deHavilland Mosquito FB.VI
In September 1936, the British Air Ministry issued a specification for a twin-engined medium bomber capable of carrying 3000 pounds of bombs 3000 miles at 275 mph. While many companies offered comparatively large aircraft with defensive turrets, along the lines of the Vickers Wellington and Avro Manchester, deHavilland believed it could satisfy the specification with a smaller aircraft that would carry no defensive armament: its speed would be its defense. The lack of turrets would also lower crew requirements, resulting in a cheaper and easier to produce aircraft; to save on strategic materials, deHavilland proposed to make the aircraft out of wood. Though deHavilland had experienced in building high speed wooden aircraft, the Air Ministry was horrified by the concept and rejected deHavilland’s proposal, even as the company doggedly continued to refine it as the DH.98. Wind tunnel projections showed the aircraft would be the fastest bomber in the world; as Geoffrey de Havilland himself stated, “It must be useful.” Eventually, by sheer persistence, the Air Ministry relented and allowed deHavilland to build 50 DH.98s in January 1940.
A shortage of Merlin engines and the emergency of the Battle of Britain meant that the prototype did not fly until November 1940 (although that was only 10 months since the order was placed). It surpassed the projections, which had claimed the DH.98 would fly at 327 mph: the prototype was capable of 397 mph, faster than the Spitfire fighter. The Air Ministry still did not believe an unarmed bomber would survive over Germany, and so determined that the initial order would only consist of 20 bombers—the other 30 would be nightfighters. This was not a difficult conversion to make, as deHavilland had already considered arming the DH.98 with four 20mm cannons for ground strafing; the clear nose of the bomber version would be replaced with a solid nose containing four .303 caliber machine guns.
After the inevitable teething problems of a radical design, the wings and tail were enlarged, the engine nacelles were lengthened, and small extensions added to the wings at the fuselage, curing the prototype’s vibration and instability problems at high speed. Finally, the DH.98—now known as the Mosquito for its smaller size compared to other bombers of its class—went into full-scale production in 1942.
Almost without realizing it, the Air Ministry had just bought the world’s first truly multirole aircraft. The Mosquito would go on to be produced in five different variants: photo-reconnaissance, nightfighter, bomber, fighter-bomber, and torpedo bomber. PR Mosquitoes were completely unarmed and could easily outdistance anything in the German inventory until the advent of the Messerschmitt 262 jet; part of the design principle behind the 262 was that it would be able to intercept the Mosquito. Bomber Mosquitoes, with a bomb capacity of 4000 pounds, usually operated as pathfinder aircraft or in the precision strike role. Nightfighter Mosquitoes patrolled the skies over England and the North Sea, equipped with radar, accounted for nearly 300 German bombers and other nightfighters during the war, as they were also used in raiding German nightfighter bases ahead of heavy bomber streams.
By far the most common Mosquito produced was the Mosquito FB.VI, which combined the heavy armament of the fighter version with the bomb capacity of the bomber. They could also be armed with rockets, giving them the approximate hitting power of a heavy cruiser’s broadside. Operating with RAF Coastal Command, FB.VIs, alongside FB.XVIIIs (which had their 20mms replaced by a single Molins 6-pounder antitank gun), devastated German coastal shipping and naval vessels. However, the FB.VI was also called upon for specialized strikes which became the Mosquito’s hallmark. This included the strike on the Berlin radio station during a broadcast by Hermann Goering (to which Goering said he was “green and yellow with envy” at the Mosquito’s capability), the Amiens Prison Raid, and raids on Gestapo headquarters in the center of Copenhagen and the Hague. In each case, the mission called for precision dropping of bombs at a time when precision weaponry was still 20 years away. The FB.VI also proved capable of defending itself, even against high-performance German fighters.
7781 Mosquitoes were produced during the war, and posted the lowest loss rate of any aircraft in the RAF. All were made of a combination of Brazilian balsa and Canadian fir. 19 air forces used the Mosquito either during the war or afterwards; Chinese Nationalist Mosquitoes would be used briefly in the Chinese Civil War of 1948, while Israeli Mosquitoes would see service in the 1956 Suez War. The RAF would itself use PR Mosquitoes as late as 1958, when they were used to support the successful Malaysian counterinsurgency campaign. Due to its wooden construction, maintaining or restoring Mosquitoes after their final withdrawal from service was difficult, and as a result only 24 remain in museums worldwide, and only one is currently flyable.
Dad and I have been long fans of the "Wooden Wonder," and Dad was more than happy to build me a 1/48 Monogram FB.VI when I asked. This aircraft represents the one flown in my World War II novel, "Audacity," by the main British character, Martin St. John (hence the M-SJ fuselage code; St. John is the squadron commander of the fictional No. 720 Squadron). This carries late-war RAF camouflage of medium gray and green over sky, with later roundels and fin flashes. It is equipped with four 2.75-inch rockets and underwing "slipper" fuel tanks. The engine exhausts are shrouded for night operations. This is one of the larger models I have in my collection, and one of the best.
deHavilland Mosquito FB.VI
In September 1936, the British Air Ministry issued a specification for a twin-engined medium bomber capable of carrying 3000 pounds of bombs 3000 miles at 275 mph. While many companies offered comparatively large aircraft with defensive turrets, along the lines of the Vickers Wellington and Avro Manchester, deHavilland believed it could satisfy the specification with a smaller aircraft that would carry no defensive armament: its speed would be its defense. The lack of turrets would also lower crew requirements, resulting in a cheaper and easier to produce aircraft; to save on strategic materials, deHavilland proposed to make the aircraft out of wood. Though deHavilland had experienced in building high speed wooden aircraft, the Air Ministry was horrified by the concept and rejected deHavilland’s proposal, even as the company doggedly continued to refine it as the DH.98. Wind tunnel projections showed the aircraft would be the fastest bomber in the world; as Geoffrey de Havilland himself stated, “It must be useful.” Eventually, by sheer persistence, the Air Ministry relented and allowed deHavilland to build 50 DH.98s in January 1940.
A shortage of Merlin engines and the emergency of the Battle of Britain meant that the prototype did not fly until November 1940 (although that was only 10 months since the order was placed). It surpassed the projections, which had claimed the DH.98 would fly at 327 mph: the prototype was capable of 397 mph, faster than the Spitfire fighter. The Air Ministry still did not believe an unarmed bomber would survive over Germany, and so determined that the initial order would only consist of 20 bombers—the other 30 would be nightfighters. This was not a difficult conversion to make, as deHavilland had already considered arming the DH.98 with four 20mm cannons for ground strafing; the clear nose of the bomber version would be replaced with a solid nose containing four .303 caliber machine guns.
After the inevitable teething problems of a radical design, the wings and tail were enlarged, the engine nacelles were lengthened, and small extensions added to the wings at the fuselage, curing the prototype’s vibration and instability problems at high speed. Finally, the DH.98—now known as the Mosquito for its smaller size compared to other bombers of its class—went into full-scale production in 1942.
Almost without realizing it, the Air Ministry had just bought the world’s first truly multirole aircraft. The Mosquito would go on to be produced in five different variants: photo-reconnaissance, nightfighter, bomber, fighter-bomber, and torpedo bomber. PR Mosquitoes were completely unarmed and could easily outdistance anything in the German inventory until the advent of the Messerschmitt 262 jet; part of the design principle behind the 262 was that it would be able to intercept the Mosquito. Bomber Mosquitoes, with a bomb capacity of 4000 pounds, usually operated as pathfinder aircraft or in the precision strike role. Nightfighter Mosquitoes patrolled the skies over England and the North Sea, equipped with radar, accounted for nearly 300 German bombers and other nightfighters during the war, as they were also used in raiding German nightfighter bases ahead of heavy bomber streams.
By far the most common Mosquito produced was the Mosquito FB.VI, which combined the heavy armament of the fighter version with the bomb capacity of the bomber. They could also be armed with rockets, giving them the approximate hitting power of a heavy cruiser’s broadside. Operating with RAF Coastal Command, FB.VIs, alongside FB.XVIIIs (which had their 20mms replaced by a single Molins 6-pounder antitank gun), devastated German coastal shipping and naval vessels. However, the FB.VI was also called upon for specialized strikes which became the Mosquito’s hallmark. This included the strike on the Berlin radio station during a broadcast by Hermann Goering (to which Goering said he was “green and yellow with envy” at the Mosquito’s capability), the Amiens Prison Raid, and raids on Gestapo headquarters in the center of Copenhagen and the Hague. In each case, the mission called for precision dropping of bombs at a time when precision weaponry was still 20 years away. The FB.VI also proved capable of defending itself, even against high-performance German fighters.
7781 Mosquitoes were produced during the war, and posted the lowest loss rate of any aircraft in the RAF. All were made of a combination of Brazilian balsa and Canadian fir. 19 air forces used the Mosquito either during the war or afterwards; Chinese Nationalist Mosquitoes would be used briefly in the Chinese Civil War of 1948, while Israeli Mosquitoes would see service in the 1956 Suez War. The RAF would itself use PR Mosquitoes as late as 1958, when they were used to support the successful Malaysian counterinsurgency campaign. Due to its wooden construction, maintaining or restoring Mosquitoes after their final withdrawal from service was difficult, and as a result only 24 remain in museums worldwide, and only one is currently flyable.
Dad and I have been long fans of the "Wooden Wonder," and Dad was more than happy to build me a 1/48 Monogram FB.VI when I asked. This aircraft represents the one flown in my World War II novel, "Audacity," by the main British character, Martin St. John (hence the M-SJ fuselage code; St. John is the squadron commander of the fictional No. 720 Squadron). This carries late-war RAF camouflage of medium gray and green over sky, with later roundels and fin flashes. It is equipped with four 2.75-inch rockets and underwing "slipper" fuel tanks. The engine exhausts are shrouded for night operations. This is one of the larger models I have in my collection, and one of the best.