De Havilland DH.88
Encyclopedia
The de Havilland DH.88 Comet was a twin-engined British aircraft that won the 1934
MacRobertson Air Race
, a challenge for which it was specifically designed. It set many aviation records during the race and afterwards as a pioneer mail plane.
in the outright win of the Schneider Trophy
, there was no British aeroplane capable of putting up a challenge over the MacRobertson course with its long overland stages. The de Havilland
company stepped into the breach by offering to produce a limited run of 200 mph (322 km/h) racers if three were ordered by February 1934. The sale price of £5,000 each would by no means cover the development costs. In 1935, de Havilland suggested a high-speed bomber version of the DH.88 to the RAF, but the suggestion was rejected. (De Havilland later developed the de Havilland Mosquito
along similar lines as the DH.88 for the high-speed bomber role.)
Three orders were indeed received, and de Havilland set to work. The airframe consisted of a wooden skeleton clad with spruce
plywood
, with a final fabric covering on the wings. A long streamlined
nose held the main fuel tanks, with the low-set central two-seat cockpit forming an unbroken line to the tail. The engines were essentially the standard Gipsy Six used on the Express
and Dragon Rapide
passenger planes, tuned for best performance with a higher compression ratio
. The propellers were two-position variable pitch, manually set to fine before takeoff using a bicycle pump and changed automatically to coarse by a pressure sensor. The main undercarriage retracted upwards and backwards into the engine nacelles. The DH.88 could maintain altitude up to 4,000 ft (1,200 m) on one engine.
De Havillands managed to meet their challenging schedule and testing of the DH.88 began six weeks before the start date of the race. On the day of the race, the three distinctively-coloured planes took their places among 17 other entrants ranging from a new Douglas DC-2
airliner to two converted Fairey Fox
bombers.
and Amy
Mollison in their own G-ACSP Black Magic. They made a faultless journey to Baghdad
, and reached Karachi
at around 10 a.m. on the second race day, setting a new England-India
record. Problems began for the Mollisons when their landing gear failed to retract, and after returning Karachi for repairs they were again delayed by an inability to navigate at night.
Further problems followed when they made an unscheduled refuelling stop at Jobbolpore but found no aviation fuel. Running instead on fuel used by the local bus company, an engine piston seized and an oil line ruptured. They flew on to Allahabad
and retired.
. The crew were C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black
. When the Mollisons ran into problems at Karachi, Scott and Campbell Black took over the lead and were first into Allahabad. Despite a severe storm over the Bay of Bengal
they reached Singapore
safely, eight hours ahead of the DC-2.
They took off for Darwin
, but over the Timor Sea
lost power in the port engine when the oil pressure dropped to zero. Repairs at Darwin got them going again, although continuing oil warnings caused them to fly the last two legs with one engine throttled back. Their lead was unassailable despite this, and after the final mandatory stop and more engine work at Charleville
they flew on to cross the finish line at Flemington Racecourse
at 3.33 p.m. (local time) on 23 October. Their official time was 71 hours 18 seconds.
Records set by G-ACSS 'Grosvenor House'
. They had to make a second unscheduled stop at Baghdad after they found they had had a serious oil leak. They were forced to delay for repairs which were carried out by T.J.Holmes. They caught up with the Mollisons at Karachi. They were the fourth plane to reach Melbourne
, in a time of 108 h 13 min 45 s.
Cathcart Jones and Waller promptly collected film of the Australia
n stages of the race and set off to carry it back to Britain. Their return time of 13½ days set a new record.
to Leopoldville
in the Belgian Congo
in 1934. It was then sold to the French government as F-ANPY and set a Croydon
-Le Bourget
record of 52 minutes on 5 July 1935. It subsequently made Paris
–Casablanca
and Paris—Algiers
high-speed proving flights.
Black Magic was sold to Portugal
for a projected flight from Lisbon
to Rio de Janeiro
. Reregistered CS-AAJ Salazar it made various flights from London to Lisbon
, setting a time of 5 h 17 min in July 1937. It was found in a ruinous condition in Portugal in 1979. It is currently undergoing restoration in Derby
, England.
Grosvenor House was later fitted with Gypsy Six series II engines and made several race and record attempts under various names. It claimed fourth place in the 1937 Marseilles-Damascus
-Paris race, and later the same year lowered the out-and-home record to the Cape to 15 days 17 hours. In March 1938, Arthur Edmond Clouston and
Victor Anthony Ricketts made a return trip to New Zealand
covering 26450 mi (42,567 km) in 10 days 21 hours 22 minutes.
government, with a mail compartment in the nose.
The fifth and last Comet registered G-ADEF and named "Boomerang" was built for Cyril Nicholson, and piloted by Tom Campbell Black (of "Grosvenor House" fame) and J.C.McArthur in an attempt on the London-Cape Town
record. It reached Cairo
in a record 11hr 18 min but the Cape Town attempt was abandoned due to oil trouble.
Grosvenor House has been restored to flying condition as it was in the MacRobertson race, and is housed at the Shuttleworth Collection
at Old Warden
in England
.
G-ADEF crashed in Sudan
on 22 September 1935. The crew escaped by parachute.
G-ACSR and F-ANPZ were destroyed in a hangar fire at Istres
in France
in June 1940.
at Old Mandeville Airfield, near Gore, New Zealand.
This series has been published in Dutch, French, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish and German.
The DH.88 might have been the last of the high performance wooden aircraft but for a shortage of metal for aircraft construction during World War II
. As it turned out, experience with the DH.88 would be put to use in designing one of the war's finest aircraft—the de Havilland Mosquito
.
The clean lines of the DH.88, especially in the striking colours of Grosvenor House, make it a true design classic.
1934 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1934:-Events:* Sir Alan Cobhams Flight Refuelling Ltd. develops the looped-hose aerial refueling system, a weighted cable let out of a tanker aircraft and grabbed by a grapnel fired from the receiving aircraft...
MacRobertson Air Race
MacRobertson Air Race
The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race took place October, 1934 as part of the Melbourne Centenary celebrations. The idea of the race was devised by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, and a prize fund of $75,000 was put up by Sir Macpherson Robertson, a wealthy Australian confectionery manufacturer, on the...
, a challenge for which it was specifically designed. It set many aviation records during the race and afterwards as a pioneer mail plane.
Development
Despite previous British air racing successes, culminating in 19311931 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1931:- Events :* Manufacturer Airspeed Ltd founded in York, England.* Alexander Seversky founds the Seversky Aircraft Corporation....
in the outright win of the Schneider Trophy
Schneider Trophy
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931...
, there was no British aeroplane capable of putting up a challenge over the MacRobertson course with its long overland stages. The de Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
company stepped into the breach by offering to produce a limited run of 200 mph (322 km/h) racers if three were ordered by February 1934. The sale price of £5,000 each would by no means cover the development costs. In 1935, de Havilland suggested a high-speed bomber version of the DH.88 to the RAF, but the suggestion was rejected. (De Havilland later developed the de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
along similar lines as the DH.88 for the high-speed bomber role.)
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
, with a final fabric covering on the wings. A long streamlined
Streamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
nose held the main fuel tanks, with the low-set central two-seat cockpit forming an unbroken line to the tail. The engines were essentially the standard Gipsy Six used on the Express
De Havilland Express
The de Havilland Express was a four-engined passenger aircraft from the 1930s manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.-Development:...
and Dragon Rapide
De Havilland Dragon Rapide
The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide was a British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s.-Design and development:Designed by the de Havilland company in late 1933 as a faster and more comfortable successor to the DH.84 Dragon, it was in effect a twin-engined, scaled-down version of the...
passenger planes, tuned for best performance with a higher compression ratio
Compression ratio
The 'compression ratio' of an internal-combustion engine or external combustion engine is a value that represents the ratio of the volume of its combustion chamber from its largest capacity to its smallest capacity...
. The propellers were two-position variable pitch, manually set to fine before takeoff using a bicycle pump and changed automatically to coarse by a pressure sensor. The main undercarriage retracted upwards and backwards into the engine nacelles. The DH.88 could maintain altitude up to 4,000 ft (1,200 m) on one engine.
De Havillands managed to meet their challenging schedule and testing of the DH.88 began six weeks before the start date of the race. On the day of the race, the three distinctively-coloured planes took their places among 17 other entrants ranging from a new Douglas DC-2
Douglas DC-2
The Douglas DC-2 was a 14-seat, twin-engine airliner produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247...
airliner to two converted Fairey Fox
Fairey Fox
The Fairey Fox was a British light bomber and fighter biplane of the 1920s and 1930s. It was originally produced in Britain for the RAF, but continued in production and use in Belgium long after it was retired in Britain.-Fox I:...
bombers.
Black Magic
First to take off at 6.30 a.m. on 20 October were JimJim Mollison
James Allan Mollison was a famous Scottish pioneer aviator who set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930s.-Early years:...
and Amy
Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson CBE, was a pioneering English aviator. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, Johnson set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s...
Mollison in their own G-ACSP Black Magic. They made a faultless journey to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, and reached Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
at around 10 a.m. on the second race day, setting a new England-India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
record. Problems began for the Mollisons when their landing gear failed to retract, and after returning Karachi for repairs they were again delayed by an inability to navigate at night.
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
and retired.
Grosvenor House
The scarlet G-ACSS was the property of Mr A.O.Edwards and was named Grosvenor House after the hotel which he managedGrosvenor House Hotel
Grosvenor House is a large and luxurious hotel. The iconic Mayfair, London hotel is owned by the Sahara Group. The name has also been licensed to a property in Dubai....
. The crew were C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black
Tom Campbell Black
Tom Campbell Black, was a famous English aviator.He was the son of Alice Jean McCullough and Hugh Milner Black. He became a world famous aviator when he and C. W. A...
. When the Mollisons ran into problems at Karachi, Scott and Campbell Black took over the lead and were first into Allahabad. Despite a severe storm over the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
they reached Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
safely, eight hours ahead of the DC-2.
They took off for Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
, but over the Timor Sea
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, to the south by Australia and to the west by the Indian Ocean....
lost power in the port engine when the oil pressure dropped to zero. Repairs at Darwin got them going again, although continuing oil warnings caused them to fly the last two legs with one engine throttled back. Their lead was unassailable despite this, and after the final mandatory stop and more engine work at Charleville
Charleville, Queensland
Charleville is a town in south western Queensland, Australia, 758 kilometres by road west of Brisbane . It is the largest town and administrative centre of the Murweh Shire, which covers an area of 43,905 square kilometres...
they flew on to cross the finish line at Flemington Racecourse
Flemington Racecourse
Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is Australia's richest horse race. The racecourse is situated on low alluvial flats, next to the Maribyrnong River...
at 3.33 p.m. (local time) on 23 October. Their official time was 71 hours 18 seconds.
Records set by G-ACSS 'Grosvenor House'
| Date of Record | Record achieved |
|---|---|
| 20-23 October 1934 | C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black Tom Campbell Black Tom Campbell Black, was a famous English aviator.He was the son of Alice Jean McCullough and Hugh Milner Black. He became a world famous aviator when he and C. W. A... went from Mildenhall, England to Melbourne, Australia (11000 miles) in 70 hrs 55 min. Still held in 2010. |
| 14-16 November 1937 | A.E. Clouston and Mrs Kirby-Green went from London to Cape Town (7091 miles) in 45 hrs 6 min. |
| 18-20 November 1937 | The return trip was completed in 57 hrs 23 min. |
| 15-20 March 1938 | A.E. Clouston and V. Ricketts went from London to New Zealand (13179 miles) in 104 hrs 20 min. |
| 20-26 March 1938 | The return trip was completed in 140 hrs 12 min. Here the times to and from Sydney, Australia en route to New Zealand were also confirmed as records. |
G-ACSR
The third plane G-ACSR had been paid for by racing driver Bernard Rubin and was flown by Owen Cathcart Jones and Ken WallerKen Waller
Ken Waller is an American former bodybuilder featured in the 1977 movie Pumping Iron, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. Waller also won the 1975 International Federation of Bodybuilders Mr. Universe contest in Pretoria, South Africa...
. They had to make a second unscheduled stop at Baghdad after they found they had had a serious oil leak. They were forced to delay for repairs which were carried out by T.J.Holmes. They caught up with the Mollisons at Karachi. They were the fourth plane to reach Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, in a time of 108 h 13 min 45 s.
Cathcart Jones and Waller promptly collected film of the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n stages of the race and set off to carry it back to Britain. Their return time of 13½ days set a new record.
After the race
G-ACSR, renamed Reine Astrid flew the Christmas mail from BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
to Leopoldville
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
in the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
in 1934. It was then sold to the French government as F-ANPY and set a Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
-Le Bourget
Le Bourget Airport
Paris – Le Bourget Airport is an airport located in Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, and Dugny, north-northeast of Paris, France. It is now used only for general aviation as well as air shows...
record of 52 minutes on 5 July 1935. It subsequently made Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
–Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and Paris—Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
high-speed proving flights.
Black Magic was sold to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
for a projected flight from Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. Reregistered CS-AAJ Salazar it made various flights from London to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, setting a time of 5 h 17 min in July 1937. It was found in a ruinous condition in Portugal in 1979. It is currently undergoing restoration in Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, England.
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
-Paris race, and later the same year lowered the out-and-home record to the Cape to 15 days 17 hours. In March 1938, Arthur Edmond Clouston and
Victor Anthony Ricketts made a return trip to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
covering 26450 mi (42,567 km) in 10 days 21 hours 22 minutes.
Two more Comets
A fourth Comet, F-ANPZ, was built for the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
government, with a mail compartment in the nose.
The fifth and last Comet registered G-ADEF and named "Boomerang" was built for Cyril Nicholson, and piloted by Tom Campbell Black (of "Grosvenor House" fame) and J.C.McArthur in an attempt on the London-Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
record. It reached Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
in a record 11hr 18 min but the Cape Town attempt was abandoned due to oil trouble.
Last resting places
Shuttleworth Collection
The Shuttleworth Collection is an aeronautical and automotive museum located at the Old Warden airfield in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of the most prestigious in the world due to the variety of old and well-preserved aircraft.- History :...
at Old Warden
Old Warden
Old Warden is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, just west of the town of Biggleswade. It has a population of 275. The village grew up under the protection of the Cistercian Wardon or Warden Abbey nearby....
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
G-ADEF crashed in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
on 22 September 1935. The crew escaped by parachute.
G-ACSR and F-ANPZ were destroyed in a hangar fire at Istres
Istres
Istres is a commune in southern France, some 60 km northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in June 1940.
Airworthy Replica
An airworthy full-scale replica of the DH.88 Comet was built in 1993 by Thomas W.Wathen of Santa Barbara, California. N88XD flies wearing the full colours and registration of G-ACSS 'Grosvenor House'. Another example, started in the United States, is under steady construction by the Croydon Aircraft CompanyCroydon Aircraft Company
The Croydon Aircraft Company is an aircraft company in New Zealand. Its main activities include restoring vintage aircraft, providing scenic and aerial experience flights in vintage aircraft, and providing pilot training in vintage aircraft....
at Old Mandeville Airfield, near Gore, New Zealand.
Fiction
In the Dutch aviation comics series "January Jones" the title heroine, a US racing pilot in the 1930s, flies and owns a de Havilland DH.88, usually indicated as (De Havilland) Comet. Its red-with-white colour and #43 resemble Grosvenor House.This series has been published in Dutch, French, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish and German.
Conclusion
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As it turned out, experience with the DH.88 would be put to use in designing one of the war's finest aircraft—the de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
.
The clean lines of the DH.88, especially in the striking colours of Grosvenor House, make it a true design classic.
Operators
- Portuguese Air ForcePortuguese Air ForceThe Portuguese Air Force is the air force of Portugal. Formed on July 1, 1952, with the Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval united in a single independent Air Force, it is one of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces and its origins dates back to 1912, when the military aviation...
- Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
- No. 24 Squadron RAF
Specifications
See also
External links
- The MacRobertson Air Race, 1934
- "British Victor in Air Classics" Popular Mechanics, January 1935
- Comet DH88 - fastest from England to Australia
- Black Magic Restoration
- Tom Campbell Black Pioneer Aviator co winner of the MacRobertson Air Race 1934
- Walkaround photo gallery of Shuttleworth's Comet G-ACSS