The Shuttleworth Aircraft Collection

In 1934 Sir MacPherson Robertson offered a prize of £10,000 for the winner of an air race from England to Australia to mark the centenary of the foundation of the State of Victoria. Most entrants for the race were in existing aircraft designs, however de Havillands wanted to win the race and so designed an aircraft for this purpose, work starting in February. The DH88 was designed, built and flown in a total time of nine months to enter and win the MacRobertson Air Race in October of 1934. Three orders for DH88s were received: G-ACSR was painted green and raced by Owen Cathcart-Jones and Ken Waller on behalf of Bernard Rubin; G-ACSP was painted black and gold and was named 'Black Magic', it was owned and raced by Jim and Amy Mollinson; the third Comet to be entered was G-ACSS painted scarlet and named 'Grosvenor House' it was entered by the hotel's managing director A. Edwards. For the race the pilots of G-ACSS were C.W.A. Scott and Tom Campbell-Black. In the race G-ACSS arrived first in Australia and qualified for both prizes, one for fastest speed and one for the handicap race; however the race rules prevented both prizes being awarded to the same aircraft and so G-ACSS only received the main speed prize. Of the other Comets G-ACSR finished fourth and left for England as soon as it arrived carrying news-reels of the event. On its return it had set a new out-and-back record arriving back at Mildenhall thirteen and a half days after it left at the start of the race. G-ACSP retired from the race with engine trouble. After the DH88's success, G-ACSS was evaluated by the RAF as K5084 and appeared as such in the 1936 Hendon Pageant, however it suffered several accidents in the hands of the RAF and was sold as scrap. However, it was bought by F. Tasker and restored at Essex Aero Ltd at Gravesend, it was renamed 'The Orphan' and gained fourth place in the England-Damascus Air Race of 1937. After this G-ACSS was renamed 'The Burberry' and set a new record for the out-and-back times to the Cape, and also set a record when it travelled from England-New Zealand and home again in only ten days, twenty-one hours and twenty-two minutes. After these record breaking flights G-ACSS was abandoned at Gravesend and spent WW2 stored there. De Havilland apprentices statically restored the last surviving Comet Racer for the 1951 Festival of Great Britain, where it was displayed hanging from the roof. It was given to the Shuttleworth Collection in 1965 and a restoration to flying condition was begun. However this proved too expensive for the Collection and an appeal was launched for sponsors. About fifty organisations supported the project and restoration was carried out at RAE Farnborough and then at the British Aerospace works at Hatfield. This culminated in the first flight in forty-nine years on Sunday 17 May 1987. 'Grosvenor House' continued to fly from Hatfield until it was closed in 1993. G-ACSS was transported by road to Old Warden where it is now kept in a taxiable condition. Height: 10ft Length: 29ft Wingspan: 44ft Engines: two 230hp DH Gipsy 6 R Max Speed: 237mph