The Mosquito was a twin-engine aircraft, powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Merlins with the pilot and navigator sitting side by side. Unorthodox in design, it used a plywood structure of spruce and balsa in a time when wooden construction was considered outmoded. In the conceptual design stage, de Havilland designers found that adding any defensive armament would significantly reduce the aircraft's maximum speed. Realising that the loss in performance was not worth the benefit, the initial bomber version was designed without any guns. The Mosquito was a very versatile aircraft; originally conceived as a fast day bomber, the various roles of the Mosquito included: tactical bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike and photo reconnaissance aircraft. The Mosquito inspired admiration from all quarters, including the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring. Göring was due to address a parade in Berlin in the morning of 30 January 1943, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Nazis' being voted into power. The low level attack of three 105 Squadron Mosquito B Mk. IV on the main Berlin broadcasting station put Reichsmarschall Göring off the air for more than an hour, as he was about to launch into a scheduled speech. The Reichsmarschall was not amused: “ In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that?” — Hermann Göring, January 1943, The Mosquito inspired a German imitation, the Focke Wulf Ta 154 Moskito, which, like its namesake, was constructed of wood. It was also used as the basis for a single seater heavy fighter the de Havilland Hornet Mosquito View attachment 47 View attachment 48
Two excellent resources on the Mossie: http://www.mossie.org/history/Mosquito_history.htm and the Mosquito production list: http://www.dehavilland.ukf.net/_DH98 prodn list.txt
Fancy flying a Mossie - well you'd better read the manual first PILOT'S FLIGHT OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR de Havilland MOSQUITO
I have a few sets of pilots notes for various marks of mossie! It is interesting to note that even the Americans flew the mossie during the war!
Unlike the USAAF use of the Spifire and the Beaufighter, I haven't seen too many references to their use of the Mossie. Do you have any?
I have somewhere a photo of mossies in American markings. I believe they were used for reccie puposes out of bases in England.
Check this site out. The mossies look great. http://www.cbrnp.com/profiles/quarter2/mosquitos.htm View attachment 77
Hap Arnold now became very determined to get his hands on the Mossie, beginning with a offer to swap P-51 Mustangs for Mosquitos. The British turned him down. The Mosquito was increasingly seen as difficult to replace. Had Canada been producing Mosquitos in volume at the time, the Americans might have been able to get their hands on part of the production, but the Canadians were slow to ramp up, with only 90 Mosquitos built there in 1943. At least Arnold's persistent lobbying to get Mosquitos helped convince Bomber Command that they had something of value. The Americans did manage to get their hands on a relatively small batch of Canadian aircraft. The US signed an agreement with the British government in October 1943 for 120 Canadian-built Mosquito bombers, but limited production meant that the US only got 5 B.VIIs and 35 B.XXs. They were converted to a reconnaissance configuration with US-built cameras, redesignated "F.8", and sent to the UK for service with the USAAF Eighth Air Force. The F.8's camera suite was minimal and the single-stage Merlins really didn't provide the performance the USAAF wanted, and so the F.8s were eventually replaced by PR.XVIs. The Americans obtained over a hundred PR.XVIs, along with a handful of T.IIIs for conversion or continuance training. American pilots converting from their Lockheed F-4 and F-5 Lightnings, which had "handed" propellers, had to be trained to deal with the Mosquito's tendency to roll against the rotation of its propellers on takeoff. There was a worse problem in that over-anxious fighter pilots tended to mistake Mosquitos for Messerschmitt Me-410s, which in fact did have a similar configuration, and so the USAAF gave their PR.XVIs red-painted tails as a recognition aid. The majority of the Yank PR.XVIs were used in their intended photoreconnaissance role, but a good number of them were used for weather reconnaissance, and they were also modified for special tasks. Some were fitted with US-built "H2X" targeting radar, the American three-centimeter counterpart to the British ten-centimeter H2S, mounted in the nose radome. Since American crews referred to H2X as "Mickey" for some forgotten reason, these were known as "Mickey Ships". Some USAAF Mosquitos were fitted out for dispensing chaff, and seven were fitted with communications gear to support Allied agents and resistance forces in Occupied Europe. USAAF Mosquitos were also fitted to use the LORAN navigation system, the American answer to Gee, and since LORAN was something of an Allied standard later in the war it is plausible that some RAF Mosquitos had LORAN receivers as well. Some sources also mention that the USAAF operated a squadron of NF.30s in Italy late in the war, but details are unclear. The USAAF returned all their Mosquitos at the end of the war, as part of the reverse Lend-Lease agreement http://www.vectorsite.net/avmoss_2.html
USAFM Mosquito: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3365 NZ Mossie restoration for American collector (using moulds built by Glyn Powell who has his own Mossie project) http://www.warbirdrestoration.co.nz/mossie_june07.html RAAFM Mossie: http://www.defence.gov.au/RAAF/raafmuseum/exhibitions/restoration/a52_600.htm
This RAAF photographic reconnaissance unit flew Mosquito's in ww2. http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/raaf/87sqn.htm
Just picked this up nice and cheap on Ebay. Have got Battle-Axe Blenheims which covers Hughie Edwards' time with 105 but hadn't realised the same author had done a "sequel" and that it featured Mossies (until someone, who shall remain nameless, posted the www.mossie.org link and I "found" this book!). http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mosquito-Thunder-No-105-Squadron-1942-45/dp/0750918004 One more book, Alamein to the Alps, to get and I'm done for a while. Don't laugh, I'm serious...I've got enough reading for the next couple of years.
This short beauty beats any and every picture available - it's fantastic: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ-a8U1QWUw ..
