Tsetse Mosquito FB Mk XVI
 

Hi All, not sure if this might be better in 'History & Nostalgia' but I thought I'd start here. I'm writing a magazine feature about the Mosquito FB Mk XVI, AKA the 'Tsetse Mosquito'. I don't suppose anyone on here ever flew one? I feel sure that firing a 57mm automatic cannon from a wooden aircraft would be the sort of event that would stick in the memory!
Cheers, Dave

Dave, was it not the FB XVIII - the XVI was a bomber version, I thought?

Full marks Archimedes! You're bang on, it was the FB XVIII. I blame finger trouble! Just started on it today, and have already discovered that the Molins Company's primary business was actually making machines that produced cigarettes. (As I'm sure you know, they designed and built the auto-feed mechanism for the six-pounder.)

Dave
Molins still do. Suppose the only difference between a fag and one of them cannons is the time it takes to kill you!

I'm sure I remember reading somewhere about these Mossies being flown operationally from RAF Predannack... the article stated that when the cannon was fired, the recall briefly sent the ASI back to zero!

The book "Mosquito" by Sharp and Bowyer contains, on pages 270 and 271, details of the installation of a six pounder gun and it's tests.
I'm sure that I've read, in the autobiography of someone who flew a Tsetse Mossie, that firing the gun set up such a recoil that it was like flying into a brick wall. That, curiously, differs from the tests, mentioned above, that report - " no difficulties with blast or recoil were encountered". If I can find the book I'll post more but don't hold your breath !

I have a book of the Mosquito by M.J. Hardy ( ISBN 0 7153 7367 6 )published in 1977. It mentions the 6 pounder gun
on pages 60, 61 and 62. It was used in anger against some U-Boats. It also mentions a 3.7 inch gun being fitted shortly
after the war. The installation weighed 4,000lb and some successful air firings were made before the aircraft was scrapped.

The six pounder with ammunition and supporting bar weighed 1,800lb with the trunnion reaction as high as 8,000lb

A gentleman called Des Curtis wrote a book called A Most Secret Squadron about his experiences with Highball Mosquitos but IIRC it also included the 6 pounder equipped ones. I had the good fortune to hear him speak and shake his hand at a book signing a few years ago. He appears to have been doing that as recently as January so may be able to help.


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Good old PPRuNe! Thanks guys (and Skua, I might nick that!)

I thought that Molins were tasked to make a gun calibre of .223",and told the workshop man`It`s about as wide as a `PlayersNavy SilkCut`..Montague ,on the Machines(and hard of hearing),measured his `fag` and set it for the length,57mm/4.2""...or so a bloke in a pub told me...!

The De Havilland Museum alt London Colney have a nice example of the gun!

Des Curtis's pilot, Doug Turner was a good friend of mine and not long before he died I did a recorded interview with him about his experiences with both 'Highball' and 6-pounder Mossies. Fascinating stuff!

Hi Steve, would it be possible to hear any of it? Full credit given.

A seconding for Dave's motion. Be absolutely fascinating, as you say Steve Bond, for we mere mortals to listen in.

perhaps a silly question.

I understand how an autoloading mechanism works for such a weapon, but how is the cartridge controlled as it is ejected from the breech, and then stored. I assume a shell of that size was not simply dropped from the aircraft, or was it?

Amazing footage. I'm not convinced about the requirement for armour plating though since this Mossie would be no more vulnerable than any other Mossie I would have thought. I am assuming the RP eventually superceded the Molins in service. Probably easier to implement/incorporate in an existing design......................

Thanks for sharing.

Arc

Dave (#1) and Nervous SLF (#7),

There were Mk.XVI FBs in India from early 1944; they came out to re-equip the four RAF Vultee Vengeance squadrons which had been withdrawn from operational service that summer (there was a six-month delay in the Mossie introduction as they started falling to bits, sometimes in mid-air to the consternation of the occupants).

Never heard of the "tsetse" Mossie until now. As for a 3.7 (AA ?) gun, I would've thought that a bit much. But the Americans had a B-25 ("Mitchell") with a 75mm cannon with the barrel between the Nav's legs (so I was told).

The spent cases polished up nicely: they were in demand as tocsins and in later life some became umbrella stands.

Danny42C.