Racing Comet to fly again

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33520, 29 April 1974, Page 18

Racing Comet to fly again

Plans to restore the de Havilland Comet that won the England-Australia air race in 1934, and which later established an England-to-New Zealand record, are going ahead at the workshops of the Shuttleworth Collection in England.

Restoration will cost about i £25,000, a third of which has been raised by public subscription. The plane last flew in 1936, and before work on the airframe can begin many months of design and re-

search work lie ahead. Although complete in external appearance, the Comet has no internal components. Contact has been made with people who were involved with the design, manufacture, and running of the craft in the mid-30s. The fuselage is of monocoque stressed-skin construction, and the wings of a box-spar construction. Fittings for the various controls must be designed, made and installed before the one-piece wing is completely skinned. This is by far the biggest restoration task yet undertaken in aircraft preservation, but if no big setbacks arise, it is hoped to have the machine in the air before the end of the decade. The Shuttleworth Collection was started more than 40 years ago to preserve endangered historical aircraft and vehicles. The collection is one of the most valuable anywhere in the world, particularly of aircraft, and the organisation is the only one of its kind in Europe.