The Mosquito - A Good Story

[adrian roberts]

a very British aeroplane, designed by a small second rate company

I don't think you can say De Havilland was a second rate company.
It is however true that their previous experience was with civilian aircraft, the best known being the Tiger Moth and Dragon Rapide.

Just before the war, they had produced the De Havilland Albatross airliner, probably one of the most beautiful aeroplanes ever. This was built of plywood, and it was the experience of doing this that gave the company the expertise needed for the Mosquito.

Part of this experience entailed the prototype Albatross breaking in half on landing, but this was how you learned in those days. Only seven were built before the war started. It has to be said that it would never have been a commercial success despite its beauty and performance; it would have been too costly to build and run compared with a DC3, and its wooden construction not durable enough. The British Aviation industry never learned that lesson postwar, which is why so few of our airliners made money.

Ironically it was the Mosquito's wooden construction that meant so few of them survive today, despite them having the lowest combat loss rate of any major British combat aircraft (the accident rate was somewhat higher though).

Adrian

[Kitty]

Originally Posted by kfz

http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mus/uk/dehav/mosqmus.htm

seems a lot bigger than when I went they just had a few old wings and the prototype yellow thing.

*...head spins faster...Kitty falls off floor...*

I didn't know there was a museum! My l ife is now offically complete.
As to the wooden construction, i read somewhere that the Mk1 had a nasty habit of falling apart before they solved the problem of the glue. Could be fun whilst at Angels20.
That prototype, my favourite aircraft in my favourite colour. Think they'd give it to me for my birthday? Just a thought.
Kitty

[kfz]

Originally Posted by mosquito617

*...head spins faster...Kitty falls off floor...*

I didn't know there was a museum! My l ife is now offically complete.
As to the wooden construction, i read somewhere that the Mk1 had a nasty habit of falling apart before they solved the problem of the glue. Could be fun whilst at Angels20.
That prototype, my favourite aircraft in my favourite colour. Think they'd give it to me for my birthday? Just a thought.
Kitty

yep, i think it covers a lot of De haviland types now but when I went (I did my degree at Hatfield Polly, which is of course over the road from the factory where they where all made). BTW I live now in Cheshire where many a childhood sunny day was spent watching the last one which was kept at Chester, before it crashed.. Anyhow the musumn which is in grounds of the house where it was designed they had a non flyer, a prototype and lots of rotton old bits of wood. I remember they had a 57mm gun too. I had a personallised tour, the man showed us round! was all very non comerrcial and amatuerish but fantastic!

[Kitty]

So where are you in Cheshire?

[kfz]

Warrington

[Kitty]

You have my deepest sympathy.