De Havilland DH88 Comet Racer at Old Warden

esigned specifically to take part in the England to Australia air race marking the state of Victoria’s centenary. Three Comets took part and G-ACSS won the race.

[@nonsibi1087]

What a sweet & fine aircraft.

[@user-kw9cq2kh5m]

Nice video lovely aircraft well done 😊

[@kevinomeley3043]

I believe my dad as a kid at age 2/3 got to sit in the cockpit of this aircraft as it stopped at Mt Isa Queensland Australia. His father was a member of the Mt Isa aero club during the 1930s

[@robhaytonairshowvideos9853]

Kevin O'MELEY What a great story - I was in Mt. Isa way back in 1999 en route to Darwin while backpacking thru Oz

[@TheLtData]

What a beauty! And still in such good shape after 80 years... Stunning! I would love to see it with my own eyes and hear it take of.

[@mothmagic1]

And so she should be considering they pretty much took her apart and rebuilt her. A beautiful machine lovongly cared for.

[@nor0845]

One of the most beautiful planes ever. Needless to say I had the Airfix kit when a nipper :-) Thanks for posting!

[@roop298]

Purposeful, maybe. You can see the 98 in it.

[@pawpawstew]

You should see the new Mikro-Mir 1/48 scale kit!

[@Thrillrider10]

Such a beautiful aircraft.

[@casparthomas4775]

Remember seeing this at the galleria in Hatfield a few years ago it’s amazing to see where it is now 😭❤️

[@stewartellinson8846]

I believe that one is a replica

[@andrewmontgomery5621]

I managed to get to see that magnificent racer at Shuttleworth. The same plane used for Bulldog in Disney's Planes

[@justforever96]

I always felt like Lockheed was thinking of this plane when they developed the nose of the P-38.

[@stevetheduck1425]

Once visited Hatfield and found a red DH.88 Comet in pieces in crates under canvas outside the back of the display hall. Only a few years ago. Quite a revelation, actually.

[@justforever96]

They made a bunch of replicas, I suspect it is one of those. It would be a big deal to find one of the 7 originals. 5 are accounts for at the moment, and the gate is the other two is known. Unless you found one of 5 in storage (and why where you going through random crates that weren't yours anyway?) , it was one of the replicas.

[@solcarzemog5232]

YOU DIDNT FILM THE TAKE OFF???????????????????????????????

[@QG-vz4qg]

i loved that plane

[@beegee22]

Gorgeous aircraft!

[@none308]

"bulldog! Unfly your left aileron!"

[@soundwavs1961c]

Where's the takeoff??

[@stephenbrockett710]

Grandfather of the Wooden Wonder?(DH98).

[@MrLikeke]

I see her every time I go to FlaBob airport in RIverside, California. She's a real beauty. As I pilot I wonder what body part I'd give to take her up.

[@robhaytonairshowvideos9853]

Richard H A real beauty indeed - thanks for watching Richard

[@riccardosmirnov5063]

Hello. Incredibly beautiful airplane. Why did they clean the engines by rotating propellers? They don't seem to me radial engines. Are they inverted cylinders? Thanks.

[@andreascarlsson6579]

Yes. Inverted 6 cylinder. Apart from checking for hydraulic lock it is standard procedure to prime for fuel by hand on these engines

[@justforever96]

I am not sure I understand you. Are you talking about them turning the props by hand, or about cooling the engine with the prop wash? They are in not radials, they are inverted inline six Gypsy Major Rs. Being inverted they have the same problems as radials wiith oil lock, although I believe it was typical to hand turn all types of engines in that period, and even to hand start them. They are not very big or powerful, only about 200hp each, I think 5 or 6 litres. They are also air cooled, which was and still is typical for lower lowered inlines, although today the opposed type is more common.

[@riccardosmirnov5063]

@@justforever96 Hello, thanks for your answer. Yes, I was referring to the manual bleeding (bleeding? Sorry for my English) of the cylinders by turning the propellers with hands.

[@miles2378]

Is that a original or a replica?

[@robhaytonairshowvideos9853]

Christopher Bloom Original

[@Hypersonicbiker]

Aerodynamic racer plane. Dh88 had low drag

[@justforever96]

Not surprising they needed to make it low drag, since they only had 200hp sixes to work with. It does make some sense, since the race it was built for was about range and endurance as much as speed, and using smaller, lower power engines allows you to use less fuel. And smaller engines allows a smaller plane, which is lighter, which uses less fuel. And because it used less fuel, you can make the tanks smaller, which makes the plane lighter, which saves fuel and lets you go faster. Although it was still an anachronism, the US was starting to come out with big 600, even 800hp radials, and they were looking to 1,000hp. In production motors, not race motors. The DC-2 completed against this plane with twin R-1830 engines, far larger and more powerful, and faster as well. It also carried a while load of passengers as a publicity stunt, and would have easily won if they had been really trying. So a 400hp twin trying to get the most out of low power engines and light weight was a thing of the past. DHs next success (if you can actually call this a success, only 7 sold, at a huge loss, with government backing) was only relatively a small plane, and it used high power modern liquid cooled V12 engines. This was pretty much made because they needed a plane to be competitive in the race, and they had too work with what they had, since there wasn't time or money to develop a new engine for it. And Dh wasnt keen on using someone else's engine either.

[@abecoulter8550]

This is what bulldog is based on from Pixar planes

[@QG-vz4qg]

it's disney not pixar

[@DL6UK]

pity - no flying to be seen

[@alanc6781]

Why has it only got one canon, near the right wing tip?

[@olympus__]

That’s the pitot tube, used to measure airspeed

[@justforever96]

It is a racing plane, it doesn't have guns. That is a pitot tube.

[@matheusmoreiraleaodesouzam6124]

Bulldog from Planes.