73rd anniversary of the first flight of....

[54Phan]

..the De Havilland Mosquito....and the Martin Marauder. I shall toast the Mossie tonight.

[Herod]

Why not toast both? To quote Wiki (I know, it may be wrong) "The Marauder ended World War II with the lowest loss rate of any USAAF bomber."

Of course, that could be overall, rather than sorties or hours flown. However, still worth a wee dram. As for the Mossie, couldn't agree more. Cheers!! :)

[54Phan]

True, Herod, but the Mossie has always been my favoUrite piston engined aircraft. I do have the gubbins to build a short wing B-26 in my stockpile of unfinished plastics, however. "Dominion's Revenge" anyone?

[joy ride]

Apologies if you have already read my posts about this, but my grandad Laurent Giles was a noted yacht designer and pioneer of marine plywood forming techniques. During WW2 he was attached to de Havilland to help with the structural design of the Mossie, Hornet and the fuselage of the Vampire. I therefore have a definite personal interest in anything Mossie related, and it is of course one of the best planes ever!

Sadly he was not officially a de Havilland employee and records of his contribution are nearly nil, but he and his family did move to Canada and Washington D.C. for some of his de H and other work. He also designed high speed patrol and rescue launches. Always grateful for any info!

When young I made a Revell model kit of a Marauder, a rather less spectacular plane than the Mossie, and nick-named the Widowmaker if I recall!

[treadigraph]

The Marauder was also known as the Martin Murderer and the Baltimore Whore (cos it had no means of visible support!)

Love to have seen a B-26 in the air, perhaps one day. And hopefully one day too for another opportunity to hear a pair of Merlins attached to one airframe filling the air!

[Groundloop]

And hopefully one day too for another opportunity to hear a pair of Merlins attached to one airframe filling the air!

The BBMF Lancaster will give you that opportunity - albeit with a second pair as well.:ok:

[54Phan]

Well put, Groundloop! IIRC treadigraph, another "term of endearment" for the B-26 was "One A Day In Tampa Bay." No apology needed, joy ride, btw. The Mossie has a very interesting history.

[treadigraph]

Ah yes, but the Lanc sounds a bit different and doesn't put on quite such a turn of speed...! Amazing how distinctive it is even from a few miles away. :ok:

If a man is tired of Merlins, he is tired of life...

[Stitchbitch]

treadigraph agreed, but you would be suprised at the speed the old dear can acheive. With no bomb load/ammo and 4 hours fuel she fairly flies :ok:

[Phileas Fogg]

de Havilland Mosquito at Hamilton Air Show 2013 - YouTube

[54Phan]

I was at that airshow, phileas, with my nephew who passed away unexpectedly two months later. Thanks for the video.

[treadigraph]

I believe a Canadian Mossie is moving ever closer to flight, so with Glyn Powell's other restoration in NZ, potentially there will be three... :ok:

[54Phan]

Yes, great news!

[Flying Lawyer]

so with Glyn Powell's other restoration in NZ


I had the privilege of meeting Glyn Powell last October. He's a truly remarkable man.
A PPL with an interest in vintage aircraft, he joined a group of enthusiasts who wanted to build or restore a warbird and decided upon a Mosquito - an ambitious choice, to say the least.

By the time he'd travelled the world collecting many thousands of drawings and photographs the others had lost interest so he decided to build it himself - in the workshop behind his house!


Fuselage moulds


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/db61a377-a462-4af6-9033-d9e1787e488b_zpsd04ea961.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/0eccc1a6-eba2-42ad-9253-642ac16b1075_zpseaff699e.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/de95eb2b-a6d2-453c-9e37-14111284499c_zps2c248ac3.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/bf87dc18-3987-4bd9-8050-8301fd4ca6c4_zpscb2dbae5.jpg
Glyn and his grandson Matt

I was very pleased to read in the 2014 New Year Honours List that he received a Queen's Service Medal for services to aeronautical heritage preservation.
Richly deserved :ok:


Glyn’s first aircraft is now flying in America. A group was formed to raise funds to secure his current project for the UK. I don't know how far they've got but I wish them success. I had the privilege of flying in the BAe-owned Mosquito T.III which was destroyed in a fatal accident in 1996. It would be a joy to see a Mosquito grace British skies again.




FL

[54Phan]

Thanks for the pictures, sir.

[bobward]

THREE flying Mosquitoes?? What a prospect - maybe we could re-make 633 Squadron:ok:

[India Four Two]

FL,

Nice pictures. An amazing project. I was in NZ in November 2012 and saw KA114 at Ardmore. I was with a pilot who was well known at Avspecs and so I was able to climb in and sit in the cockpit. No fuss, no special briefings, just "Go ahead". I didn't get to see her fly, but sitting there in the cockpit was a magical moment.

I think some of these videos have been posted before (possibly by me) but I make no apologies for posting them again.

Mosquito Rescue
Warren Denholm of Avspecs talks about the building the Mosquito

... The fuselage is split down the middle and built in two halves...
and voila, you've got half a Mosquito fuselage. And if it took anything like as long as I took to tell it, it wouldn't be a big deal! But unfortunately, it takes a long time, especially if you haven't got one to copy!_flPb-YSDT0


Flying the Mozzie
Keith Skilling, one of the test pilots, talks about flying the Mosquito

It's a huge honour to be here and be asked to talk to the Aviation Historic Society on flying the Mosquito. It's fantastic! Any questions?It's quite bad in a lot of ways. If one of these big fans stops here, as my compatriot, Dave Phillips says "It starts to grow horns!"At 190 mile an hour, Warren and I stop sweating, because that's safety speed.lCUk2L7RTnE


Flying DH Mosquito KA114
In-cockpit video of Dave Phillips flying in formation with a Spitfire and Vampire around Auckland Harbour

rGfQQWOsoB8

[54Phan]

A second one flew yesterday, in Canada!

[DeepestSouth]

Good report 54Phan. Some good photos on the Victoria Air Maintenance Facebook page. For me, as a bomber version even more beautiful than KA114.

Roll on getting the third one airborne!

[India Four Two]

Non-FB access to photos here deHavilland Mosquito Restoration Project - Victoria Air Maintenance Ltd (http://www.vicair.net/mosquito.html)