I think if the Comet is ruled out on the ground of design flaws, Boeing's 707 (only slightly after it, and the first commercially successful jet) is a much bett

I think if the Comet is ruled out on the ground of design flaws, Boeing's 707 (only slightly after it, and the first commercially successful jet) is a much better "modern airliner" candidate than the 247 since there are still bestselling airliners rolling off the production today with cabins based on the 707's, which cruise at a similar speed over similar distances using a much more advanced development of its jet engine technology. (The 707 is also derived from the same experimental platform as the KC-135) I don't see engine retrofits as being disqualifying though, as modern engines seldom retrofit to older wings even if the original engines were podded (the MAX wings were a new design), and the turbojets the Comet was supplied with were much closer to modern engines than the 247's pistons anyway. The monocoque aluminium shell and cantilevered (across the aisle!) wing of the 247 was its novelty, but I'm not sure cramped piston engined 10 seaters with 200mph maximum speed are really what people think of as "modern airliners"...