De Havilland DH.88 Comet

[NARSES2]

I know we have sometimes mused about the use of the DH 88 Comet in the military role but I never knew it almost came to be.

I've been watching "Hitler's Bodyguards" on the UK History Channel (very good in depth history of the political machinations of the various organisations and the attempts on Hitlers life) and in the programme dealing with emigre and jewish "resistance" groups there was a section on a plot to bomb Hitler.

A jewish multi millionaire industralist offered a New Zealand pilot (can't remember the name) £1,000,000 in 1936 money to assasinate Hitler. The plan was to fly a Comet from Yorkshire to Berlin via the Baltic approach and then drop two bombs on a parade being addressed by Hitler, escaping by a similar route.

It was a serious plan but the pilot came to the conclusion that he would eventually be hunted down wherever he went and therefore it wasn't worth it as he had no axe to grind with Hitler himself. The plot was then quietly dropped.

So there we have it a clandestine bomber, so maybe the Comet could have been used as a light high speed intuder ?

If you get a chance to see the series, do. It's not your normal run of the mill "lets obsess with the men in black" type programme, but a serious look at all that went on.

Chris

[The Rat]

Another coincidence. I was going through a very old box of bits and stuff last night and came across my old uncompleted Frog issue of the Comet. Immediately started thinking of it as a light bomber or ground attack.

[pyro-manic]

Underwing RPs and a couple of 20mm in a belly pack? Anti-shipping aircraft on neutrality patrol in the Spanish civil war?

[Martin H]

Not so sure they would have been much use as light bombers.  But as light weight long range PR birds........right up their ally

[Captain Canada]

Interesting story, Chris !

[PanzerWulff]

I was thinking the Comet??? as a bomber before WWII?? then I found this



And reailized that you Didn't mean This



Which sounded a bit silly to me
"Panzer"

[Martin H]

well it happened in a way panzer  lol Its called the Nimrod

[sequoiaranger]

Portuguese Civil Air Patrol armed to escort "neutral" air service between Portugal and Britain, that was sometimes interdicted by the Germans based in France. Hi-performance V-8's (mini-Merlins) and four 12.7's in the nose!

[P1127]

well it happened in a way panzer  lol Its called the Nimrod

Somewhere I have an article & drawing of a proposed Bomber Comet from the late 402/early50s - an old issiue of Air Pictorial if memory serves me right.

[The Rat]

Lovely bit of work there sequoia, is that the Frog kit?

[dogsbody]

The DH.88 kind of looks like a light version of the IMAN Ro.57. At least to me it does.

[sequoiaranger]

>Lovely bit of work there sequoia, is that the Frog kit?<

Thanks, and yes, the majority of the model is the FROG DH 88 Comet Kit. I did it so long ago I can't remember what attributes the Airfix DH 88 kit had, but the FROG kit was better for my purposes. Also by FROG, two Supermarine S6B's gave their all for the engines and props. An Airfix Westland Whirlwind was sacrificed for the nacelles, landing gear, and nose piece. A Heller Ar-96 gave up its cockpit and canopy.

I had originally thought of making a four-engined (Gypsy-engined) Comet, but didn't have the engines, so I used the S6B's. Now I have a DH post-war airliner (name forgotten---Heron?) with the four Gypsies, but no Comet.

You probably noticed the Comet decal from some Belgian Gloster Gladiator decal sheet. The civil registration is from an actual DH 88 Comet purchased by Portugal.

[NARSES2]

Sorry for the confusion "Panzer"

Thats a nice build Sequoia

[The Rat]

Now I have a DH post-war airliner (name forgotten---Heron?) with the four Gypsies, but no Comet.

There's a discussion of that model's attributes at this post on the Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum.

[Mossie]

I'm sometimes thought about the DH.88 as a fighter, what if DH had decided to design a fighter rather than a light bomber?  Retain a similar fuselage on the lines of Sequoiarangers comet.   Add a new wing & powerplant, probably Merlins.  You've then got a Whirlwind alternative when the problems with that aircrafts Peregrines manifest themselves.