"D.H. 88 Comet"
by David Weston
This painting depicts the Grosvenor House, G-ACSS, a twin-engine de Havilland DH.88 that won the 1934 England to Australia air race -- known as the MacRobertson Air Race. Several Comets were built specifically as entrants in the race. The G-ACSS won the race. The DH.88 was the progenitor of the later famed Mosquito of the Second World War. David Weston is a British painter who specializes in railroad subjects and he is highly honored in Great Britain. This print was done in the 1980s to promote the restoration to flying status of G-ACSS. Today, G-ACSS is again flying with the Old Warden-based Shuttleworth Collection. Another flying replica of G-ACSS was built in California by Bill Turner. This Comet has been seen at many airshows and is based at the Wings of History Museum in Santa Clara County South County Airport.
The DH.88 Comet was an aircraft designed specifically for a particular event, the 1934 MacRobertson England-Australia Air Race, commemorating the centenary of the Australian state of Victoria. Three were ordered in time to meet the race deadline. These were: G-ACSS, purchased by A.O. Edwards, manager of Grosvenor House Hotel; G-ACSP, by Jim and Amy Mollison; and G-ACSR, by Bernard Rubin. G-ACSS, finished in bright red with white markings and named Grosvenor House, was crewed by C.W.A. Scott and T. Campbell Black, who won the race's speed section and were the first to complete the course. G-ACSP Black Magic, flown by the Mollisons, reached Baghdad from London non-stop, but was put out of the race with mechanical problems at Allahabad.
The Comets were of all-wooden construction, with three large fuel tanks forward of the narrow, tandem cockpit and retracting landing gear. The first Comet, the Mollisons' G-ACSS, flew on 8 September, 1934 at Hatfield, piloted by Hubert Broad. This aircraft became the only surviving original Comet, preserved by the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden, Bedfordshire, and restored to flying condition in the 1980s. Apart from the three racers, two more Comets were built. One was for use as a French mail plane. The other was for an attempt to set a London - Cape Town record. In a second attempt at the record in September, 1935, the crew were forced to abandon the aircraft, which was lost after they baled out over the Sudan.
In 1991, two replica Comets were used in production of a television movie, The "Great Air Race", starring Brian Bostwick and Helen Slater, about the 1934 race. One was a flying replica of G-ACSS, and the other a static and taxiing mockup of G-ACSP. Filming took place with Australian backdrops doubling for the original airfields and en-route scenery. The replica of G-ACSP remained extant in Australia for some time, and was repainted as red G-ACSS. At last reports it had deteriorated significantly.
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