Comet news items and a regular featured Comet airframe

The CANOPUS UPDATES below have been reproduced with the kind permission of Alastair Layzell of the National Air Pageant from the  National Air Pageant web site www.cometcampaign.cjb.net where additional inormation ca be found, it is well worth checking the site for updates and further information on this great project.

NATIONAL AIR PAGEANT OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE SEPTEMBER 3rd 2001

de Havilland Comet Canopus was taxied to 90kts on the main runway at Bruntingthorpe on Sunday 2nd September and the crew reported the aeroplane to be in good shape. In command was Captain Jock Reid, Captain Terence Henderson was in the right-hand seat and Flight Lieutenant Nick Newton was at the flight engineer's station, just as he was on the day Canopus was delivered to Bruntingthorpe in October 1997. He was assisted by flight engineer John Down. The crew complimented the ground team from ATC Lasham Limited on their maintenance. Project Director Steve Gerrish was in the jump seat for the single run in front of 2,000 spectators as part of the Bruntningthorpe Open Day. So much for optimism! In May it looked as though the final hurdle preventing the world's last airworthy Comet from flying could be overcome. Now, as the summer rolls on, the prospect of being allowed access to BAE's remaining Comet design drawings seems as remote as ever. The personal appeal by Lord Brabazon and the Chairman of the National Air Pageant, Alastair Layzell, to BAE Chairman Sir Dick Evans has come to nothing. BAE continues to prevaricate and has now said that since the CAA requires access to a full set of drawings and BAE has only tracked down an incomplete set, it cannot help. It is true that many of the drawings were lost or destroyed in the various BAE moves but allowing us to use those drawings which survive would at least help to move the project on. Alastair Layzell said: "BAE's senior managers keep saying they want to help but their words are not being translated into actions. It is extremely frustrating and we are rapidly running out of time if we are to have the last Comet flying for the fiftieth anniversary of jet travel in May 2002." At a meeting with the CAA on 28th November 2000, the Authority re-iterated the requirement for the campaign to have access to original Comet design drawings before proceeding. Project Director, Steve Gerrish, says the drawings will almost certainly never be required since no modifications to the airframe are planned. While all this was going on, the ferry flight from Bruntingthorpe to Lasham in Hampshire was postponed and the aeroplane was "winterised". Engineering teams from ATC Lasham Limited, under the direction of John Thomas, have paid regular visits to continue work on the systems and run the four Rolls-Royce Avon engines. As you can see from the images above and below (the chairman in the cockpit on Friday 30th March 2001) the Comet remains in good condition and has recently been thoroughly cleaned by specialists Aero Nordic who sent up a team from Gatwick and gave their services free. Pledges are being converted to contributions as fund-raising gets into full swing. £20,000 arrived at the headquaters of The National Air Pageant within forty-eight hours of club members being approached to follow through on the pledges they made last year. New members of the Gold, Silver and Bronze clubs are joining daily. For details see "Join Us". Although the first cheque to the CAA, in respect of the application for a Certificate of Airworthiness, has been written it has not been sent because of the uncertainty of access to design drawings. A great boost for the campaign has come from the Dan Air Staff Association (DASA) which is actively promoting events to mark next year's fiftieth anniversary. These will take place at he Aerospace Museum at Cosford on 2nd May 2002 and many of those associated with the early days of the Comet will be there. Although Canopus is to be restored in the livery of B.O.A.C., the travelling display will explain the strong connection between the Comet and Dan Air. Indeed, many of the ATC engineers who will work on the aeroplane spent years working for Dan Air and, of course, Lasham was one of the airline's maintenance bases. Now DASA has promised moral support and expertise from its many members, some of whom still live in Hampshire. You'll find a link to the Association's website on our Links page. Canopus has lost its military designation XS235 in favour of the civil registration G-CPDA. Its new identity was applied in the middle of August 2000. Sadly, the CAA would not re-issue an historic registration; we would have liked G-APDA, the registration of the first B.O.A.C Comet 4. Instead, we have chosen G-CPDA - the closest we can get. Our campaign received a significant boost at Farnborough 2000. It was heavily promoted on the Shell stand and Chairman Alastair Layzell, accompanied by Captain Freddy Clarkson and Project Director Steve Gerrish, took the opportunity to make new contacts. Fresh offers of sponsorship came in the form of floor safety lighting and a complete set of batteries (see Sponsors page). Shell, the multi-national petroleum group, has agreed to supply lubricants for the ferry flight. We have also asked Shell to consider supplying fuel for the first two years of the Comet's operation. Wanted: one temporary hangar. When the Comet gets to Lasham there will be no room for it in ATC's hangars. We need the loan of a portable hangar for about six months. There are plenty around but they are usually making money for their owners and, needless to say, we would like one for free. The search is on for a friendly manufacturer or someone in the Military with enough scrambled egg on their cap to authorise the loan of a temporary hangar to a good cause! The Real Thing! The next best thing to seeing Canopus "in the flesh" is to buy the latest model of it issued by Corgi in their Aviation Archive series. The model, at 1/144 scale, is finely detailed and well worth acquiring. Ask your model dealer for reference 48505. It's a limited edition, so hurry! Corgi have also produced a model of the Comet 4 in B.O.A.C. livery but, since it was issued in 1999, it has become something of a rarity.. An Engine Steering Group has been formed under Project Director Steve Gerrish. Its members include former Rolls-Royce team leaders on the Avon engine and the Group has submitted a detailed inspection plan to the Powerplant division of the Civil Aviation Authority. The aim is to get the CAA to allow the engines to operate "on condition", subject, of course, to a rigorous maintenance programme. A Flight Operations Steering Group has been formed by Captains Terence Henderson and Derek Lane. Its role is to work out the logistics of the proposed ferry flight from Bruntingthorpe to Lasham, Hampshire, where the engineering work will be carried out. The Flight Ops Steering Group will also be responsible for dictating how the aeroplane will be flown in future. The Civil Aviation Authority has agreed to stage the payments in the process of applying for a Certificate of Airworthiness. This concession was outlined in a letter to Alastair Layzell, Chairman of the National Air Pageant, and campaign supporter Lord Brabazon of Tara from the Chairman of the CAA, Sir Malcolm Field. Sir Malcolm wrote: "...I wish to assure you that we will do whatever we can to help you to keep the last airworthy Comet airborne." (Letter dated 10th May 2000). The Story so far.... Canopus flew into Bruntingthorpe from Boscombe Down on 30th October 1997. Since then The National Air Pageant has been canvassing support to return this fine aeroplane to the air in the colours of B.O.A.C. A whole year was spent trying to persuade British Aerospace to act as Type Certificate Holder. In the end BAe declined. Another year was occupied asking Rolls-Royce to support the engines. But, because R-R had destroyed the tooling for the Avon 524 and because most of its Avon engineers had retired, the company said it could not help. This took us to December 1999 at which point we looked at alternative solutions. In respect of the airframe, the CAA has agreed in principle that someone other than BAe may hold a Type Responsibility Agreement. We hope this will be ATL at Bournemouth. As far as the engines are concerned, we have put an innovative plan to the CAA (see above) in order to avoid having to undertake a full overhaul. If both these actions are agreed by the CAA the only thing stopping the project taking off will be money. It is our intention to ferry Canopus to Lasham, Hampshire, where the work necessary to achieve a Certificate of Airworthiness (Private Category) will be carried out by ATC Lasham Ltd., many of whose engineers worked on the Dan Air Comet when Lasham was the airline's maintenance base. ATC's Quality Manager, Steve Gerrish has become Project Director: he and his team have already analysed the military maintenance records, surveyed the aeroplane, devised a work schedule to prepare it for a ferry flight and compiled a low utilisation maintenance schedule for submission to the Civil Aviation Authority. Meanwhile, the aeroplane remains at Bruntingthorpe airfield, Leicestershire where David Walton and his team from the British Aviation Heritage Collection are doing sterling work with a care and maintenance programme. The aeroplane was moved, under its own power, for an Open Day on Sunday 7th May, 2000. A team of engineers from ATC Lasham Limited has recently been attending to the engines and systems. 3rd September 2001

Canopus becomes airbourne at Boscombe Down, a sight we will hopefully see again   (author)