File:De Havilland DH88 Comet ‘G-ACSS’ “Grosvenor House” (51551156548).jpg

c/n 1996 Built 1934 Owned and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection, this is the actual machine which won the 1934 England to Australia Air Race. She is seen displaying at the collection’s ‘Flying for Fun’ evening airshow. Old Warden, Bedfordshire, UK 17th July 2021

The following info is from the Shuttleworth Collection website:-

“This DH88 won the 1934 England to Australia Air Race in 70 hours and 54 minutes. After the DH88’s success, G-ACSS was evaluated by the RAF with the serial number K5084 and appeared as such in the 1936 Hendon Pageant. It suffered several accidents in the hands of the RAF and was eventually sold as scrap. However, it was rescued when bought by F Tasker and restored at Essex Aero Ltd at Gravesend. Renamed ‘The Orphan’ it gained fourth place in the England-Damascus Air Race of 1937. After this G-ACSS was renamed yet again and as ‘The Burberry’ set a new record for the out-and-back times to the Cape, and also set a record when it travelled from England to New Zealand and home again in only ten days, twenty-one hours and twenty-two minutes. After these record breaking flights G-ACSS was abandoned at Gravesend and spent WWII stored there. De Havilland apprentices statically restored it for the 1951 Festival of Great Britain, where it was displayed hanging from the roof. It was given to the Shuttleworth Collection in 1965 and a restoration to flying condition was begun. About fifty organisations supported the project and restoration was carried out first at RAE Farnborough and then at the British Aerospace works at Hatfield. This culminated in the first flight in forty-nine years on Sunday 17th May 1987.