Comet Racer G-ACSS

This is my late eighties photo of the restored Comet Racer G-ACSS, 'Grosvenor House'.

It is on a flight from Boscombe Down, home of the last airworthy de Havilland DH-106 Comet jet airliner (appropriately named Canopus) to Hatfield, the home of de Havilland. This flight was the only occasion the Comet airliner and Comet racer flew together - and, given that Canopus is now grounded, it is unlikely that it could happen again. Incidentally G-ACSS, in the hands of the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden, is also currently grounded but should fly again in the future.

The Comet Racer was, of course, the winner of the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from Mildenhall, Suffolk to Flemington Race Course, Melbourne, Australia. It was, arguably, the greatest air race (it's often known as The Great Air Race) and in historical terms there has never been another race that has occurred at such an important time of radical technical change.

Much has been and will be written about the Comet racer. Suffice it to say here was that in late 1934 it was the fastest thing to travel halfway around the world. It was a privilege to have seen such an historic aircraft on such a unique occasion as this.