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"Black Magic"
by Frank Munger
The de Havilland DH.88 Comet was an aircraft designed specifically for a particular event, the 1934 MacRobertson England-Australia Air Race, commemorating the centenary of the Australian state of Victoria. Three were ordered in time to meet the race deadline. These were G-ACSS, purchased by A.O. Edwards, manager of Grosvenor House Hotel; G-ACSP, by Jim and Amy Mollison; and G-ACSR, by Bernard Rubin. G-ACSS, finished in bright red with white markings and named 'Grosvenor House', was crewed by C.W.A. Scott and T. Campbell Black, who won the race's speed section and were the first to complete the course. G-ACSP 'Black Magic", flown by the Mollisons, reached Baghdad from London non-stop, but was put out of the race with mechanical problems at Allahabad.
G-ACSP Black Magic
Although they did not finish the race, the Mollisons in Black Magic did establish a record for the fastest time from England to Baghdad - not bad for its first competitive flight done in one hop.Later two further aircraft were built, one being sold to a company in France together with G-ACSR the third aircraft to be produced. These were destroyed at the beginning of the Second World War in a hangar fire. The final aircraft G-ADEF registered to Tom Campbell Black was lost over African scrublands when the crew encountered difficulties and had to bale out. Only G-ACSS Grosvenor House and Black Magic remain, with the former already restored to airworthy condition by the Shuttleworth Trust and residing at Old Warden.
CS-AAJ Salazar
Black Magic was eventually acquired by the Portuguese government and renamed Salazar with the registration CS-AAJ. In Portuguese hands it made a number of mail flights to South America. In 1936 Amy Johnson attempted unsuccessfully to buy Black Magic back from the Portuguese authorities for a Johannesburg Race. After that, the aircraft was neglected and remained lost in obscurity for more than forty years until it was rediscovered in a barn in Portgual in 1979. Today it is currently being restored to flying condition by the Comet Racer Project Group of Derby, England.de Havilland DH.88
The Comets were of all-wooden construction, with three large fuel tanks forward of the narrow, tandem cockpit and retracting landing gear. The first Comet, the Mollisons' G-ACSS, flew on 8th September 1934 at Hatfield, piloted by Hubert Broad. This aircraft became the only surviving original Comet, preserved by the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden, Bedfordshire, and restored to flying condition in the 1980s. Apart from the three racers, two more Comets were built. One was for use as a French mail plane. The other was for an attempt to set a London - Cape Town record. In a second attempt at the record in September 1935, the crew were forced to abandon the aircraft, which was lost after they baled out over the Sudan.
Replica G-ACSPIn 1991 two replicas were used in production of a television movie about the 1934 race, called "The Great Air Race". One was a flying replica of G-ACSS, and the other a static and taxying mockup of G-ACSP. Filming took place with Australian backdrops doubling for the original airfields and en-route scenery. The replica of G-ACSP remained extant in Australia for some time, and was repainted as red G-ACSS. At last reports it had deteriorated significantly.
A wonderful quick-read web page dedicated to the Dh.88 can be viewed:
2002 Wings Publishing
