A bit of a mystery for today. When I found this photo I assumed it was a rare British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in-service shot of the ill-fated de Havilland Comet 1, the world's first pure jet airliner. However the "G-AMXK" registration does not match any BOAC Comet 1. Furthermore the 1958 year and Baltimore, U.S.A. location assigned to this shot does not match the 1952-54 service dates and routes for the original Comet. Apparently this is actually an example of the first redesign of the type, the Comet 2. BOAC had ordered 11 of this variant prior to the catastrophic loss of two of its Comet 1's in the well-known "metal fatigue" crashes. After those accidents, however the orders were cancelled. Apparently a few Comet 2's were briefly painted up in BOAC colors prior to the cancellation, but that would have been well before 1958 and what, then, was a variant without transatlantic range doing at Friendship Field? (Any of my expert friends from the U.K. are certainly welcome to chime in here!)
NOTE: IF PHOTO IS THUMBNAIL SIZE ONLY, PLEASE CLICK ON IT FOR FULL SIZE IMAGE.
Interested in legendary Pan Am? Check out my new Tuesday and Friday posts for the Pan Am Historical Foundation at: https://lnkd.in/eJ_ES-RF. One of my latest posts: 1969 Pan Am stewardess training video from the archives of NBC!
Would you be willing to contribute to help me continue creating these free daily educational airline-history posts (over 1,400 since 2017)? If so please check out: https://lnkd.in/ebnx6r7U. Any size gift is much appreciated and can be anonymous if you prefer.
Photo link from Zoggavia.com. Photographer unknown.
