Originally posted by RobG: I saw one of these in "real life" in 1959. I was flying from London to Singapore (age 10, unaccompanied - you could do that in those days
) in a BOAC Comet IV. I'm almost certain that it was at the Columbo, Ceylon stop. I remember thinking that it looked like a hot-dog sausage
It was TWA. The other American commercial plane at the airport was a Pan Am Boeing Stratocruiser. I say "other" because there wasn't a lot of commercial flying in those days and to see another plane at an airport like Columbo was rare.
The airport was a shared civilian and Ceylon Air Force base. There were a few Lancaster bombers, gun turrets included, on the military side.
We flew at 40,000 ft at 480 kts in a quiet cabin with no vibration. And that was the end of propeller driven aircraft, particularly combustion engine aircraft, for long-haul, passenger flights.
Regards,
Richard.
