Comet DH 88.

[jaeger88]

Went out Foxing Sunday evening, but all I saw was a piece of aviation history, in the shape of the only (original) flying example of a de Havilland DH88 Comet.

This aeroplane, G-ACSS, Grosvenor House, won the MacRobertson Trophy, the 1934 air race from England to Melbourne, Australia.
A race to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the State of Victoria.

G-ACSS;s official race winning time was 71 hours & 18 seconds, 8 hours quicker than a new DC-2 airliner.

The pics unfortunately aren't mine, she was too far away for my iPhone camera to be of any use.

[JaDub]

Wow, what a drop-dead gorgeous plane.
 
  That has to be the equivalent to a Ferrari 250 GTO to us car guys.
 
   Magnificent !!

[Hunterbug]

That is a beautiful plane!

[gitano]

Can it do 'off strip' landings? Does it come with a STOL kit? :D Just kidding of course. It certainly looks like it 'moves along smartly'!

Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

For those interested:
Shuttleworth collection
Not far from where jager 'hunts'...

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Can it do 'off strip' landings? Does it come with a STOL kit? :D Just kidding of course. It certainly looks like it 'moves along smartly'!

Paul

Low wing tail dragger with not a lot of cargo space, not much kop for you!

[jaeger88]

The DH. 88 has always been near the top of my "best looking aeroplanes" list.

I believe there's a replica flying in the US of A, & another being built there.

There were three aeroplanes built for the air race, and one of them G-ACSP, "Black Magic", is under restoration to flying condition in the UK.

Yea, not the ideal STOL "Bush" plane, the tail wheel configuration is good, but those long low wings would be a nightmare !.

I was working at the Shuttleworth collection when G-ACSS was first brought there for restoration, & I knew the guy that was restoring the air frame (Bert Etherige).
He said it was a bit of a pig to land, as the tips of those long thin wings would tend to stall out first, and if you wasn't quick to grab it, she would drop a wing.

So one departure from original spec, and give more control in landing, was fully variable pitch props. The originals were variable pitch, but they had to be pumped up to the correct fine pitch with a bicycle pump, on the ground for take off.
You would then set them to a course pitch for cruise when in the air,  but you couldn't reset them to suitable fine pitch again for landing.

It's generally believed, rightly or wrongly, that the DH. 88 was the inspiration for another great de Havilland, all wood, twin engine aeroplane, the DH. 98  Mosquito.

[gitano]

There's a lot about the Machine Age that I like a better than the Age of Information...

Paul

[JaDub]

After viewing that video...............
 
                          I think I just wet my nickers.