was grounded as a result of the accident,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15they had no idea as to why, because, of course, there were no black boxes
0:33:15 > 0:33:17or anything like that in those days.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20They took a Comet fuselage down to Farnborough
0:33:20 > 0:33:24and subjected it to constant cycles of pressure in a water tank.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27REPORTER: After it had been filled, jacks beneath the wings
0:33:27 > 0:33:29caused a series of bumps as if in flight
0:33:29 > 0:33:32and internal pressure was raised in the fuselage.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35After the equivalent of 5,000 three-hour flights,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38metal fatigue resulted in cracks and brakes.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41They discovered that a crack had formed
0:33:41 > 0:33:46in a communications aerial at the corner of it,
0:33:46 > 0:33:48up near the cockpit above it.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Then that had spread along the corners of the windows.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55Of course, it had all happened in an absolute split second.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58These key points of the Comet's fuselage
0:33:58 > 0:34:00had been put under unbearable strain
0:34:00 > 0:34:03by repeated ascents and descents at high altitude.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06The Comet's metal skin had failed
0:34:06 > 0:34:09just forward of its distinctive square windows.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Then the cabin had exploded from the rapid decompression.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19And they did several slow motion films of a mock-up of this happening
0:34:19 > 0:34:22and they realised that the sudden decompression,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26death would have been instantaneous for all of the passengers.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30With seats being simply torn out and turned upside down.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34The whole inside of the cabin becomes a complete maelstrom
0:34:34 > 0:34:36of bodies and seats and everything
0:34:36 > 0:34:40and that would have happened in a fifth of a second, less.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Hindsight is always a wonderful thing and it would be easy for us
0:34:43 > 0:34:47to look back at the disasters the Comet faced in the early 1950s
0:34:47 > 0:34:49and say, "We can see what was wrong.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52"It had oblong windows with square edges
0:34:52 > 0:34:55"instead of circular windows or oval windows.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58"Of course, these would break up and there would be metal fatigue."
0:34:58 > 0:35:01Well, what did people know? They didn't know that.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05We can be clever now but remember, the Comet was brand-new.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08It was a new type of aircraft.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10A very, very high-speed passenger jet.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13One had never been built before.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18New metals, new stress skins on aircraft, this is all new stuff
0:35:18 > 0:35:21and the designers were entering a new dimension.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Mistakes could be made.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33More than ever, Britain needed the turboprop Bristol Britannia to succeed.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39But engine icing problems and the new,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42more rigorous Air Ministry safety testing
0:35:42 > 0:35:46pushed the plane further and further behind schedule.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51REPORTER: This is called a drop test.
0:35:51 > 0:35:59The wheel is spun up and the whole assembly is then forced to the ground.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02In 1957, the Britannia finally made passenger service,
0:36:02 > 0:36:06a full five years after its promising debut.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08REPORTER: Her teething troubles over,
0:36:08 > 0:36:12the long-range Bristol Britannia goes to work in a big way.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16The skipper, Albert Maher, on the right, and members of his crew,
0:36:16 > 0:36:20are ready at London Airport for the first flight of the new non-stop London to New York schedule.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22The fastest transatlantic air service in history.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Carrying 52 passengers,
0:36:24 > 0:36:27the "Whispering Giant" is the first British airliner
0:36:27 > 0:36:32in regular commercial service on the North American route.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35One of the first to fly the Britannia was former RAF pilot
0:36:35 > 0:36:38Norman Tebbit, now Lord Tebbit.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42Good gracious me!
0:36:42 > 0:36:45It's a long time since I've been on one of these.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50Bit bigger than the old 100 series that I flew.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52This is the 300.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56I suppose it looks all very dated now,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59with these old-fashioned luggage racks.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Of course, this again is the longer range version
0:37:02 > 0:37:05so they've got a couple of bunks
0:37:05 > 0:37:08as they flew longer hauls across the North Atlantic
0:37:08 > 0:37:10and things of that kind.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13And here, onto the flight deck.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Quite a nice navigator's station.
0:37:16 > 0:37:22You could sit there quite comfortably, out of everybody's way.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26Of course, here we've got a hatch, there.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28That's an escape hatch.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32And here, the hatch for the sextant, periscopic sextant.
0:37:32 > 0:37:38Because we navigated an awful lot in those days by astro.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41The great thing about the Britannia was you needed a flight engineer,
0:37:41 > 0:37:48fairly heavy, who knew the location of all the switches
0:37:48 > 0:37:52and relays down in the hold,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55underneath the flight deck, here.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00Because this was before smart, modern electronics
0:38:00 > 0:38:03and everything was still electromechanical.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07So if something stuck and didn't work, got a good engineer,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10he would know which bit of the flight deck floor
0:38:10 > 0:38:12to jump up and down on to loosen things up!
0:38:14 > 0:38:17And here you are.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21I was co-pilot and navigator on these things
0:38:21 > 0:38:25so I would be sitting up here somewhere.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Oops. Oh, gosh.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Funny, not so easy to get into these seats as it was when I was young.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38And a slightly strange control column here.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42A funny yoke, not terribly conventional.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48Big handful of throttles. This aeroplane was way ahead of the pack.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53It was the first really very, very electrical aeroplane.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56That had a downside, of course, in that if you lost the electrics,
0:38:56 > 0:38:58you were in real big trouble.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02That's when this switch came in and basically, it would disconnect
0:39:02 > 0:39:06all of the generators and then reconnect them again
0:39:06 > 0:39:10and you should get at least some of your electrical services back again.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14Of course, it was known, inevitably, as the Jesus Christ switch,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17because that was the only occasion when you would use it,
0:39:17 > 0:39:21when everybody on the flight deck was saying, "Jesus Christ!"
0:39:21 > 0:39:26You would grab it and hopefully, all power would be restored.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28Very useful!
0:39:28 > 0:39:32It seemed that nothing could stop the long-range turboprop
0:39:32 > 0:39:36Britannia from conquering the all-important North American market.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44Could the Union Jack fly high again over the good old US of A?
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Well, yes, if you believed Bristol's promotional film
0:39:47 > 0:39:50but that was quite a big "if".
0:39:51 > 0:39:53REPORTER: This is the Britannia.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57The largest, most up-to-date turboprop airliner in the world.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01Mr Peter Masefield, managing director of Bristol Aircraft Ltd,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03heading a team of executives, engineers and technicians,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07introduced the Britannia to the major airline bases
0:40:07 > 0:40:09in 14 cities of America
0:40:09 > 0:40:15in an unprecedented 24,000 mile tour of the United States and Canada.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21This "Whispering Giant" from England is a real aeroplane. Yes, sir.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25I think the Britannia could have been a bigger seller
0:40:25 > 0:40:27if it had gone into service earlier
0:40:27 > 0:40:29but partly, it would have been limited
0:40:29 > 0:40:33by Bristol's own capacity to produce in large numbers.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38Howard Hughes was interested in ordering the Britannia for TWA.
0:40:38 > 0:40:43He actually flew it secretly one morning on his own,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46after meeting Bristol's test pilots out in America
0:40:46 > 0:40:50and came back and said that if he could have 25 aeroplanes
0:40:50 > 0:40:55in 18 months or whatever it was, he would order it on the spot for TWA.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58But Bristol were unable to commit to producing that
0:40:58 > 0:41:00because they didn't have the capacity.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04REPORTER: The tour was now over and she returned to London airport
0:41:04 > 0:41:07with the assurance that soon her sister ships in number
0:41:07 > 0:41:09would be following the trail she successfully blazed
0:41:09 > 0:41:14through the skies and across the oceans, to the New World.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19Despite the fanfare, the order books told the story.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23In the end, there were no American orders.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25None.
0:41:25 > 0:41:30The idea was that you could build a very successful jet prop plane.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34Well, that's great, except that the Americans were thinking,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37"We're going to get across the Atlantic in seven hours flat
0:41:37 > 0:41:40"from London to New York."
0:41:40 > 0:41:42And the Bristol Britannia
0:41:42 > 0:41:45would kind of stumble its way there in about 12 hours.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48There have been some terrifying miscalculations.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51The Britannia was late and when she did get into service,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54for the first year of her operation,
0:41:54 > 0:41:56only half of the aircraft arrived
0:41:56 > 0:41:58within an hour of their scheduled time.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00There was an all too public squabble
0:42:00 > 0:42:02between the BOAC and the Bristol company.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05The real problem was that the BOAC didn't want it.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07So they kept on badmouthing it.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11BOAC actually sort of bigged up the safety issue
0:42:11 > 0:42:16of icing in the engines long after it had been solved
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and they were actually making this public.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22It was extraordinary for an aircraft they were contracted to buy.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27BOAC didn't want the turboprop Britannia,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31they wanted a pure jet and an American one.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34They'd taken a shine to Boeing 707.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37The Americans had joined the jetliner race.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Britain no longer had the skies to herself.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45What chance do you think we have of capturing the world market
0:42:45 > 0:42:47with this long-range jet?
0:42:47 > 0:42:49The resources of the Americans are greater.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53Their jet aeroplanes are going to be backed up by big military contracts
0:42:53 > 0:42:58and Boeing have already got a pretty big tanker contract for the 707.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01But despite that, I still think we are capable of producing
0:43:01 > 0:43:03an aeroplane as good as they are.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05Why? What compensating advantage have we?
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Well, there is never any substitute for brains,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11even though it isn't supported by a great mass of equipment,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13as it is over there.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15We have this experience on the Comet,
0:43:15 > 0:43:17for which, again, there is no substitute.
0:43:17 > 0:43:22And the Comet will clearly become an aeroplane again and will work again.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26De Havilland did indeed rise to the challenge.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28In October 1958,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32the new Comet 4 came into service to take on the Americans.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37She immediately became the first pure jet liner
0:43:37 > 0:43:39to cross the Atlantic.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43The redesign had thicker alloy for the fuselage
0:43:43 > 0:43:47and the vulnerable square windows were replaced by oval ones.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Lord Brabazon, at the public enquiry into the Comet,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53you said that in every step in progress,
0:43:53 > 0:43:56we have had to pay for it in blood and treasure
0:43:56 > 0:43:59and God knows that in this case, we have paid in full.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02- Do you still feel that way? - I do, indeed.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06It was a most expensive but a very imaginative product
0:44:06 > 0:44:09and we paid for it but good will come from it,
0:44:09 > 0:44:13because on the back of our experience
0:44:13 > 0:44:16and on the back of what was learned in that enquiry,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19other great machines in the world have been built
0:44:19 > 0:44:21and are flying today.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23The new Comet was twice as large
0:44:23 > 0:44:27and twice as powerful, with its Rolls-Royce Avon engines.
0:44:27 > 0:44:33The Comet had pioneered jet travel and now defined an age.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35- And your name?- Lord Kimberley.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38- Are you travelling for business or for pleasure?- Business.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41It's one of the smoothest flights I've been on.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45Far less tiring and really is the tops.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48I think it's wonderful because it's very silent,
0:44:48 > 0:44:52it's very quick and you also get the most wonderful view.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Were you at all nervous about taking this flight?
0:44:54 > 0:44:57Oh, not at all. Not a bit. Why should I be?
0:44:57 > 0:44:59With government encouragement,
0:44:59 > 0:45:04BOAC did order 16 of the new planes and other sales
0:45:04 > 0:45:08went to Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10The Comet 4 was the definitive version
0:45:10 > 0:45:15of the most adventurous aircraft in all civil aviation history.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29As the late summers of the '50s came to an end,
0:45:29 > 0:45:34Britain's love affair with aircraft continued under Hampshire skies.
0:45:35 > 0:45:40It seemed that men in sheds could make the most improbable possible.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44And perhaps the most glorious of these was the Fairey Rotodyne,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48a mongrel mix of autogyro and turbo jet.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50It can go faster than a helicopter
0:45:50 > 0:45:53and slower than a fixed wing aeroplane.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55I think it's one of the most
0:45:55 > 0:45:58brilliant pieces of advanced engineering
0:45:58 > 0:46:00we've seen for a very long time.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03It is a new way of flying.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Brilliant idea, and it was well engineered.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10What they hadn't taken into account was the atrocious noise.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13The jets on the tips of the rotor,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16they could stop a conversation at two miles.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19It was intolerable. There was no way.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22It was a nice idea to have somebody flying you in from Heathrow
0:46:22 > 0:46:26to the South Bank or something, very convenient for the city,
0:46:26 > 0:46:29but it was obviously just not possible to use the thing,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31so it was axed.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35The industry, too, was becoming increasingly mismatched.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38The designs were brilliant and many.
0:46:38 > 0:46:39The sales were few.
0:46:39 > 0:46:45The government needed to step in to rationalise the business if it was to succeed.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49We were trying to cover all the different specifications
0:46:49 > 0:46:51on the military and civil sides.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55There were a large number of British firms and they were all too small.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00That's one of the reasons many of the aircraft were delayed.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03The teams weren't big enough to do the job.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06In a series of painful forced marriages,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09Rolls-Royce emerged as the leading engine manufacturer
0:47:09 > 0:47:13and the 20 aerospace companies were whittled down to two main groups,
0:47:13 > 0:47:18Hawker Siddeley and BAC, the British Aircraft Corporation.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23It would be down to BAC to mount the final British challenge
0:47:23 > 0:47:25to Boeing for the big jet market.
0:47:37 > 0:47:43In 1962, a new British star took to the air - polished, refined,
0:47:43 > 0:47:44with a licence to thrill.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48It was Britain's final riposte to the brash Americans.
0:47:48 > 0:47:54It was powerful, Savile Row suited, the name was VC, VC10.
0:47:56 > 0:48:01The VC10 was a magnificent aircraft. There should be no question about that.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05It looks absolutely superb, whether you see it on film or in the ten.
0:48:05 > 0:48:11It's a delight. It's a piece of aviation sculpture. There was something thrilling in the way it
0:48:11 > 0:48:15took off like a jetfighter, rather than a lumbering Airbus of today.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20VC10, romance in the sky, adventure, Boy's Own, Dan Dare, the Eagle.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23All those things, utterly thrilling.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27The VC10 does do a very different job to the Boeing.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30It's been designed to operate out of the short airfields with
0:48:30 > 0:48:34high temperature conditions which are so important to large airlines
0:48:34 > 0:48:37like the OAC on the Commonwealth routes.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Why was it necessary to come into this market?
0:48:39 > 0:48:43The big jet market is a great part of the airline scene
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and I think if we are to preserve the aircraft industry,
0:48:46 > 0:48:51which is a great national asset, it exports perhaps £150 million
0:48:51 > 0:48:55per year, we need to develop an aircraft like the VC10.
0:48:55 > 0:49:00The last of the all-British great jets has to be the VC10.
0:49:00 > 0:49:06And this was a final riposte to the Americans. They brought us the 707,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10which, for decades, was going to dominate aviation.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12We hit back with a plane
0:49:12 > 0:49:16which was much more sophisticated in its design.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19The VC10 looked wonderful.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22It had its engines at the back, so the cabin was supremely quiet.
0:49:22 > 0:49:23It was fast.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27It's still a world record holder for a subsonic airliner flight.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31It was quick, comfortable and it could go almost anywhere.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34It's astonishing,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38but 50 years later, only Concorde has crossed the Atlantic faster
0:49:38 > 0:49:40than our last great passenger jet.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46I do this trip from Nairobi to London every year and this is
0:49:46 > 0:49:50by far the most quiet and most comfortable one I can remember.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53The VC10 was deeply loved by passengers.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57That was a great selling point. It's very seldom you get people coming off
0:49:57 > 0:50:01aircraft saying, what a wonderful aircraft that was, but they did on the VC10.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03People would ask to fly on it.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06They would postpone their flights if they couldn't.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10I think it's an extremely comfortable plane. Very smooth.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15Very quiet. The seating is most comfortable and plenty of legroom.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18It seems to travel so serenely.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20When you hit turbulence,
0:50:20 > 0:50:23it doesn't ride turbulence
0:50:23 > 0:50:25like other airlines.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28It has a very stiff wing, so it doesn't juggle you about,
0:50:28 > 0:50:30like the average aircraft.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34And, of course, the one advantage the aeroplane always had that made it
0:50:34 > 0:50:38so successful was the fact that the engines were on the tail.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41Of course, consequently, it is a very quiet interior.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45Also, for a nervous person who doesn't really like flying,
0:50:45 > 0:50:50it could take off two-thirds quicker than a 707, so you were 1,000 feet
0:50:50 > 0:50:54above the runway when the 707 was still sitting on it.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00The VC10 was sold on its passenger experience
0:51:00 > 0:51:03and part of this was down to the cabin crew.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06They also preferred the aircraft to the 707.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09When you compared it to the 707,
0:51:09 > 0:51:14which I also went on for a short period, it was the most amazing
0:51:14 > 0:51:20aircraft because it was neat, it was small, it was very fast
0:51:20 > 0:51:24and it is only 144 passengers, but it was the latest jet plane
0:51:24 > 0:51:27that everyone was quite excited to fly in.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31The 707 was much noisier and also the landing, I always thought
0:51:31 > 0:51:33was a controlled crash all the time.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36Bang! Bang! Down the runway.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40The VC10 was very smooth, it glided off, glided down. It was very smooth.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43I think the passengers preferred the VC10.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46The hostesses may have loved the aircraft,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49but were not always so keen on the designer uniforms.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Paper dresses were on this route.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55I'm sure it was New York down to the Caribbean.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57You were issued with this paper dress.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00In New York, even if it was snowing, you trot onto the aircraft,
0:52:00 > 0:52:05we had these big raincoats, but when you took it off, you were wearing this paper dress.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08They were more or less all the same size. They had a string at the back.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11If you had any bust, it struck straight out in front.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13They had to be two or three inches above the knee,
0:52:13 > 0:52:17you were supposed to wear them. We were issued with tights.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21And all the boys used to get the scissors out and try and cut them shorter and shorter.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25Green plastic shoes with plastic jewels on and a flower in your hair.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27- Hideous.- Horrendous.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30And a row of three VC10s and you don't know which one you were on,
0:52:30 > 0:52:35you trot up the steps and say, "Are you going down the Caribbean?" all shy and flustered.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38And they'd say, "Why?" You go like this!
0:52:38 > 0:52:43"No, no. It's not this one, dear, it's that one."
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Yet once again, Britain was making a technically advanced aircraft
0:52:51 > 0:52:54to the specifications of one company.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58A company, BOAC, that was often referred to
0:52:58 > 0:53:01as the "Boeing Only Aircraft Corporation"...
0:53:03 > 0:53:06..such was its addiction to buying the Seattle jet.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11No British aircraft could succeed without the backing
0:53:11 > 0:53:16of the state airlines and relying on that could be a pact with the devil.
0:53:19 > 0:53:24The BBC's Money Programme interviewed Britain's own Dr No,
0:53:24 > 0:53:26the chairman of BOAC.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30He damned the VC10 with faint praise.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34It's a lovely aeroplane to fly, I've flown it myself.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37I think it has one little drawback and that is that you have to get
0:53:37 > 0:53:40an awful lot of extra people in it before it makes money.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45It's a really sad story that the BOAC, who specified the aeroplane,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48turned against it when they realised
0:53:48 > 0:53:52that the 707 was actually more economical to fly.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55The reason it was more economical to fly
0:53:55 > 0:53:59was because the 707 had been built for very long runways.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02The VC10 had been designed specifically for BOAC's requirement
0:54:02 > 0:54:05to get out of shorter runways at high altitude
0:54:05 > 0:54:09in places like Nairobi on the Empire routes.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12It had a bigger wing, with high-lift devices,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15and the tail-mounted engines.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19This made it heavier and therefore burned a bit more fuel.
0:54:19 > 0:54:25So BOAC actually tried to get out of part of their VC10 order
0:54:25 > 0:54:28in order to buy more 707s, which didn't really help its image
0:54:28 > 0:54:31with the rest of the world when you were trying to sell it to other airlines.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36The airline corporations were more or less strong-armed into buying British.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41They had probably an excessive influence on the design
0:54:41 > 0:54:46of the aircraft because they were tailored for their needs
0:54:46 > 0:54:50without looking at the wider world as a market.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53The aircraft were too closely tailored,
0:54:53 > 0:54:57and then inevitably, minds changed,
0:54:57 > 0:55:01commerce developed and the airlines didn't then really quite want
0:55:01 > 0:55:04what they'd said they wanted.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07And in the end, airlines tend to go for operating costs
0:55:07 > 0:55:11and reliability, rather than the last bit of perfection.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17The American 707 went on to sell over 1,000.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21The British VC10, a mere 54.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25A proud line of all British big jets to challenge the Americans
0:55:25 > 0:55:28had come to an end.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34And in 1966, the final sad twist.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39The Farnborough airshow, so long the best of British, went international.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45'For the first time, foreign aircraft are on show at Farnborough.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49'Bristol Siddeley powers four of them, an Orpheus engine
0:55:49 > 0:55:52'in the Fiat jet trainer in air force service with Italy and Germany.'
0:55:52 > 0:55:57The hard truth was that there were simply not enough British planes
0:55:57 > 0:55:59to fill our top show.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02'Rolls-Royce is sponsoring three overseas aircraft, the Fokker
0:56:02 > 0:56:06'Friendship with two Rolls turbo props is an airliner from Holland.'
0:56:06 > 0:56:11A wonderful creative age was drawing to a close.
0:56:16 > 0:56:24For so many years, Farnborough had been a showcase of British aviation, civil and military.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27The skies were full of the fastest and highest,
0:56:27 > 0:56:30the most menacing,
0:56:30 > 0:56:33and the most adventurous.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38There was a great deal of very good design in Britain at that time,
0:56:38 > 0:56:44but in the end, we just simply didn't have the capacity, the people,
0:56:44 > 0:56:49the finances, to do all the things that we were trying.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53Perhaps we were trying to do too many things
0:56:53 > 0:56:56and not really carry forward enough of them.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01It was so nearly a bloody great era, but it was screwed up
0:57:01 > 0:57:06by lousy management, hideously missed political decisions
0:57:06 > 0:57:10and also bad specification on the part of the airlines.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12But what is often overlooked
0:57:12 > 0:57:15is that we are still a major aerospace player.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19In fact, we're number one in Europe and people don't realise that.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24We're second only to the United States in terms of aerospace.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27But there were some wonderful aircraft. The Comet.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31It should have been the greatest thing ever. For two years, it was.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33Passengers thought it really was.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36The Americans themselves thought it had left them six years behind.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40Very sad. But wow, there were some great aircraft!
0:57:46 > 0:57:49For two decades, we had ruled the skies
0:57:49 > 0:57:53and consistently broken records with amazing aircraft
0:57:53 > 0:57:56that were loved by crew and passengers alike.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03We had the first turbo-prop plane, the world-beating Vickers Viscount.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10The first jetliner, the sleek silver De Havilland Comet.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17And the VC10, powerful and athletic
0:58:17 > 0:58:20and still an Atlantic record holder.
0:58:20 > 0:58:25In that golden age of invention and confidence,
0:58:25 > 0:58:28Britain had created magnificent planes.
0:58:28 > 0:58:34Aircraft that changed the way that the world would fly forever.
0:58:43 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd