At war's end, the British aircraft industry gave up any immediate hope of turning out the best conventional airliners in the world. It left that to the U.S., which in wartime had concentrated on bombers and transports (easily convertible to commercial use) while Britain bore down on fighter production. Instead, the British, who had led the world in developing jet engines, put their brains and money to work on jet transports, which they hoped would some day make current U.S. airliners obsolete.
Last week, it looked as if the British gamble was ready...
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