The Jet Race
The ones who dared to innovate
The Jet Age was a time when air travel wasn’t just about getting from A to B. It was a statement, a mix of ambition, engineering, aesthetic elegance, and a bit of geopolitical power. As someone hopelessly in love with turbojets and the sheen of polished aluminum, I’m going to tell you a story about the greatest race in aviation history: the competition to build the first commercial jet
How and why it started
After World War II, the aviation industry stood at a defining crossroad. Propeller-powered aircrafts like the Douglas DC-6 and Lockheed Constellation ruled the skies, but they were reaching the limits of speed and altitude. At the same time, jet engines used in military aircrafts promised something revolutionary: higher, faster and smoother travel.
Back then, some governments eager to show postwar skill and experience, and manufacturers dreaming of the next big thing, began sketching out ideas for what had once been science fiction: jet-powered passenger aircrafts. And so began the global sprint of Britain, USA, the USSR, France and even Canada; all of them chasing the future with immense optimism.
de Havilland Comet – The first one
The Comet was a beautiful, ghostly sleek machine. With its buried engines in the wing roots, massive picture windows, and pressurized cabin, it looked like something out of a sci-fi film, and in 1952 it became the world’s first commercial jetliner in service with BOAC.
It was a triumph of design, until tragedy struck. A series of unexplained crashes revealed that metal fatigue around the square windows, was causing mid-air disintegration. The Comet was grounded, studied, redesigned and ultimately reborn in the Comet 4, but the head start had been lost. Still, its legacy is monumental, it taught the industry how to test for fatigue, design with pressurization in mind, and go round on the windows.
Tupolev Tu-104 – Dreaming behind the iron curtain
Not to be outdone, the Soviets fielded their own jetliner: the Tu-104, based heavily on the Tu-16 bomber. When it entered service in 1956, it was the only jetliner flying passengers anywhere in the world. The Comet had been grounded and the American jets hadn’t launched yet. The swept wings (angled backwards), engines, and tail surfaces of the Tu-16 were the same, but the new design adopted a wider, pressurized fuselage with a capacity of 50 passengers.
The Tu-104 was generally speaking a great design, but the handling was challenging. The aircraft needed parachutes for landing because the descending speeds were close to the cruising ones. Still, it carried millions and paved the way for future Soviet designs like the Tu-124 and Tu-134.
Sud Aviation Caravelle – The French flair
The French being so design oriented, it was not a surprise that the Caravelle was a work of art. With its dainty triangular windows and engines gracefully perched at the rear fuselage, was a mid-century design dream. First flying in 1955 and entering service in 1959, it wasn’t the first, but it was the definitely the most stylish.
The rear-mounted Rolls-Royce Avons gave it a very quiet cabin and clean aerodynamics. Though it lacked long distance range, it was perfect for short to medium-haul routes and served airlines from Europe to South America.
Something that Boeing might not want to admit is that it borrowed some of the Caravelle’s nose design for the 707, a nod to the respect this jet earned.
Boeing 707 – The game changer
The 707, derived from Boeing’s Dash 80 military prototype, took its first flight in 1954 and changed air travel forever. By the time Pan Am launched it into service in 1958, it had everything the Comet lacked: range, capacity and reliability.
The 707 also had swept wings, four podded turbojets, and a wider fuselage that accommodated six passengers on each row, the 707 became the template for the modern airliner. It flew presidents, rock and movie stars, and ordinary people alike across oceans. It was fast, really fast. It wasn’t just a jet, it created a whole movement.
Douglas DC-8 – The reliable one
The DC-8 took a more conservative approach with its solid design, ample flying range, and careful engineering. Its long Super 60 series variants proved especially popular with cargo carriers, and it’s the only jetliner to ever break the sound barrier, of course in a controlled dive. While it played second fiddle in sales to the Boeing 707, the DC-8’s reliability and adaptability gave it a long life. Some still fly today as freighters.
Convair 880 & 990 – The fastest
Convair CV-880
Convair built the 880 and later the 990 Coronado to be the fastest airliners of their time. Sleek, narrow, and incredibly quick, the 880 could outrun anything in the sky, but with a five passenger width cabin and hi-fuel consuming GE engines, it couldn’t outrun the operating cost.
Despite fascinating features like anti-shock pods on the wings and cutting-edge aerodynamics, only 65 of each were built. They were gorgeous and daring, but the airlines were concentrated on the numbers and these beauties consumed too much fuel to feed those powerful engines. Still, these jets live in our hearts as symbols of fearless innovation.
Convair CV-990
Avro C102 Jetliner – The what-if
Canada’s Avro Jetliner flew in 1949, just 13 days after the Comet. It had swept wings, tricycle gear, and powerful jet engines well before the world was ready. Sadly, due to shifting government priorities, Avro was ordered to focus on military aircraft, and the project was scrapped. Only one was built, and it was chopped up for scrap later on. However, its ghost haunts every aviation fan and remains a beautiful “what could’ve been.”
The legacy that soars on
These aircraft didn’t just fall out of the sky. They were painstakingly engineered in a time when much of this was uncharted territory. This golden age of jet innovation laid the foundation for the airplanes we fly today. They might be have become more efficient, but these early pioneers were nothing short of audacious. They turned sky into stage and made jet set not just a phrase, but a lifestyle. This is what these aircrafts taught us:
The Comet – how to build strong.
The 707 – how to build big.
The Caravelle – how to build beautiful.
The DC-8 – how to build enduring.
The Tu-104, Convairs, and Avro Jetliner – that sometimes, pushing limits means accepting risk, and dreaming anyway despite the results.
To look back on the race to build the first commercial jets is to watch history breaking the sound barrier. It was wild, messy, often dangerous, but always visionary. And for us Jet Age romantics, there’s still no sweeter sound than the one from the early turbojets and no sleeker sight than a swept-wing classic. So here is to the dreamers, the designers, and the daredevils who built the Jet Age, one rivet at a time.
Image credits
DC-8 and Convair CV-990 By Werner Friedli
de Havilland Comet 1 – Unknown author
Sud Aviation Caravelle – Unknown author
Tupolev Tu-104 by Lars Söderström
Boeing B707 by JQ Official
Douglas DC-8 by Werner Friedli
Convair CV-880 by SDASM Archives
Convair CV-990 by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
Avro C102 by A. Douglas Pearce
If you own any of the visual material displayed on this article and I haven’t mentioned it, please let me know to include it.
