Mosquito FB.26 KA114
 

It has just been announced that the above aircraft is planned to make its first post-restoration flight on 29 Sep 2012 at Ardmore Airport,near Auckland, New Zealand. This is a major achievement after eight years of painstaking rebuild...

Very good news! :)

Is there ever going to be another Mosquito flying in this country [UK]? :rolleyes:

That's brilliant to hear - a huge round of applause to all who are working so diligently, and investing time and cash into the project!

Dear Mr Yagen,

Once your beautiful aeroplane has completed its flight test programme, do please have it delivered via the UK so we may all enjoy the delights of seeing a Mossie in the sky again!

Yours sincerely, etc...

Having just looked at Mr Yagen's video it surely must be that this Mosquito will be the best

engineered one ever. Who's the lucky pilot/s?

Well done you Kiwis! Show them how to do the job properly. I've used the runways and hangars at historic Ardmore many times, years ago, and would love to see this test flight. Does this model have the same intrinsic carburettor fuel-flow problems as the one that crashed at Barton?

Jerry Yagan has indicated that the intention was to bring KA114 to the UK for a brief period to display en-route to it's home in the USA......whether this happens given the date now of first flight in NZ remains to be seen.

If it does happen, it's very likely to be the only chance of ever seeing a Mossie in UK skies again.

sooo glad im located at ardmore...and that the boys get the warbirds up on the regular

"Does this model have the same intrinsic carburettor fuel-flow problems as the one that crashed at Barton?"

You mean the "intrinsic" fuel flow problem caused by a rare carburettor fault?

I'm proud to have had access to Bovingdon (as an ATC cadet) during the filming of '633 Squadron', (1963?) where I saw no less than 12 Mossies together, at least 4 of them flying. (Donald Houston, one of the stars of the film, said 'good morning' to me!)
One Mossie remained at Bovingdon until about 1966 or 1967 and before flying it out, a small hole was drilled in the tailplane and a large amount of (rain)water drained out! This was told to me by dear old Warrant Officer John Lacey RIP of 2204 (Chesham) Sqdn ATC , who worked for Shorts at Bovingdon providing ground services.

Confederate Air Force, Harlingen, spring 1977. Roger Tallichet had just bought it and was ferrying it to California in a hurry with virtually no inspection after a couple of years in the open if memory serves. Poor thing was in a helluva state and his pilot was a bit nervous about it. They overheated one engine during taxy and the PRV blew a big cloud of steam, from a mile away it looked for a moment as though it had caught fire. There was quite a panic for a few minutes, but they screwed it down a bit tighter and set off again. Even at age 18 and knowing not a lot about aircraft it seemed bravery beyond the call of duty. Looking back I think it was downright foolhardy.

It had flown the Atlantic some years earlier prior to arriving at Harlingen. That must have been on heck of a trip.


http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...Fslides-12.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...Fslides-02.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...Fslides-13.jpg

RS709..... still wearing it's Mosquito Squadron movie markings.

She was in such a state that it successfully made the trip back across the Atlantic to the UK in 1979 after aquisistion by Doug Arnold ;)

And...... after overhaul at Blackbushe, was sold again, and made yet another trans-altlantic ferry flight back to the USA in 1984, and it's final permanent grounding for display at the USAF Museum at Dayton, Ohio.

Maybe the only Mosquito to have made 4 such trans-atlantic trips...?

DHfan:
Was that the official conclusion of the AIB Report into this tragedy?
Or did they word it sufficiently vaguely that both interpretations would be valid?

Does this Mosquito have the same type of carburettor as the Barton crash Mossie?

Accident report can be found here.

Air Accidents Investigation: De 501355

Into the sunlight
 

... along with the Spitfire XIV that will stay in NZ ...

Wings Over New Zealand - Mosquito Roll Out Today

Thanks for posting that link, great pictures.
Just wondering what happened to the ex IWM (T.35?) airframe that used to lurk in a dismantled state in TFC hangars at Duxford a few years ago?

The ex-IWM and TFC Mossie moved to Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection I think - still in the UK awaiting/undergoing restoration?

When I bult my Falco, in fact using the same Aerolite glue that Mosquitos used, I drilled small holes at the low point of every single wing, tail and fuselage bay, between every rib and frame, per the plans. De Havilland should have known better and done the same in the first place... Live and learn, I guess.

Suppose, but then your Falco wont get shot down within a few weeks or months so preserving it is worth the effort.

I suspect they did know better.
They knew a lot about building all sorts of wood aircraft.
As said above, I think deH were concentrating on survival of the nation and aircrew, rather than long term survival of the aircraft where the greatest danger was not wood rot.

So how long does it take to drill several dozen holes with a 3/8-inch power drill? Particularly during the course of construction? Frankly, I don't buy the "Oh, don't bother doing that, the thing's going to get shot down within a month or two anyway" argument. Craftsmen don't work that way.