they always spoke of the a/c in very, very glowing terms
Well said, GQ2, you're absolutely right.
The thing I remember most clearly from my very brief exposure to the Mossie 50 years ago was the utterly exquisite harmonisation of the flight controls. Until experienced it is very difficult to define control harmonisation, yet it is probably the single most important contribution, after meeting the regulatory requirements, that a test pilot can make to the satisfactory developoment of an aircraft's handling characteristics.
Mosquito control force gradients in all three axes could not be more perfect and was the standard against which all aircraft I subsequently flew were judged. Geoffrey deHavilland and John Cunningham certainly got it right that time!