Operational history De Havilland DH.88 Comet

1 operational history

1.1 macrobertson race

1.1.1 g-acsp black magic
1.1.2 g-acss grosvenor house
1.1.3 g-acsr


1.2 after race
1.3 other comets

operational history
macrobertson race

all 3 comets made start of race @ raf mildenhall, newly established air base in suffolk. g-acsp painted black , named black magic, g-acsr green , unnamed, g-acss red , named grosvenor house. 3 distinctively coloured aircraft took places among 17 other entrants, ranged new high-speed douglas dc-2 , boeing 247 airliners old fairey fox biplanes.

g-acsp black magic

jim mollison , wife amy (born amy johnson) both famous aviators in own right , had earned nickname flying sweethearts . favourites win race in own g-acsp black magic , first entrants take off.

at 6.30 a.m. on 20 october 1934, began non-stop leg first compulsory staging point @ baghdad, crew managed without stopping refuel. arriving next @ karachi set new england-india record. problems began when landing gear failed retract and, after returning karachi repairs, again delayed difficulties navigating @ night. worse problems followed when made unscheduled refuelling stop @ jabalpur found no aviation fuel. running instead on unsuitable fuel provided local bus company, piston seized , oil line ruptured. flew on allahabad but, needing new engines, forced retire.

g-acss grosvenor house

grosvenor house in martin place, sydney, australia, 12 november 1934.

a. o. edwards named red comet g-acss after grosvenor house hotel managed. engaged c. w. a. scott , tom campbell black fly in race.

having landed @ kirkuk refuel, arrived @ baghdad after mollisons had left took off again after mere half-an-hour turnaround. time scott , campbell black missed out karachi , flew non-stop allahabad. there told first arrive – had taken lead troubled mollisons. despite severe storm on bay of bengal, in both pilots had wrestle controls together, reached singapore safely, 8 hours ahead of dc-2.

they took off darwin, losing power in port engine on timor sea when oil pressure dropped zero, struggled on darwin. while mechanics working on engine designer, frank halford, saw news placard in england , telephoned through darwin. talking on concluded that, despite warning indicator, should able fly on @ reduced power. despite lead unassailable , after final mandatory stop , more engine work @ charleville flew on cross finish line @ flemington racecourse @ 3.33 p.m. (local time) on 23 october. official time 71 hours 18 seconds.

g-acsr

the third comet, g-acsr had been painted racing green bernard rubin successful motor race driver. had intended fly himself had pull out @ last minute due ill health , instead engaged owen cathcart jones , ken waller.

on reaching baghdad, overshot in dark, landing village when ran low on fuel. leaving @ first light, made baghdad on empty tanks. on taking off again found had serious oil leak , had return repairs. more trouble encountered on darwin leg landed @ batavia, engineers employed klm, had entered dc-2, made repairs them. fourth aircraft reach melbourne, in time of 108 h 13 min 45 s. cathcart jones , waller promptly collected film of australian stages of race , set off next day carry britain. return time of 13½ days set new record.

after race

the race winner (formerly g-acss) wearing raf livery in 1936



g-acss in later incarnation orphan, preparing air race in 1937 – flight photo.

grosvenor house dismantled , shipped england. later bought air ministry, given military serial k5085, painted silver overall raf markings , flown martlesham heath evaluation. made several flights before being written off in heavy landing , sold scrap. subsequently sold on, rebuilt , fitted gypsy 6 series ii engines , castoring tailwheel. in form made several race , record attempts under various names. claimed fourth place in 1937 istres-damascus-paris race , later same year lowered out-and-home record cape 15 days 17 hours. in march 1938, arthur edmond clouston , victor anthony ricketts made return trip new zealand covering 26,450 mi (42,570 km) in 10 days 21 hours 22 minutes.

in g-acsr, day after finished race cathcart-jones , waller took off on return journey. suffering engine trouble, @ allahabad found mollisons still there , generously given 2 pistons black magic allow them continue. set new round-trip record of 13 days, 6 hours , 43 minutes. december, g-acsr named reine astrid , flew christmas mail brussels leopoldville in belgian congo. modified , sold french government f-anpy, setting croydon-le bourget record on 5 july 1935. subsequently made paris–casablanca , paris—algiers high-speed proving flights. formerly believed destroyed alongside f-anpz (see below), f-anpy last seen in unflyable condition @ Étampes in france in 1940.

black magic sold portugal projected flight lisbon rio de janeiro. re-registered cs-aaj , renamed salazar damaged on attempted takeoff atlantic crossing , returned repair. on return made record flight london lisbon, setting time of 5 hr, 17 min in july 1937, failed make further significant flights.

other comets

following french government s acquisition of f-anpy (see above), ordered fourth comet, f-anpz, mail compartment in nose. later taken on charge french air force before being destroyed in hangar fire @ istres in france in june 1940.

the fifth , last comet, registered g-adef , named boomerang, built cyril nicholson. piloted tom campbell black , j. c. mcarthur in attempt on london-cape town record. reached cairo in record 11 hr, 18 min, next leg of journey cut short due oil trouble while in flight on sudan. g-adef crashed , lost on 22 september 1935, crew escaping parachute.