DH.88 Comet Landing Accident

[RichB]

Grosvenor House G-ACSS nosed over on landing yesterday at the Shuttleworth "Flying Proms". The pilot was released from hospital after medical checks. Damage is being assessed.

Grosvenor House is the only flying original DH.88. Black Magic G-ASCP, the only other original to survive, is under going a long term restoration to bring it back to flight status.

Cheers,
RichB

 

[paddy]

I dont know the circumstances but the runway if you can call it that provides a roller coaster ride once you are down at Shuttleworth.
Sad to see one of the Druine D.31 Turbulents of the Turbulent team also crashed at another show today. That team has been going since my very first airshows 60 years ago and are always great fun with flour bombing and flying under a limbo bar as well as balloon bursting.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Sounds like Shuttleworth really needs to do a serious rework of the airstrips surface. I get that it needs to be a grass surface, but ground "moves" around and changes. I feel bad for the pilot. Glad he is OK, but what a way to ruin a day/week/month/year. Might not even have been something he could have done anything about if the landing surface snagged up on one of the main gear.

 

[paddy]

Looks like i was right about the bumps

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[Rhino]

"Boomp-sa Daisy. Makes you want to bloody weep."
What a shame. It looks as if the Comet driver neglected his landing flaps.

 

[RichB]

The DH.88 is a notoriously hard aircraft to land at the best of times. The flap is in the centre wing section between the nacelles. It is very stiff to lower and requires a great deal of effort for the pilot to lower so it isn't always used.

The hot, dry weather in the UK has hardened the grass airfield so it is like landing on a paved runway. For WW1 and interwar aircraft the harder surface doesn't absorb any of the landing shock and can cause the big bounce.

Cheers,
RichB

 

[moon puppy]

Saw this news last night at dinner. The crew were wondering what I was cussing about again. I've asked before, these rare original birds, should they keep flying?

 

[paddy]

Its simple maths Bob
8 shows a year ave of 5000 people per show , average of £45 a show = £1.8m a year Plus all the fees for pitches and merchandise etc i bet they clear £3m just on the shows . I would stick my neck out and say the museum couldn't survive on its entrance fee alone so the whole collection depends on the flying. Apart from that the whole purpose of Shuttleworth is to keep these planes in the air, its was one of its founding mantras. There are no static aircraft in the museum. Grosvenor house has been restored before, it will be restored again. its wood, very little of it is original .Black Magic is also being restored to fly not far away at Derby so the expertise is already there to do the work. The reason people go to places like Duxford and Shuttleworth is to see these things fly, they simply wouldn't exist if they were just static, the cost of restoration would make them unviable, you wouldn't get the feet through the doors to pay for them.