In 1934, one of the most famous commercial aircraft races for the Macrobertson prize was held to mark the centenary of the city of Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria in Australia. Under the terms of the competition, participants had to cover a distance of 18,200 kilometers between airfields in Suffolk in England and Flemington in Melbourne.

To participate in this race, aircraft designer Geoffrey De Havilland designed a specialized aircraft. De Havilland guaranteed that the aircraft would meet all competition conditions and overcome the track at an average speed of at least 322 km / h.as a result of such advertising, three orders were received. The aircraft was called the DH-88 Comet. The first DH-88 was tested in early October 1934, and on October 20, all three ordered cars started the race: G-ACSP (registration designation). Ordered by the couple Amy and Jim Mollison and called "black magic" (English. Black Magic). The plane made a non-stop flight to Baghdad, but ended the race early in Allahabad (India) - both engines failed due to low-quality fuel.

G-ACSR. Commissioned by racing driver Bernard Rubin, it was piloted by professional pilots K. F. Waller and O. Cathcart Jones. he finished in fourth place, covering the distance in 108 hours and 13 minutes.

G-ACSS. Ordered by the owner of the Grosvenor House Hotel in London-a. Edward. Piloted by pilots Charles Scott (eng. C. W. A. Scott) and Tom Campbell-black (eng. Tom Campbell Black) and came to the finish line first, finishing the race on one engine (the second worked intermittently) for 70 hours, 54 minutes and 18 seconds.