Portugal de Havilland DH.88 Comet

The British twin-engined de Havilland DH.88 Comet was built specifically as a racing aircraft in 1934 to take part in the MacRobertson Air Race.Only five were ever built and one of them, G-ACSS Grosvenor House, went on to win the race. Oxford Aviation enthusiasts will recall this livery which launched our 1:72 scale replica of the Comet. We have previously modelled this one in its original state, named G-ACSP 'Black Magic' which also took part in the race. It was owned and flown by Jim and Amy Mollison and was the first to take off on 20^th October 1934 and landed safely in Baghdad and then Karachi. 'Black Magic was subsequently sold to Portugal for a projected flight from Lisbon to Rio.

Re-registered CS-AAJ and renamed Salazar, it made various flights from London to Lisbon, setting a time of 5hrs. 17 min in July 1937. It was subsequently re-discovered 40 years on in a dilapidated state in Portugal in 1979 and returned to England for restoration to its former Black Magic identity and black/red livery. It is being restored by the Comet Racer Project Group based at Derby Airfield.

Here you see the aircraft as flown in Portuguese ownership but still wearing its dramatic black colour scheme with red graphics and sporting the Portuguese flag on each side of the tailfin. Its CS-AAJ identity is printed in bright red on both the upper and lower wings. The model is enhanced with lots of silver trim. Note too the extended and retracted undercarriage feature.