DH Comet G-ACSS

Arriving in Melbourne (where it was raining. Funny, it always seems to rain in my home town…)

Of course, if you want to see and hear Scott, Black and the other racers, you can!

www.britishpathe.com Films 1803.05 (et seq) called ‘Wizards of the air’ in 4 reels, avaliable as a free low res download. Still one:

Looks like we were both at Mildenhall at about the same time. I seem to recall lying on my stomach to get the shot, and get rid of some unsightly hangars in the background.

It was a lovely day, but what with the efflux from the Herc’s turboprops and heat haze and stubble burning, it was more difficult to get a decent shot – and for some reason Stuart was reluctant to get in front of ‘Canopus’ something about ‘speeds’(!?!)

I have a couple more pics I’ll dig out in a few days, if you like them, but these are the most historic. Many thanks to those at A.&A.E.E. Boscombe, and Shuttleworth etc. for making it happen.

Enjoy!

But better was to come. For the first and only time ever, both deHavilland Comets were to fly in formation. The Andover we were meant to shoot from ‘fell over’ and so a Herc was laid on instead with a bunch of us photographers taking pictures through the open rear beaver tail – only stopped from falling out by a scrim net.

The history bit? As far as we could establish, this was only the second time ever that both types of deHavilland Comet had been shown together. I’ve only ever seen one very fuzzy black and white of the previous occasion which was ‘ACSS with a couple of BOAC Comets, if I recall correctly. If anyone has a copy of that picture, or others of the occasion, I’d love to see them!

This shot and (the previous one) was taken from a very scary cherrypicker laid on.

And parked it alongside the deHavilland Comet airliner XS235 ‘Canopus’ of the A. &A.E.E. based at Boscombe. At the time of the photos ‘Canopus’ was still in service, though approaching the end of its working life.

Here’s something for Ant & DHFan…

On a lovely sunny day, a bit of history was made. At Boscombe Down, Stuart Waring flew the deHavilland Comet racer G-ACSS from Old Warden…

I wasn’t privy to the decisions at the time when the Comet was grounded, but I do know that extensive efforts were made to keep her in the air. It was a question mainly of cost (there were no funds available to pay for storage) and finding an airfield close enough to Old Warden to make it worthwhile. In the event, it was decided that it would be better to have her at Old Warden for a few years where she could, at least, be seen.

Bear in mind also that at that time, the tailwheel was fitted, which would require a much longer runway than the skid. The Comet’s performance tables suggest a very short runway could be used; well within the length of Old Warden and Duxford. Common sense, and the fact that the landing problem is more getting her down rather than stopping short, leads to the requirement of a longer than minimum runway. Both Old Warden and Duxford are fine in that respect. However, with the skid fitted hard runways are out, although the tailwheel is kept on the shelf just in case.

Question for Airbedane. I was always curious about the decision to ground the Comet on the closure of Hatfield. I would have thought that Duxford would have been the ideal interim base.
At the time, I seem to remember the Collection saying that Duxford was too short for the Comet , yet surely even the lengthened runway at OW is still going to be shorter than Duxford? Just curious.

The tailwheel was replaced with a skid some time ago – look carefully at trumpers post and pictures.

I believe the wheel was originally installed on the basis it was going to be operated from Hatfield.
I assume it could be re-considered now.

I would think it would depend on where it’s likely to be taking off and landing…ie mostly tarmac at airshows.

Excellent pics,thanks guys.Keep ’em coming!

“Somehow, it looks sleeker and more purposeful with the skid (obviously impractical though)”

I agree she looked better with the skid,but i’m wondering if a skid would actually be quite practical.Considering that OW is a grass strip,would the skid not be an advantage when it came to preventing ground-loops and the like?I’ve always been under the impression that a skid helps to keep enerything pointing in the right direction.

Great pics, thanks.

I am alone in thinking that the added tailwheel spoils the appearance of the beautiful Comet ?

Somehow, it looks sleeker and more purposeful with the skid (obviously impractical though)

AirSide

Thanks, the photos were just taken from the barrier.
Phil.

😀 Lovely pictures,how did you get airside? 😀

G-ACSS pics

Four