de Havilland DH98 Mosquito
More Mosquito footage, some good quality stuff. The de Havilland Mosquito was a British combat aircraft that excelled in a number of roles during the Second World War. It served with the RAF and many other air forces both in the Second World War and postwar. The Mosquito was powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Merlins with the pilot and navigator sitting side by side. In the conceptual design stage, de Havilland designers found that adding any defensive armament would significantly reduce the aircraft's maximum speed. Realising that the loss in performance was not worth the benefit, the initial bomber version was designed without any guns. The various roles of the Mosquito included: tactical bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike and photo reconnaissance aircraft. The de Havilland company conceived the idea of a wooden aircraft to take advantage of the underused resources and skills of the furniture industry at a time of great pressure on the conventional aircraft industry combined with wartime shortages of steel and aluminium. The Air Ministry was initially not interested in the innovative approach; de Havilland, under chief designer Ronald Bishop, developed the Mosquito on a speculative basis. The ministry became interested when they saw the Mosquito prototype's performance. Throughout the 1930s, de Havilland had established a reputation in developing innovative high-speed aircraft such as the DH.88 Comet mailplane and DH.91 Albatross airliner that had already successfully employed the composite wood construction that the Mosquito would use.Construction: The bulk of the Mosquito was made of plywood. Stronger and lighter than most grades of plywood, this special plywood was produced by a combination of 3/8" sheets of Ecuadorean balsawood sandwiched between sheets of Canadian birch plywood. Like a deck of cards, sheets of wood alternated with sheets of a special casein-based (later formaldehyde) wood glue. The fuselage was formed in concrete moulds. Left and right sides of the fuselage were fitted with bulkheads and structural members separately while the glue cured. Reinforcing was achieved with hundreds of small brass wood screws. This arrangement greatly simplified the installation of hydraulic lines and other fittings, as the two halves of the fuselage were open for easy access by workers. The halves were then glued and bolted together, and covered with doped Madapolam fabric.The wings were also made of wood. To increase strength, the wings were made as one single assembly, onto which the fuselage, once both halves had been mated, was lowered and attached. Metal was used sparingly in the construction of structural elements. It was mostly used in engine mounts and fairings, control surfaces, and, of course, brass screws. The glue used was initially casein-based. It was changed to a formaldehyde-based preparation when the Mosquito was introduced to fighting in semi-tropical and tropical climates, after some unexplained crashes led to the suspicion that the glue was unable to withstand the climate. De Havilland also developed a technique to accelerate the glue drying by heating it using microwaves.In England fuselage shells were mainly made by E. Gomme, Parker Knoll and Styles & Mealing. Wing spars were made by J.B. Heath and Dancer & Hearne. Many of the other parts, including flaps, flap shrouds, fins, leading edge assemblies and bomb doors were also produced in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, which was well suited to these tasks due to a well established furniture making industry. Dancer and Hearne processed much of the wood from start to finish, receiving timber and transforming it into finished wing spars at their High Wycombe factory. Around 5,000 of the total 7,781 Mosquitos ever made contained parts made in High Wycombe. The specialized wood veneer used in the construction of the Mosquito was made by Roddis Manufacturing in Marshfield, Wisconsin, United States. Hamilton Roddis had teams of dexterous young women ironing the (unusually thin) strong wood veneer product before shipping to the UK.General characteristics (DH.98 Mosquito B Mk XVI)Crew: 2: pilot, bombardier/navigator Length: 44 ft 6 in (13.57 m) Wingspan: 54 ft 2 in (16.52 m) Height: 17 ft 5 in (5.3 m) Wing area: 454 ft² (42.18 m²) Empty weight: 14,300 lb (6,490 kg) Loaded weight: 18,100 lb (8,210 kg) Max takeoff weight: 25,000 lb (11,000 kg) Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Merlin 76/77 (left/right) liquid-cooled V12 engine, 1,710 hp (1,280 kW) each PerformanceMaximum speed: 361 knots (415 mph, 668 km/h) at 28,000 ft (8,500 m) Range: 1,300 nm (1,500 mi, 2,400 km) with full weapons load Service ceiling: 37,000 ft (11,000 m) Rate of climb: 2,850 ft/min (14.5 m/s) Wing loading: 39.9 lb/ft² (195 kg/m²) Power/mass: 0.189 hp/lb (311 W/kg) Armament: Bombs: 4,000 lb (1 800 kg) Avionics: GEE radio-navigation
Channel: Entertainment
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: Bomberguy
Length: 08:45
Rating: 4.93
Views: 34724
Tags: aircraft aviation de DH98 Havilland history Mosquito RAF ww2
Video Comments
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craigowler (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy.The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that?Hermann Göring January 1943
ansettaddict123 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
wow:D
craigowler (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
This is a fantastic film depicting a real aircraft...
spitfire690 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
they didn't just use wood to make it fast, that was actually a byproduct of using wood, the real reason was because it was made in Canada and at the time there wasn't many mills for metals to make the planes, so most metals went to the production of tanks, and since wood has been used before to make planes, they decided to use it
MrHandy1 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
Interesting concept, make it light, make it fast, depend on speed and agility to escape opponents instead of firepower to shoot them down. It was a major success of WWII. Yet another reason for the British people to be proud of their role in the war.
catman351 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
Bomberguy: Thanks for filling in the silent footage with big band music. It was entirely appropriate, relevant, and beautiful! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
wlh1us (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
top choice video, very good footage !!!!!, i was there in my last life lol
wlh1us (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
real music again..................
johnmb1961 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
My father flew Mosquitoes as a night fighter pilot. I'm seeing him just before Christmas and I'm going to show him this video. I'm sure he'll love it. Thanks Bomberguy I think your clips are great.
Wingdoss (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
Try contacting the "Yorkshire Air Museum" on the web. They have a Mossie that's been under restoration for many years and a guy there knows them inside out. |
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