There’s little doubt the de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 revolutionised the aviation industry. As the world’s first pressurised commercial jet-powered airliner, it was the source of enormous national pride when it entered service with the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in May 1952. The inaugural flight, from London to Johannesburg via Rome, Beirut, Khartoum and Livingstone, ushered in a new era of passenger travel and led to carriers beating a path to de Havilland’s door eager to join the jet age.
At the head of this queue was Canadian Pacific Air Lines, formed in 1942 by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company with the purchase of ten bush planes. By the end of the decade it was flying Canadair North Stars (Douglas DC-4s built locally under licence) on long-haul routes out of Vancouver to Sydney via Honolulu and Fiji, Hong Kong via Tokyo, on the polar route to Amsterdam, and into South America.
The Canadian carrier initially ordered two Comet 1As – a higher gross weight version of the standard Comet 1 – on December 15, 1949 for use on its prestigious Vancouver to Sydney service. For this, the aircraft were luxuriously appointed, housing 44 passengers in a spacious four-abreast layout set at a…
