Mosquito flies again.

[rob justice]

Good to see one of the very few game changers flying again.
Thing just looks so 'right'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvp2AeM68iM

[J1NX3D]

Amazing plane, amazing restoration. It's been hitting the airshow circuit in NZ pretty hard since completion.

Here, let me embed that for you.

[kiwiokie]

Beautiful. Takes big attachments to sit in the left seat and fly it for the first time. Not as though you can spend time in the simulator to get used to it.

[rob justice]

Just read the plane has been stripped again, and is about to be shipped to the US for a summer tour.
Reckon it's well worth looking out for.

[Baz]

Thanks for the story, Rob. Indeed a beautiful aircraft.

We have an aircraft restoration company, American Aero Services, in our town and they have open houses. Maybe the KA114 will make an appearance this year. I hope so.

Here is a short clip I shot about 4 years ago of one of their aircraft, a B-24 named "Witchcraft".

[pavulon]

Thanks for posting those.

When I was young, I was completely fascinated by WWII aircraft. Growing up in a small town, they were essentially mythical to me. Now, when I attend the EAA shows, I spend almost all my time walking around the warbirds communing with the machines I worshiped. My color vision is not 100% but that is one of the things that always strikes me when I see these machines in person or video...that they and the men who flew them served in full color. The black and white photography of those events had really sterilized my impression of that time.

[Jim Bremner]

How much of the Mosquito is "real" and how much is new plywood?

[recycled sixtie]

About ten years ago I met a Mosquito pathfinder pilot(he would have been 80 yo approx) at our local air museum. He was a small wiry man with intense blue eyes. Very impressive man. If you did not know the Pathfinders in their Mosquitoes would mark the target with color coded flares so the following bombers would have a better chance at finding the target more accurately. Great Mosq. video thanks.

[rob justice]

Interesting reading:-
The Mosquito famously annoyed Luftwaffe Commander in Chief Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring when on 20 January 1943, the 10th anniversary of the Nazis' seizure of power, a Mosquito attack knocked out the main Berlin broadcasting station, putting his speech off air. Göring complained about the high speed of the aircraft and its wooden structure, built by a nation he considered to have large metal reserves, while Germany had shortages of such materials and could not produce such a design.

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.

— Hermann Göring, 1943.

[MRM]

I've been a fan of the Mosquito since reading Fredrick Forsythe's novella The Shepherd when I was about 15. First reading the story I had wondred why he wrote about a Mosquito and its pilot instead of its more famous cousin, the glorious Sptifire. Forsythe must have anticipated that question because the narator explains how the plywood-based Mosquito was an overlooked but essential component to the Battle of Britain, carrying a load that was perhaps greater even than the Spitfire.

I still have a special spot in my heart for the Mosquito and think of The Shepherd whenever I see one, and think of those noble creatures and the men brave enough to fly those plywood structures with such skill whenever I hear the Christmas Eve reading of The Shepherd on the radio.

To all who have an appreciation for this type of thing, I can't recommend listening to The Shepherd highly enough. Here is a link to the classic version. You can hear it on the BBC, CBC or American public radio on Christmas Eve if you know where to look for it.

The Shepherd - Frederick Forsyth - read by Alan Maitland from CBC Radio - YouTube

I'm going to listen to it myself right now as I puruse the internet for stories about this plane and its restoration.

[Jim Bremner]

Jailbreakers - YouTube

[J1NX3D]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

How much of the Mosquito is "real" and how much is new plywood?

I watched this when it aired last year. I'd say a fair bit of it is new.

[J1NX3D]

a few other vids

[J1NX3D]

And then theres this 1969 movie

[atcjorg]

I was fortunate enough when I was pretty young to see one parked at Whiteman air park (WHP) while messing around flying my cox .049 stuka with my brothers in a quiet corner of the airport.

[kiwiokie]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

How much of the Mosquito is "real" and how much is new plywood?

From what I have read and seen of the restoration I would guess 75-80% of the structure had to be fabricated. I remember seeing pieces of the airframe 20 years ago and there was not much to work with but then it is not uncommon in the world of WW2 aircraft restoration to start with a manufacturers build plate and then make the aircraft around it.

[Mrmerlin]

dont forget the movie 633 Squadron with Cliff Robertson

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by MRM

To all who have an appreciation for this type of thing, I can't recommend listening to The Shepherd highly enough. Here is a link to the classic version. You can hear it on the BBC, CBC or American public radio on Christmas Eve if you know where to look for it.

The Shepherd - Frederick Forsyth - read by Alan Maitland from CBC Radio - YouTube

I'm going to listen to it myself right now as I puruse the internet for stories about this plane and its restoration.

Could not have enjoyed that more.

Thanks.

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Very cool indeed. Thanks to Rob & the rest of you guys - much appreciated

Cheers
JB

[exc911ence]

There's one being put back together in BC as well:

Victoria Air Maintenance Ltd - Aircraft Maintenance at Victoria International Airport » deHavilland Mosquito Restoration