Simulated Comet 4C in Dan-Air Colours

Guy Montagu-Pollock, son of DHAeTSA member Giles (DHA Hatfield 1946-49) spent twenty years in the motor industry, at BMW and McLaren. He was responsible for technical documentation, and designed a web-based, language-independent information system for the McLaren F1 and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, using photographs and computer-aided design. He is now a freelance architectural photographer with Arcaid, the world's most comprehensive collection of images of architecture, interiors and design. A few years ago he decided to create accurate flight simulator models for desktop computers of de Havilland aircraft for, starting with the Comet 4C. This article describes his progress to date and links to his YouTube clips.

Back in May 2010, Guy told us:

‘Desktop simulators are very different from the training simulators used in industry. If you are familiar with Microsoft Flight Simulator, you’ll know the kind of thing. X-Plane is a rival, and I consider it to be fundamentally superior. Flight Simulator works like most games, using a table of values to simulate an aircraft’s performance. X-Plane simulates aerodynamic forces. In other words, I could make a house fly in Flight Simulator by entering the right values, but I’d have to get the geometry right in X-Plane, engine thrust, centre of gravity, and so on. It’s simplistic compared with virtual wind tunnel software costing thousands, but several aircraft manufacturers admit to using it in some capacity as a way to try out ideas. I decided to make a Comet for X-Plane. I’ve started at the wrong end, with a Comet 4C, but only because I found enough books and manuals for the 4C first. I’ve since found enough technical info. on the Comet 1, 2, and BOAC Comet 4 as well, so I can add those later. The first job was the external geometry and flight model, which is pretty good. Inevitably, X-Plane is simplistic in its simulation of certain conditions, especially with pure turbojets, but I’ve got stall speeds, take-off distances and climb rates within 5%. Descent takes 10% too long, because I had to reduce drag to achieve the right fuel consumption at 0.73M. All this was fun to research, and satisfying to get right. To support it, I created a web-site which I intended to be about de Havilland, the Comet, and my model. Attached is a screen shot of the Comet 4C in Dan Air colours over Gatwick Airport. I have also made Mexicana and RAF 216 Squadron liveries, and intend to supply it with United Arab Airways, Middle Eastern Airlines, and so on.’

 More recently he wrote:

‘At last I have got my Comet simulator project to the stage where I could make some films. There’s still quite a lot to do, but I made some recordings and posted them on YouTube. I decided the best demonstration would be to follow the real check list. With some shock, I found it took no fewer than 399 individual checks and actions to get a Comet from stone cold to 1000 ft above a runway. It took me more than two hours to get through them. A great opportunity to discover bugs and fix them, but a film that long would test the patience of even the staunchest plane spotter! So the films are savagely chopped about and aggressively edited. I hope not so much that they make a real pilot wince. There are two sequences of roughly ten minutes. The first is a Dan Air departure from Gatwick, divided into four parts because the check lists were arranged that way. The second is a Mexicana arrival at Mexico City, in one ten-minute piece. I hope I've done justice to the golden orb!’ (Guy says that Bob Hood has the Mexicana clip playing on a continuous loop in the Comet 4C restoration hangar at Seattle - see our article 'Restoration of Comet 4C at Museum of Flight'.)

 Guy’s YouTube links are at

1: Initial checks                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrRwLJKCJ7w

2: Start engines                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN6UMviMvNY

3: Taxi checks                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDT6e5BQ9rY

4: Take off                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6DntAh_unw

5: Approach and landing         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH0sLvb42uo

 At first it might seem that there is no sound, but there is - just wait until engine start, then turn it down a bit before take-off!

 X-Plane is produced by Laminar Research, a small software company based at Columbia, South Carolina, dedicated to providing software that accurately reflects the laws of physics. It is packaged with other software to build and customize aircraft and scenery, offering a complete flight simulation environment. It also has a plugin architecture that allows users to create their own modules, extending the functionality of the software by letting users create their own worlds or replicas of places on earth to create ultimate realism. Designers of simulator models can sell them through the X-Plane website for around $30 or less.