de Havilland DH.88 Comet

The DH.88 Comet was designed specifically to take part in a race from Mildenhall in England to Melbourne in Australia (also known as the MacRobertson Air Race), scheduled to start on 20 October 1934, to mark the centenary of the foundation of the State of Victoria. The gold cup and £10,000 prize were put up by Sir MacPherson Robertson, the Australian industrialist.

The race contestants - including the three Comets - set off at dawn on 20 October with the Mollisons in G-ACSP, ‘Black Magic’ (currently under restoration); Owen CathcartJones and Ken Waller in G-ACSR (owned by Bernard Rubin); and C.W.A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black in G-ACSS, ‘Grosvenor House’ (entered by A.O. Edwards, the managing director of the eponymous hotel). 'Grosvenor House’ was the winner of the speed prize, covering the course in 70 hours and 54 minutes.

About this aircraft

This is the very aircraft that won the MacRoberston Air Race in 1934. Following this success, it was evaluated by the RAF and given the serial number K5084. It suffered several accidents in the hands of the RAF and was eventually sold as scrap; however, it was rescued by F. Tasker and restored at Essex Aero Ltd. Following this, it was renamed ‘The Orphan’ and finished fourth in the England Damascus Air Race of 1937. It was renamed once again as ‘The Burberry’ and set a new record for the out and back times to the Cape and also England to New Zealand and back in just ten days, twenty one hours and twenty two minutes. The aircraft was stored during the WWII until it was statically restored to be displayed hanging from the roof at the Festival of Great Britain in 1951. It was given to the Shuttleworth Collection in 1965 and a restoration to flying condition was begun. About 50 organisations supported the project and restoration was carried out first at RAE Farnborough and then at the British Aerospace works at Hatfield. This culminated in the first flight in 49 years in May 1987. Following the closure of Hatfield in 1994, the aircraft returned to Old Warden where, initially, the runway was too short to allow safe operation. The runway was lengthened by 1999 but then, in 2002, the Comet suffered undercarriage failure when landing after its first test flight and research showed that the legs, as originally designed, were liable to failure under certain conditions. Subsequently modifications to the structure were approved and implemented and the aircraft flew again in August 2014.

Specification