HAA Behind the Scenes Event – Derby – Thursday 4th March

A DAY OUT WITH ‘BLACK MAGIC’
Derby Aerodrome, Thursday 4th March. From 11am.

atch up on the restoration of a lesser-known record breaker!

We follow on from our highly successful members ‘behind the scenes’ event when the ‘Biggles Biplane’ restoration team gave HAA members a look at everything from WW1 BE-2c and Fokker Triplane replicas to Harvards at Sywell. Now we head to Derby to go behind the scenes with one of the aircraft restoration world’s best-kept secrets.

While the Shuttleworth Trust’s DH88 Comet ‘Grosvenor House’ is well known, a second example survives. G-ACSP ‘Black Magic’, flown by Jim and Amy Mollison (nee Johnson) in fact led the 1934 England-Australia air race as far as Baghdad, before hitting technical problems. The aeroplane was subsequently sold in Portugal, used for air mail services then disappeared.

Several decades passed before its remains were found languishing on a Portugese farm and recovered to the UK. G-ACSP \’Black Magic\’ is now in the process of a complete restoration to airworthy condition by the Comet Racer Project Group at Derby. In addition to seeing the amazingly high-quality restoration work underway, you will also be helping get this aeroplane back in the air, as we are requesting a donation of £10 per visitor to the ‘fighting fund’!

Martin Jones, leader of the Comet Racer Project Group will be our host on Thursday 4th March, along with HAA Membership Secretary Bill Fisher. Numbers are limited so please contact Bill promptly on 01778 342826 or [email protected] for more details.

The Derby Aero Club will offer teas, coffees and a warm welcome for early arrivals and Bill recommends that drivers put DE65 6GU into Google, or their Tom-Tom to find Derby Airfield at Egginton. Airborne arrivals are of course also encouraged. PPR on 01283 733803.

More HAA ‘behind the scenes’ events to come, including Croydon Airport and the former RFC time-warp airfield at Stow Maries in Essex – and don’t forget the HAA Annual Meeting and Flying Forum at Old Warden on Sunday 21st March!