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De Havilland Mosquito the "Wooden Wonder"


Zeno~SPARTA~
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I have always been impressed by the Mossie and its exploits in WWII, but there were a couple of historical elements I did not know. In a way they were not strategically important, but it was a tool used to embarrass the Nazi's and it was successful.

 

After a Berlin Mosquito raid in 1943 that Reichsmarschal Herman Goering previously said could not happen, he stated.

 

"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? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set - then at least I'll own something that has always worked."

 

Amusing how the tables have turned since we now have the same perception of german industry as Goering did of ours.

 

Several other precision raids made the Nazis realise that no place was safe from a mosquito attack.

 

I love that this plane was made of wood, that it was powered by the beloved Merlin engines and that it was the fastest operational aircraft in the world (in its day obviously), and that the designers and the air ministry had the intelligence not to add defensive turrets, relying entirely on speed.

 

Here is a documentary, Battlestations Mosquito attack which looks at the development and actions of this aircraft. The series includes shows on a number of aircraft types and is, to my mind, quite well put together.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLdVIKyx7RE

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OMG they made a variant with a six pounder

 

Nice vid mate thanks for posting it is has allways been my favorite aircraft

 

I've read about a 32-pounder being fitted and fired on a mossie as well (using a very ornate and complicated recoil mechanism) but it's difficult to verify this across a decent range of sources. The 6-pounder was definitely fitted though!

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There is a P38 on a beach (partialy under sand) in England waiting for enough money is raised before they can recover it. The location is secret an overhead pic has been released nice plane.

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