Westernair Comets

Westernair, Albuquerque

N888WA in a poor state

N777WA

N888WA

N999WA

Air Frame 106443

Comet Mk.4C

Registered 07/10/1960 XA-NAT to Mexicana – Delivered to Mexicana ‘Golden Knight’ November 1960

Stored Mexico City from December 1970

Registered N777WA May 1973

Transferred to Distribute Air Inc. 1977 then bought by Redmond Air in November 1979.

Derelict Mexico City

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Certificate of Aircraft Registration

Cabin

Cockpit

Galley

Air Frame 106424

Comet Mk.4C

First Registered G-AOVU October 1959

Registered 31/12/1959 XA-NAR to Mexicana – Delivered to Mexicana ‘Golden Aztac’ June 1960

Withdrawn from use 1970 Stored Mexico City

Registered N888WA July 1973 Westernair, Albuquerque. Various owners until July 1979

Transferred to Paine Field, Everett, Washington

Ownership transferred Everett Community College’s Aviation Maintenance Technician School in 1984.
Boeing funded BOAC livery. Restoration Project underway

Restored by Technical School and BOAC livery funded by Boeing – see an inside and out video here

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Air Frame 106425

Comet Mk.4C

First Reg. G-APME de Havilland. Re-reg. G-AOVV 12/11/1959

Registered 03/12/1959 XA-NAS to Mexicana – Delivered to Mexicana 14 Jan 1960

Withdrawn from use December 1970 Stored Mexico City

Registered N999WA Westernair in June 1974. Redmond Air of Redmond bought the Comet in 1976. It was ‘sold’ to Dick Drost and was delivered to O’Hare in December that year. The sale collapsed and by 1979 it was declared no longer airworthy.

Plans to restore were considered and for various reasons fell through.

Robt. Hood writes:

‘XA-NAS stood derelict at O’Hare from about 1978 through its breakup in 1993.
An attempt was made by members of the local Rotary Club to disassemble the
aircraft for shipment to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Unfortunately, transportation for the disassembled Comet could not be
arranged (for lack of about $45,000) and the ship was broken up for scrap.

A trailer load of parts that had been sent to O’Hare to support that Comet
was later sent to Seattle, where we are using some of them for the Seattle
Museum of Flight’s restoration of C/N6424, XA-NAT’

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