Model Comet

[heisthegaffer]

Hi all, my girlfriend's grandfather used to work for De Havilland on the Comet (amongst other things) and he has kindly given me a couple of goodies from his time there. Hope the images appear:-








Apologies for the picture quality and my thumb being included!

Also have a couple of turbine blades from a goblin and ghost engine he thinks. Let me know if you want a photo of these posting.

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Sunday 17th January 16:08

[heisthegaffer]

Erm.. anyone know why the pictures aren't working? I'm using the PH uploader.

[FourWheelDrift]

I have edited it for you, PH upload doesn't like images on the same line (or a continuous line of them). They need to be on separate lines, I just had to put a carriage return in between the ends of each one for them to work.

[Eric Mc]

Very interesting.

The unpainted Comet looks like it might be a wind tunnel model of the Comet 1.

What is the registration shown on the painted model?

Edited by Eric Mc on Sunday 17th January 16:46

[heisthegaffer]

Thanks FourWheelDrift!

Eric MC - He did mention it may have been used for this and whilst he worked mainly in the Hatfield location, the unpainted (possibly bronze) one may have came from another site - somewhere in North London. Any idea if they would have had a wind tunnel there?

The registration on the painted model is G-ANLO which according to wikipedia is the first Comet 3 to fly.

Such a beautiful plane and the losses were such a tradegy. At least it lives on to a degree in the Nimrod!

Let me know if you want to know anything else and I'll ask him.

[Eric Mc]

Yes, G-ANLO was the one and only Comet 3. The Comet 3 incorporated all the improvements brought about following the accident investigations - as well as a stretched fuselage. However, it only acted as the "prototype" for the production version, the Comet 4.

I'm not sure if G-ANLO ever wore those particular BOAC colours.

I'd hang on to those items as they are of genuine historic worth.

[heisthegaffer]

Thanks Eric, definitely going to hang on to them. The painted Comet has oride of place in the lounge and the unpainted in my den along with the two blades.

I was very proud he gave them to me, he's also given me a 'janes' book of planes, must date to the 50's/60's I think.

Cheers

[CobolMan]

I remember flying to Spain in a Dan Air Comet 4c back in 1978, what a lovely aircraft it was. Thanks for posting those pictures up.

[dr_gn]

heisthegaffer said:

Thanks FourWheelDrift!

Eric MC - He did mention it may have been used for this and whilst he worked mainly in the Hatfield location, the unpainted (possibly bronze) one may have came from another site - somewhere in North London. Any idea if they would have had a wind tunnel there?

The registration on the painted model is G-ANLO which according to wikipedia is the first Comet 3 to fly.

Such a beautiful plane and the losses were such a tradegy. At least it lives on to a degree in the Nimrod!

Let me know if you want to know anything else and I'll ask him.

Both models look superb to me.

I think the Bronze one is too small, and the wrong material for a wind tunnel model (unless it was for a very high speed tunnel which is unlikely). Does it have a hole underneath for a stand? It looks like an ornament to me.

[heisthegaffer]

Thanks guys, they are very special indeed.

The bronze one is a bit of an oddity. There is no hole for a stand and appears to be no way of supporting it unless you hold it i.e no hole for wire or anything. I'll try and find out some more info!

Weighs a hell of a lot as well - 1.161KG according to my kitchen scales

[Eric Mc]

Wind tunnel models often have their attachment point at the base of the tail fin.

[perdu]

I thought so!

I remember G-ANLO in BOAC colours and have found a picture of her at Farnborough in Wikipedia, but Eric is right the BOAC colours have the fin markings reversed to those on the model.

White fin, blue stripes and speedbird. Airliners looked much prettier, before the days when logos ruled the world

I love those models, you are lucky to have them

Jealous?

Youbetya life

thanks for showing us them

(thumb and all! )

[Simpo Two]

On the subject of de Havilland, 'Sky Fever' is the autobiography of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, and good reading:

www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Fever-Autobiography-Geoffrey-...

[heisthegaffer]

Eric Mc said:

Wind tunnel models often have their attachment point at the base of the tail fin.

Just checked, there are no holes for attaching. Next time I see him I'll try to find out.

[navier_stokes]

heisthegaffer said:

Thanks FourWheelDrift!

Eric MC - He did mention it may have been used for this and whilst he worked mainly in the Hatfield location, the unpainted (possibly bronze) one may have came from another site - somewhere in North London. Any idea if they would have had a wind tunnel there?

The registration on the painted model is G-ANLO which according to wikipedia is the first Comet 3 to fly.

Such a beautiful plane and the losses were such a tradegy. At least it lives on to a degree in the Nimrod!

Let me know if you want to know anything else and I'll ask him.

There used to be a few wind tunnels at the NPL site in Teddington (south london), those that remain have been converted to automotive and civil engineering wind tunnels though.

ARA has a transonic tunnel in Bedford and I think Jaguar F1 (now Red Bull) refurbished and converted for automotive purposes an old tunnel somewhere between north London and Milton Keynes - I can't remember where exactly.

If the model is the size of the other one, I doubt very much it was a wind tunnel model though.

Edited by navier_stokes on Monday 18th January 18:55

[dr_gn]

navier_stokes said:

heisthegaffer said:

Thanks FourWheelDrift!

Eric MC - He did mention it may have been used for this and whilst he worked mainly in the Hatfield location, the unpainted (possibly bronze) one may have came from another site - somewhere in North London. Any idea if they would have had a wind tunnel there?

The registration on the painted model is G-ANLO which according to wikipedia is the first Comet 3 to fly.

Such a beautiful plane and the losses were such a tradegy. At least it lives on to a degree in the Nimrod!

Let me know if you want to know anything else and I'll ask him.

If the model is the size of the other one, I doubt very much it was a wind tunnel model though.

Edited by navier_stokes on Monday 18th January 18:55

There's someones finger in one of the pictues, so that scales it. It looks way too small and unrefined for a tunnel model to me: the wing tip thickness is way over scale for starters.

[Eric Mc]

Some wind tunnel models are tiny - especially those that are used in high speed or transonic tunnels.

Although I have to admit, that model does look rather crude. I wonder why it was left unpainted?

[navier_stokes]

Eric Mc said:

Some wind tunnel models are tiny - especially those that are used in high speed or transonic tunnels.

Although I have to admit, that model does look rather crude. I wonder why it was left unpainted?

Not many, because part of the pressure/force errors is directly proportional to the size of the model.

Standard transonic tunnel models have a wing span of the order of a meter or more.

Edited by navier_stokes on Tuesday 19th January 19:21

[Eric Mc]

Maybe they are bigger now.

Back in the 40s and 50s they seemed to be quite small - due to the limitations of the tunnels. Certainly any photos I've seen of transonic/supersonic wind tunnel models of the 40s and 50s seemed to indicate that the models were a lot smaller than what you saw in low speed and subsonic tunnels.