Previously unpublished accounts from the designers, builders and aircrew of the de Havilland MosquitoMany contemporary and previously unpublished photographsComprehensive details on the conversation of surviving aircraft De Havilland Mosquito: The Original Multirole Combat Aircraft covers the creation, design and development of this beloved aircraft. Built in Britain, Canada and Australia, the Mosquito saw extensive service in Britain, Europe and Asia throughout the Second World War. It was initially designed as a twin-Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered unarmed bomber (with a two-man crew), but the aircraft’s versatility allowed it to carry out many more functions. The additional roles of the Mosquito included path finding and photo reconnaissance; acting as a night fighter, an intruder, or a fighter bomber; electronic counter measures and naval operations; and high-speed courier missions. This book is essential for those seeking to study this iconic British aircraft, featuring the experiences of Mosquito designers, construction workers and aircrew. It also contains many original, contemporary and previously unpublished photographs, which cover the aircraft’s service with RAF squadrons and overseas air forces in its many varied roles. For reference, there are detailed appendices describing production, the specifications of each variant, the RAF and RN units equipped with the type, and details of Mosquitos that survive today.

Nicknamed the ‘wooden wonder’ , the de Havilland Mosquito was one of the most versatile and successful combat aircraft of the Second World War. Offering insights into the design, construction and operational career of the iconic Mossie, this manual gets under the aircraft’s birch and balsa skin to examine its anatomy and describe the painstaking restoration to flight by Avspecs (New Zealand) of Jerry Yagen’s FB26 KA114 and of Victoria Air Maintenance’s B35 VR796 in British Columbia, Canada.

The inside pilot's story of one of the most remarkable aircraft of the Second World War

A World War II forerunner of the modern, multi-role combat aircraft, the De Havilland Mosquito was conceived as a fast, light warplane that could out run and out climb enemy aircraft, and therefore could dispense with heavy armament. Known as the Wooden Wonder, the Mosquito was constructed almost entirely of wood and, when it entered production in 1941, was one of the fastest aircraft in the world. The Mosquito made its debut in its first widespread role as a fast, high-altitude photo reconnaissance (PR) aircraft, a job it continued to perform until the end of WWII. American General Hap Arnold requested and received a number of Mosquitos for use by the U.S. Army Air Forces. Meanwhile, the versatility of the Mosquito led the Light Night Strike Force (LNSF) to begin employing the wooden craft alongside heavy bombers for raids over the Reich. Mosquitos dropped 4,000-pound Cookie bombs in lightning raids inside the German homeland, in a de-facto pay back for the German Blitz, and Mosquito Fighter Bombers (FB) carried out strikes on German security points and U-Boats. In addition to operations over Nazi-occupied Europe. Meanwhile, British RAF and Australian RAAF crews took the multi-role Mosquito into combat against the Japanese in the South East Asian theatre. Get an up-close but comprehensive look at the De Havilland Mosquito with this new title, illustrated with more than 180 photographs, two dozen of them in color, plus a table, color profiles, and detailed line drawings

Filled with the Mosquitos operational record and supplemented with tables, drawings, maps and charts. Describes every operational sortie, verifying battle claims wherever possible against Luftwaffe records. Sharp and Bowyer combine their talents to produce this exceptional record of de Havillands legendary Wooden Wonder. Foreword by Sir Geoffrey de Havilland. Fully revised and up-dated.

On 20 April 1941, a group of distinguished Americans headed by the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, John Winant, and which included Major General Henry 'Hap' Arnold, Chief of the US Army Air Corps, visited the de Havilland Aircraft Company's airfield at Hatfield, England. The party was there ostensibly to gain an insight into how various US aircraft supplied to Britain were performing, as well as to observe some of the latest British products being put through their paces. The eighteen types on display included both US and British bombers and fighters. But the star of the day was undoubtedly the de Havilland Mosquito. Having first flown only a few months earlier, on 25 November 1940, the aircraft that was put through its paces was flown by none other than Geoffrey de Havilland. Striving to impress the trans-Atlantic visitors, de Havilland provided an outstanding display of speed and manoeuvrability. It was a routine that impressed the Americans and left them in no doubt as to the Mosquito's abilities. Though the visitors harboured doubts about an aircraft made of wood, they returned to the United States with full details of the design. The Mosquito had also caught the eye of Elliott Roosevelt, son of the US President and a serving officer in the USAAC. An early specialist in military aerial mapping and reconnaissance, 'ER' swiftly realized the value of the Mosquito in the reconnaissance role and began lobbying vigorously for its acquisition. The Air Ministry duly noted 'ER's' interest and influence. Following America's entry into the war, formal requests for Mosquitoes began in earnest in 1942. Initial deliveries for evaluation purposes in the United States soon followed in June 1943, the aircraft initially being supplied by de Havilland Canada. From February 1944 a steady flow of the photographic reconnaissance version, from Hatfield, were provided to what would become the USAAF's 25th Bomb Group at Watton, England. There they served with distinction in a variety of specialist roles, including day and night photography, weather reconnaissance, 'chaff' (Window) dropping, scouting for the bomber force, raid assessment, and filming of special weapons projects. A number of these Mosquitoes, serving with the 492nd Bomb Group at Harrington, were involved in the so-called 'Joan-Eleanor' project, working with OSS secret agents on the Continent. Finally, in 1945, the USAAF received much-anticipated night fighter Mosquitoes which enjoyed combat success with the 416th Night Fighter Squadron in Italy. In this highly illustrated work, the author explores the full story of why the Americans wanted Mosquitoes, how they went about obtaining them, and their noted success and popularity with USAAF units.

“This is the book that puts the flesh on the bones of its reputation as one of the best aircraft of the Second World War.” —Pennant Magazine The flak started about four or five minutes before the target and immediately it was apparent that it was intense and extremely accurate. Oboe entailed the pilot flying dead straight and level for ten minutes on the attack run. Suddenly a tremendous flash lit up the sky about 50 yards ahead of our nose and exactly at our altitude. Within a tenth of a second we were through the cloud of dirty yellowish-brown smoke and into the blackness beyond. I shall never forget the spontaneous reaction of both my pilot and myself. We turned our heads slowly and looked long and deep into one another’s eyes—no word was spoken—no words were needed. The Mosquito was probably World War II’s most versatile combat aircraft. This book contains hundreds of firsthand accounts from many of the two-man crews who flew in them; pilots and navigators. It portrays the dramatic experiences of flying in its many roles as pathfinder, night fighter, reconnaissance aircraft, precision bombing and low-level ground attack aircraft. It describes many of the RAF’s most audacious raids on prime but difficult targets where carpet bombing by heavy bombers was likely to be ineffective and cause unnecessary casualties to civilians. It is a remarkable record of the aircraft and the men that flew them.

A history of the high-speed wooden aircraft—from bomber to fighter, to photographic and weather reconnaissance—from the author of B-17 Memphis Belle. During the history of aviation there have been very few aircraft that have achieved immediate success when entering front-line service. The de Havilland Mosquito was one such aircraft. It was not designed to an RAF requirement, but was the result of an initiative of the designers and builders to utilize the skills of woodworkers and the relative abundance of wood in the crisis years of World War II. The result was an airplane that could be built quickly, was extremely fast and extremely versatile. The pilots loved it. This book describes how it was built and utilizes many hitherto unpublished photographs from the design studio and production lines. It illustrates and explains the many different roles that the aircraft took as the war progressed. Fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, night fighter there were few tasks that this brilliant design could not adopt. “To most Britain at War readers, the de Havilland Mosquito needs little introduction. Dramatic as such low-level attacks were, there is, as Graham Simons reveals in this latest insight into a remarkable aircraft, far more to the wartime service of the ‘mossy.’”—Britain at War

The 'Wooden Wonder' was probably the most versatile combat aircraft that operated on all fronts in World War Two and was still giving valuable service in first-line service after 1945 when it enjoyed a limited renaissance both at home, in Germany and abroad until the advent of jet aircraft. The author's well-tried formula of using background information interspersed with scores of RAF and Dominion and overseas pilots and navigators' personal narrative is evident once again, as a previously unpublished selection of crew tales takes you raid by raid on night-fighter, fighter-bomber, anti-shipping, path finder, photo-reconnaissance and precision bombing and low-level ground attack operations while carrying full bomb loads or rockets or cannon and machine guns, or no armament at all on photo-reconnaissance missions, in the Middle East and jungles of the Far East where post-war, the Mosquito served as an interim night-fighter and bomber and saw action in a 'messy little war' against Indonesian extremists in the jungles of the Dutch East Indies until 1946. Mosquitoes were operated as a maid of all work on 'Pampa' Met flight duty, reconnaissance and mapping and survey work as well as a high-speed courier service and Sea Mosquitoes were operated by the Royal Navy. Civil Mosquitoes also operated throughout the world and RAF record-breaking attempts saw many more Mosquito achievements in the late 1940s. In the early fifties many Mosquitoes were refurbished for use by foreign air forces. The last RAF Mosquitoes to see RAF service anywhere were the PR. 34As of 81 Squadron at Seletar and the very last Mosquito sortie was a 'Firedog' reconnaissance sortie against two terrorist camps in Malaya on 15 December 1955; fourteen years and three months since the first ever Mosquito operation on 17 September 1941 when another PR machine had photographed Brest and the Spanish-French border.

"Revolutionary in its wood construction, the de Havilland Mosquito played a vital role in the war combining the manoeuvrability of a fighter with the payload of a medium bomber. It contributed to the war as a fighter, an unarmed bomber, a reconnaissance aircraft and its different versions included the Sea Mosquito, the first British twin-engined aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier. In this volume, Stuart Howe ... traces the fascinating development of the Mosquito from its first flight in November 1940 through to its production and many variants. He also outlines the Mosquito's varied uses in post-war days in roles ranging from oil prospecting and air racing to aerial survey"--Back cover