The Duxford Aviation Society

De Havilland DH106 Comet 4 G-APDB   This aircraft was the founder member of the society's collection, flying into Duxford on 12th February 1974. First flown at Hatfield on 27th July 1958 it entered service with BOAC in September of that year. DB had the distinction of being the first jet aircraft to carry fare paying passengers eastbound across the Atlantic on 4th October 1958. It was used as the Duke of Edinburgh's personal aircraft for his Royal Tour of Canada and the evidence of the tube to take the flagstaff for the royal pennant can be seen in the roof of the flight deck. After seven years service with BOAC it was transferred to Malaysian Singapore Airways as 9M-AOB and then in October 1969 it joined Dan-Air and eventually flew its last commercial flight for them on 12th November 1971. DB was stored at Dan-Air's Lasham base prior to being presented to the Aviation Society and the landing at Duxford in February 1974 was its 15,733rd, it had flown for a total of 36,269 hours in its working life. Since its arrival at Duxford it has been the subject of continual restoration, both external and internal. The exterior of the aircraft was repainted into its present Dan-Air paint scheme, and much of the surface corrosion, was treated as part of the preparation for this painting. The interior has been restored to its original flying configuration with considerable work carried out on the seating and cabin fittings. The flight deck has also been the subject of a special restoration effort and now looks much as it did when in its prime. This aircraft has been open to the public for a large proportion of its life at Duxford and all the restoration work has had to carry on around this. The Comet now has considerable external corrosion, especially in the area of the undercarriage bays and has been moved into the restoration area in Hanger 1. This will give the crew the chance to tackle the areas of corrosion while preparing the aircraft for another well-deserved repaint.