Unfortunately, the problems with the real Comet were unfixable on existing aircraft and the redesign took long enough for US manufacturers and airlines to unseat England in the lead for air service. In No Highway, the "fix" was easy and inexpensive and England got to lead the world in jet transport. On the real Comet the failures were around the cabin windows as opposed to the tail plane on the fictional Reindeer, but the parallels between the story and the actual history are amazing. The real Comet ACTUALLY HAD structural metal fatigue failures that caused crashes and required extensive testing at Farnborough to identify. The Comet was the first commercial passenger jet, and like the fictional Reindeer in the book, was supposed to get England into the trans-Atlantic jet passenger service before anyone else. No Highway was published in 1948 a full year before the first flight of the DeHaviland Comet. What made the experience of listening to No Highway the most enjoyable?
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