Who's going to Ardmore 28/29th Sept.
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Errr... Duxford... Old Warden... pretty much any of the 70-odd CAF wings...
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The CAF can put on some breath-taking and unique displays. A B-29 in formation with two B-17s and 5 B-25s for example (followed by a Wildcat sounding and looking like it’s about to fall out of the sky).
However, there can’t have been many better gatherings of de Havilland aircraft in living memory than at Ardmore this weekend.
However, there can’t have been many better gatherings of de Havilland aircraft in living memory than at Ardmore this weekend.
Last edited by Aerozepplin; 30th Sep 2012 at 21:49.
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How many of theses places have a flying Mosquito? None, so I don't see your point as I was talking about airworthy aircraft not static aircraft.
The point is that there are plenty of places elsewhere in the world that have equally rare collections of airworthy aircraft...
How many of theses places have a flying Mosquito? None, so I don't see your point as I was talking about airworthy aircraft not static aircraft.
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The point is that there are plenty of places elsewhere in the world that have equally rare collections of airworthy aircraft...
As you say yourself the collections themselves are not rare.
Last edited by prospector; 1st Oct 2012 at 22:27.
Originally Posted by frangatang
Wonder what will happen with all the jigs. Bet the poms couldnt make one, or should l say the Campaign Against Aviation (CAA) +EASA would prevent it with stiffling regulation.
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There is another 3 airworthy projects in the pipeline. The boys at Avspecs said the next one will take them 3 years to make now they know all the tricks, have the molds for everything etc
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Engineer_Aus,
Glyn's machine is next cab off the rank and it is well advanced in construction. I saw it in his Drury workshop in April 12 and the fuse was complete and wings were complete and mated to fuse. He said at the Mosquito dinner it'll take another 3 yrs to finish.
Not sure how long to produce another Mosquito from scratch with the jigs & moulds all available now but guess it'll depend on cashflow and manpower avail.
Glyn's machine is next cab off the rank and it is well advanced in construction. I saw it in his Drury workshop in April 12 and the fuse was complete and wings were complete and mated to fuse. He said at the Mosquito dinner it'll take another 3 yrs to finish.
Not sure how long to produce another Mosquito from scratch with the jigs & moulds all available now but guess it'll depend on cashflow and manpower avail.
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Here is the story behind the Mosquito’s first flight and visit to our hangars last month, plus a few more pictures of this lovely, brand-spanking-new, old aeroplane!
Tech Ops' Auckland base saw a world first, welcoming the world’s only flying Mosquito on its maiden flight from Ardmore aerodrome. Most of Tech Ops Auckland personnel popped out to see the Mosquito land, escorted in by a Trojan and taxi onto the Tech Ops hardstand for a quick checkover.
The pilot, Cathay pilot David Phillips, is one of New Zealand’s most experienced pilots in vintage and classic aircraft. He owns and flies his own Hawker Hunter jet. He said the Mosquito was quite unlike anything he’s flown before.
“Kind of heavy and light and the same time. It’s hard to describe. The controls are light; it’s responsive but you are conscious of the inertia. You can feel the rudder is a long way back. It flies like a very well designed, 15,000lb twin-engined strike aircraft.”
He says he wasn’t really nervous, just concentrating hard, “conscious of what you would be remembered for if anything went wrong.”
“It was lovely. They did a fantastic job of building it.”
His observer on this historic first flight was Warren Denholm who runs Avspecs, the Ardmore-based restoration company that has been rebuilding the aircraft since its American owner since 2005.
He was also concentrating hard on the gauges. “It’s my first time in a Mosquito; it’s the pilot’s first flight in a Mosquito, it’s the first time the plane has flown; it’s the first time anyone has flown a Mosquito anywhere in the world for decades so you don’t have much time to smell the roses. But when you finally stop gritting your teeth and look out the window over South Auckland and realise no-one else can do this, in the only flying Mosquito anywhere in the world, life is pretty good.”
They picked a couple of items they wanted their engineers to look at before the flight back but Warren was well satisfied with the first flight. “It went very, very well.”
KA 114 was built in Canada and saw brief service in 1945 before going into reserve storage. It was sold to a farmer and it lay in a field for 30 years before it was moved to the Canadian Museum of Flight awaiting a proper restoration. Jerry Yagen of the Fighter Factory Collection in Virginia bought it and sent it to Warren’s team to restore. What makes the Mosquito so special and so rare is its wooden balsa-core sandwich construction. It was the world’s first composite construction aircraft. Like almost every other Mosquito, KA114’s body had rotted – it broke in two when being rescued from a farmer’s field. So this and several other Mosquito projects around the world owe their existence to Kiwi Glyn Powell and his Mosquito Aircraft Restoration team who undertook the task of building the two 11m moulds needed to lay up the new fuselage halves, with the precision needed to get the bulkheads and pick-up points in exactly the right place. They also built the 16.5m wing.
The first Mosquito was delivered in 1941 and was used in many different roles, as a low-level daytime bomber, as a reconnaissance aircraft, as a bomber escort and was particularly successful as a U-boat hunter.
BB
Tech Ops' Auckland base saw a world first, welcoming the world’s only flying Mosquito on its maiden flight from Ardmore aerodrome. Most of Tech Ops Auckland personnel popped out to see the Mosquito land, escorted in by a Trojan and taxi onto the Tech Ops hardstand for a quick checkover.
The pilot, Cathay pilot David Phillips, is one of New Zealand’s most experienced pilots in vintage and classic aircraft. He owns and flies his own Hawker Hunter jet. He said the Mosquito was quite unlike anything he’s flown before.
“Kind of heavy and light and the same time. It’s hard to describe. The controls are light; it’s responsive but you are conscious of the inertia. You can feel the rudder is a long way back. It flies like a very well designed, 15,000lb twin-engined strike aircraft.”
He says he wasn’t really nervous, just concentrating hard, “conscious of what you would be remembered for if anything went wrong.”
“It was lovely. They did a fantastic job of building it.”
His observer on this historic first flight was Warren Denholm who runs Avspecs, the Ardmore-based restoration company that has been rebuilding the aircraft since its American owner since 2005.
He was also concentrating hard on the gauges. “It’s my first time in a Mosquito; it’s the pilot’s first flight in a Mosquito, it’s the first time the plane has flown; it’s the first time anyone has flown a Mosquito anywhere in the world for decades so you don’t have much time to smell the roses. But when you finally stop gritting your teeth and look out the window over South Auckland and realise no-one else can do this, in the only flying Mosquito anywhere in the world, life is pretty good.”
They picked a couple of items they wanted their engineers to look at before the flight back but Warren was well satisfied with the first flight. “It went very, very well.”
KA 114 was built in Canada and saw brief service in 1945 before going into reserve storage. It was sold to a farmer and it lay in a field for 30 years before it was moved to the Canadian Museum of Flight awaiting a proper restoration. Jerry Yagen of the Fighter Factory Collection in Virginia bought it and sent it to Warren’s team to restore. What makes the Mosquito so special and so rare is its wooden balsa-core sandwich construction. It was the world’s first composite construction aircraft. Like almost every other Mosquito, KA114’s body had rotted – it broke in two when being rescued from a farmer’s field. So this and several other Mosquito projects around the world owe their existence to Kiwi Glyn Powell and his Mosquito Aircraft Restoration team who undertook the task of building the two 11m moulds needed to lay up the new fuselage halves, with the precision needed to get the bulkheads and pick-up points in exactly the right place. They also built the 16.5m wing.
The first Mosquito was delivered in 1941 and was used in many different roles, as a low-level daytime bomber, as a reconnaissance aircraft, as a bomber escort and was particularly successful as a U-boat hunter.
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This is a tremendous result for the hard work of many people over a long period of time. Congratulations to all involved. 
A question for those who know about these things.
When was the last time a FB Mosquito flew?
When was the last time a Canadian built Mosquito flew?
RR299 was a T-III and the 633 Squadron movie did not use any FB variants.
A question for those who know about these things.
When was the last time a FB Mosquito flew?
When was the last time a Canadian built Mosquito flew?
RR299 was a T-III and the 633 Squadron movie did not use any FB variants.
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KA 114 was out flying again today. It did two sorties out to the training area & back this afternoon. It was a real pleasure to watch it fly.
It was a busy day for warbirds at Ardmore with two Harvards, a Spitfire, a CT4 & the Strikemaster all flying as well, with some in the circuit for a while.
It was a busy day for warbirds at Ardmore with two Harvards, a Spitfire, a CT4 & the Strikemaster all flying as well, with some in the circuit for a while.
Thread Starter
Let's hope there's going to be a more complete video on the rebuild. There's some fantastic workmanship involved and it would be great to see much more detail.
Now, that was something special!
After seeing this and seeing what the RAAF Museum has got with a pretty solid fuse and all the essential metalwork. Only a dream but.... A lottery in aide of buying a new wing to get the RAAF Mossie flying again....
After seeing this and seeing what the RAAF Museum has got with a pretty solid fuse and all the essential metalwork. Only a dream but.... A lottery in aide of buying a new wing to get the RAAF Mossie flying again....
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A chat to a man who worked the RAAF Mosquito produced the information that as it was the last one of that model and had actual combat history it had been deemed too historically valuable to fly. The restoration is to an airworthy standard but it will remain on static display.
From the RAAF Museum website: 'The restoration of the RAAF Museum's de Havilland Mosquito PR Mk XVI, A52-600, is now underway. The aircraft is the only surviving RAAF-operated Mosquito with a wartime operational history, and the only PR Mk XVI left anywhere in the world.'
From the RAAF Museum website: 'The restoration of the RAAF Museum's de Havilland Mosquito PR Mk XVI, A52-600, is now underway. The aircraft is the only surviving RAAF-operated Mosquito with a wartime operational history, and the only PR Mk XVI left anywhere in the world.'
Last edited by scroogee; 25th Oct 2012 at 19:09.
Appreciate that particular view, Scroogee. Still, there are plenty of examples of the last of the breed, airworthy, and still flying
Should add...with combat history...
On the NZ restoration, it shows that it is still possible to resurrect the jigs required to complete a full construction of a "new" old aeroplane. All those bits and pieces of Mossies hidden in farm sheds all over the place have a new value to someone with enough funds.
Should add...with combat history...
On the NZ restoration, it shows that it is still possible to resurrect the jigs required to complete a full construction of a "new" old aeroplane. All those bits and pieces of Mossies hidden in farm sheds all over the place have a new value to someone with enough funds.
Last edited by OZBUSDRIVER; 25th Oct 2012 at 20:45.