This Jet Age

3/29/2022

Leslie Mitchell takes us through a lively review of the 1953 Farnborough Air Show, attended by luminaries such as HM King Hussein of Jordan - a keen flyer himself. The packed venue sees displays from the Vickers "Viscount"; the twin-rotored Bristol "173" helicopter; there are some aerobatics from an Oster "Egret"; the De Havilland "Comet II", capable of taking 44 passengers on trips in excess of 2,000 miles; the enormous Beverley freighter; Princess flying boat; the "Britannia"; the new "Canberra Olympus" aptly named as it has just set a new height record in excess of 63,000 feet; some more acrobatics from a De Havilland "110" - the same model that crashed at the 1952 show; the new anti-submarine "Sea Mew" from Short's who also displayed their variable winged "SB5" at the show. We get a gl