50th anniversary of the first commercial jet flight in May 1952

The British were pioneers in jet engine development and for many years led the world in this field.

The latest set of Royal Mail stamps commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first commercial, jet flight in May 1952, when a BOAC Comet flew from Heathrow to Johannesburg.

The Airliner stamp issues celebrates the technical achievements which led to the era of mass airline travel, from the first jet airliner to the very latest - and longest – the Airbus A340-600.

Airliners is the second issue in the Transport series which began in April 2001 with Buses.

The 65p stamp shows the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, which featured four turbojet engines integrated into the wing. Initial production at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, covered 10 Comet 1’s, all for BOAC. Yoke Peter was the first Comet to be delivered to the airline on April 8 1952.

The jet-powered Comet had a cruising speed of 490 mph and a cruising altitude of 11,000m. The Comet's ability to fly at such high altitudes meant a smoothness of flight above bad weather, which other piston-engined aircraft of the day just couldn't match. The Comet was renowned for its smoothness and used to be advertised as the only plane that you could balance a threepenny bit on end in flight. (a threepenny bit was a pre-deciimal coin with a shape similar to the 50p piece of today)

The 45p stamp features the Vickers VC10, which is remembered as the British transport aircraft par excellence. It was a durable British product designed for the ‘Old Empire’ long-haul routes toAfrica and the Far East and short fields in remote areas of the globe. A total of 54 VC10s were built for commercial service. It was developed into the Super VC10 that began services to New York in 1965.