Shuttleworth's 1934 de Havilland DH88 Comet Racer undergoes a night run of its Gipsy Queen engines.
Three examples of the DH88 were built for the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from Mildenhall to Melbourne. The first Comet was first flown on 8th September 1934, and it received its Certificate of Airworthiness the following month. The other two received theirs in October 1934.
G-ACSS was flown in the race by C W A Scott and Tom Campbell-Black, and was entered into the race by A O Edwards, the then manager of the Grosvenor House hotel - the name the aircraft wears.
It completed the race in 70 hours and 54 minutes, making it the winner of the speed prize (the other main prize for performance against handicap was won by a DC-2 operated by KLM, which finished a close second overall).
Following the race, the G-ACSS was evaluated by the RAF, and appeared in its K5084 number at the 1936 Hendon Pageant. After suffering a couple of accidents in the hands of the RAF, it was sold as scrap - but bought and restored at Essex Aero Club by F Tasker.
Nicknamed 'The Orphan' it competed in the 1937 England-Damascus Air Race, finishing fourth.
Other records it held at the time include the out-and-back times to the Cape, as well as England-New Zealand-England (a feat it completed in 10 days, 21 hours and 22 minutes).
Abandoned at Gravesend during WWII, it was statically restored for the 1951 Festival of Great Britain, before being given to Shuttleworth in 1965 where work began to restore it to flying condition. This culminated in a first flight in 49 years on 17th May 1987.
It moved to Old Warden in 1994, following the closure of Hatfield, but initially the runway was too short to allow for safe operation. The runway was extended in 1999, but the Comet suffered a landing mishap in 2002. After research and modifications were carried out into issues with the undercarriage, it flew again in 2014 - and is now a regular performer at Shuttleworth air shows.
The Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, England is home to a vast array of vintage aircraft, vehicles, as well as agricultural machinery. The Collection hosts a series of flying days from May to October each year, and is open to the public on non-flying days as well.
General admission and event tickets can be purchased at www.shuttlewor....
26 авг 2024
