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Post by garryrussell on Jul 13, 2011 14:01:14 GMT
The Comet 4C was created to meet a request by Mexicana to a Comet with the capacity of the 4A with the range of the 4
DH had abandoned the slightly longer 4A increasing the length further using the 4A wing into the 4B
As a quick fix compromise DH offered the 4 wing married to the 4B fuse and that was accepted and so the most popular Comet version was born.
Pan Ams Srs 3 were under construction when the fatigue problem occurred and the line slowed.
DH abandoned the 3 using the only one finished to develop a further advanced 3 which was the 4..the Pan Am order in the mean time went to Douglas and Boeing which had come along in the meantime
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jul 13, 2011 20:52:59 GMT
I think DAN AIR eventually operated not only most of the redundant BOAC COMET 4's .... but also .... just about every other COMET airframe from around which they could lay their hands on too .... in the form of the COMET 4B and 4C also. those didn't fly they certainly used for spares in order to keep the remainder of their COMET fleet in service .... and which they did until November 9th 1980 when DAN AIR'svery last COMET service was operated by G-BDIW (a COMET 4 ex RAF C4). The COMET remained in service with the RAF for much longer .... both in the form of COMET 4 "Canopus" (XS-235, which was retired during March 1997) .... and in NIMROD form too .... the latter of which, as an AEW contender, got even uglier than the COMET, and remains in RAF service today .... or at least I think it is ! Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jul 13, 2011 22:21:04 GMT
Just on the subject of MEXICANA and the COMET .... Here's something I threw together/wrote about that airline and these aircraft in regard to a project which was undertaken early last year by one of our members .... CLASSIC MEXICAN GOLD - THE BRITISH PHASE !tonymadgehjg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=3577I don't think this particular project (which was a private one anyway) has been released .... to date Garry RUSSELL also painted another variation (slightly different from those represented in the above presentation) of MECICANA livery too .... for the COMET 4C I think it was. You might want to post a picture or 2 of it here Garry. Now that MEXICANA is "NO MORE" .... I feel this stuff now all assumes a new, if not greater, significance. Enjoy ! Mark
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Post by almguy1 on Jul 14, 2011 0:32:58 GMT
Mexicana had a route MEX-MID-KIN-MID-MEX from pre 1965 to at least the 90's Flights were twice weekly they were flying the Comet 4Cs in the Golden Aztec /Azteca de Oro livery with the aztec Calendar logo. They quit flying The comet there around 1967 + or - and then flew the route with B727-100s then B727-200's with the new Mexicana logo stylised M. The made in mexico Coca Cola served on MX Comets was the best tasting ever. And the best cacahuates. www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/de-havilland-dh-106-comet-mk-4c
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Post by garryrussell on Jul 14, 2011 7:20:58 GMT
The Mexicana Comets went to the US where one still exists in BOAC livery. The RAF retired their Comets in the mid 1970's and with Dan Air as usual mopping up, the military Comets 4 series flying after that were RAE test aircraft which was a Government agency seperate from the RAF and none of their aircraft were ever RAF machines. Canopus was new and was an unsold 4C the other two were ex airline 4's originally G-APDF & 'S The last Dan Air Comet in service was an ex RAF The Nimrod of course was operated until last month but that is not a Comet , just like an Orion is not an Electra. ;D Garry
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Post by almguy1 on Jul 14, 2011 19:36:30 GMT
The Mexicana Comets went to the US where one still exists in BOAC livery. The RAF retired their Comets in the mid 1970's and with Dan Air as usual mopping up, the military Comets 4 series flying after that were RAE test aircraft which was a Government agency seperate from the RAF and none of their aircraft were ever RAF machines. Canopus was new and was an unsold 4C the other two were ex airline 4's originally G-APDF & 'S The last Dan Air Comet in service was an ex RAF The Nimrod of course was operated until last month but that is not a Comet , just like an Orion is not an Electra. ;D Garry I have this latest Mexicana paint in my Comet library but only the Golden Aztec version works, When I go to choose Aircraft it shows a blank Comet double chkd to make sure I didnt mess up on the paint text like missing brackets and the Txture folder is in place. All the other various airlines work ok just the latest M paint does not. Guess I will tackle it again in couple days. Dave
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Post by garryrussell on Jul 14, 2011 20:45:03 GMT
That paint is years old and I've not heard of any problems with it Did David Maltby rename the texture files in the later versions (VC) of the model?? Check they are the same Garry
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jul 14, 2011 22:18:43 GMT
That must be the one displayed at the Boeing Museum Of Flight .... or at least I think it's that particular museum unles I'm confusing it with another. INTERESTING .... because I thought all of the NIMROD airframes were conversions of previous COMET airframes ! That must have been G-BDIW BEEN THERE .... SEEN THAT .... and RESOLVED IT TOO ! If your issue is the same as that which I experienced then it is happening because the older COMET 4 SEROES textures aren't compatible with the latest, currently available, DMFS supplied model versions ....as Garry suggests. Unfortunately this texture/model incompatibility applies to all of the beautiful COMET textues which Garry laboured to produce for the previous DMFS COMET models .... BUT .... it is actually quite easy to resolve this and I have, it seems, converted each of Garry's textures, on a case-by-case basis, and now have them all working fine on the new DMFS COMET 4 SERIES models. AI found that all I had to do is remame each of the old texture BMP file names according to the new texture BMP file name conventions .... and they then all worked fine. I think I also had to import some new and common BMP files to these older textures as well. This is precisely what I did in respect of each of the MEXICANA COMET 4/4C trextures produced y Eduardo ROCHA as presented within my "CLASSIC MEXICAN GOLD - THE BRITISH PHASE" article above). All of these textures were made for the previouis DMFS cOMET 4 models too. I have looked over each of my conversions pretty thouroughly and cannot seem to detect any negative display issues in respect of my having done what I have achieved.. My solution .... as suggested above .... "DOES" require a bit of messing about, but, it can be done successfully .... it seems ! Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by garryrussell on Jul 14, 2011 23:16:12 GMT
Thanks Mark
I remember that when DM made the Comet 3 he mentioned he was going to use common texture file names so that's what I guessed the problem was.
I didn't know for sure as I've not had the Comet loaded since the pre VC days
Yes the Comet you mention is one of the ex Mexicana...N777WA, N888WA, N999WA I think they were
At the end of the production here were two unsold Comet 4C's other. One at least had flown and they were complete
Both were shortened back to C4 length and modified into Nimrods but they were only prototypes and retained all the windows and hybrid windscreens
One retained the Avons and the other was modified to Spey power.
Neither served with the RAF and neither were ever ful Nimrods,
All true Nimrods were new build from scratch except the MR4 which used the upper parts of existing Nimrod MR2 with the remainder being scrapped.
The AEW3 were also conversions although one was on the line and almost finished when it was converted to AEW3 from MR2 so never flew as an MR2. The AEW 3 however were really standard Nimrod airframes with modified ends and an extensive cabin refit whereas the MR4 could really be classed as a completely new design, even new wings were made for them.
There was one other Comet converted into a Nimrod..of sorts
Comet 1 G-ALYW was converted into a mock Nimrod fuse and was hauled around the country by the RAF Exhibition Flight.
The RAE Comets were used to test some Nimrod aerodynamics like the fin and the AEW radar that looked most odd on the standard Comet fuse.
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