# De Havilland Mosquito



## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)

*Lieutenant M Cybulski (left) and Flying Officer H Ladbrook of No. 410 Squadron RCAF, with their damaged Mosquito Mk II at Coleby Grange, 27 September 1943. Their aircraft was severely charred by an exploding Dornier Do 217*

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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)



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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)

dh- with the highball bomb.

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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)



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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)



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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)



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## pbehn (Nov 4, 2016)

Great shots


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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)




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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)

_ TORONTO - DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT PLANT - MOSQUITO BOMBER PRODUCTION LINE - 1940s.jpg
Insert:

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## Wurger (Nov 4, 2016)




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## herman1rg (Nov 4, 2016)

Any background on the first pic in the first post?


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## johnbr (Nov 4, 2016)

Add the info on the first one.


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## Old Wizard (Nov 4, 2016)




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## Gnomey (Nov 4, 2016)

Good shots!


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## herman1rg (Nov 5, 2016)

Great thanks


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## MiTasol (Nov 6, 2016)

Hi johnbr

Fantastic photos - especially those that raise more questions
The noses in Post 6 second photo??????
Gun turret??
Photographer position??
Something related to all those extra antennae??

Mi


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## wuzak (Nov 6, 2016)

MiTasol said:


> Hi johnbr
> 
> Fantastic photos - especially those that raise more questions
> The noses in Post 6 second photo??????
> ...



They are the universal radome to accept the AI Mk.IX or AI Mk.X (SCR 720) radar for the Mosqwuito NFs - XIX and XXX had those, IIRC.

I am unsure as to whether the extra antennae are related to the radar. Earlier AI radars, such as the Ai Mk.IV used on the NF.II had such antennae:

http://www.strijdbewijs.nl/top/o/M222.jpg

But it appears late model versions had them as well:

http://66.media.tumblr.com/a79baa64eea926831686948a826c8202/tumblr_inline_nlvm58KPcf1t90ue7_1280.jpg

Note thatthe radomes were plastic, and would often go unpainted post-war.

They may have been radar detectors, such as Serrate.


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## wuzak (Nov 6, 2016)

http://www.lancaster-archive.com/serrate3.jpg


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## Crimea_River (Nov 6, 2016)

***DISREGARD**** the below. Thought you were talking about the first pic.

That's just the standard FB nose with access to the 4x.303's.


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## wuzak (Nov 6, 2016)

I believe you can see the scanning disc of the radar through the plastic.

And a schematic of the arrangement
http://www.bamfbamrs.be/Bamrs/mosquito/sradartotal2.jpg

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## Crimea_River (Nov 6, 2016)

Here's a diagram of the nose you are talking about.

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## MiTasol (Nov 6, 2016)

Many thanks Wuzak for the detailed responses and last photo
The links were also great so I am much wiser now

Thanks again

Mi

Edit - and a thanks to Crimea River for his additional goodies

For all you Mosquito fans I have just purchased a *PARTIAL *USAAF F-8 E&M manual which I will post asap
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachments/f-8-jpg.356468/


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## Wurger (Nov 7, 2016)




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## Old Wizard (Nov 7, 2016)




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## fubar57 (Nov 9, 2016)

Very nice.


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## johnbr (Aug 29, 2017)

de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito test firing at night.


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## Wurger (Aug 29, 2017)

A quite well known shot..but ...


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## Crimea_River (Aug 29, 2017)

Speaking of well-known shots, the below photo appears in several publications and shows B.35's in the final stages of production. What we have recently discovered is that the Mosquito second from the front (yellow arrow) is RS700, the subject of the restoration project that I am currently involved with. That makes this picture the earliest known photograph of our aircraft!

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## Old Wizard (Aug 30, 2017)




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## johnbr (Sep 23, 2018)

The Secret Mosquito Stash | Military Aviation | Air & Space Magazine

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## Wurger (Sep 23, 2018)

Crimea_River said:


> Speaking of well-known shots, the below photo appears in several publications and shows B.35's in the final stages of production. What we have recently discovered is that the Mosquito second from the front (yellow arrow) is RS700, the subject of the restoration project that I am currently involved with. That makes this picture the earliest known photograph of our aircraft!
> View attachment 381573




Sorry Andy but it seems that's not the serial you posted. I would say that's either the RS705(6) or RS735(6). Also it might be RS708 or RS738


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## nuuumannn (Sep 23, 2018)

I just noticed the first picture in post #2 is the prototype W4050 and the photo is possibly after its ressembly at Hatfield after being moved by road from the hangar at Salisbury Hall. The subsequent second, third and fourth prototypes were flown from Salisbury Hall to Hatfield, thus saving dismantling time.


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## nuuumannn (Sep 23, 2018)

Something I found that I've been looking for for some time; drawings of the DH.98B Turret Fighter. These were displayed at The People's Mosquito stand at British airshows.




Turret fighter

A bit of background. After the British released specification F.18/40 in October 1940 for a modern night fighter, it was amended in December to add the provision of a gun turret as a direct replacement of the Boulton Paul Defiant night fighter. De Havilland did not submit an entry to F.18/40, but was asked to provide a study of the DH.98 night fighter, to be ordered to F.21/40 fitted with a gun turret. Two prototypes were actually built that were so modified. The turret was to be a Bristol B.11 four-gun turret, which was designed for the Bristol Beaumont bomber project, and was very light and compact.

Studies showed that the Mosquito turret fighter was, predictably, slower in calculations than the fixed gun night fighter and the prototype W4050 was fitted with a mock up turret for aerodynamics trials in July 1941. In September 1941 the fourth prototype Mosquito, W4053, which was the first prototype turret fighter (the third prototype, W4052 was the first night fighter NF.II, built to F.21/40), flew for the first time, but with a mock up turret only. By then the decision had been made not to continue with the turret fighter, although a second prototype turret fighter was finished, W4073, in December 1941. This aircraft and W4053 became the prototypes of the T.III trainer variant once the turret fighter was cancelled.

F.18/40 went unfulfilled, although Bristol fitted a Boulton Paul A.1 turret, the same as fitted to the Defiant to two different Beaufighters to create the Beaufighter Mk.V. These actually entered squadron service and carried out night fighter patrols in 1941, but proved to be slower than the Defiant they were intending to replace. Anyway, the Mosquito NF.II to F.21/40 killed off both F.18/40 and the turret Mosquito night fighter by virtue of its superior performance and heavy fixed armament.

This faint vertical line on the canopy of the prototype shows where the fairing for the turret mock up rubbed against the canopy. Within the structure are four mounting bolts where the turret was fitted.




0507 de Havilland Aviation Heritage Mosquito Prototype turret fairing

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## Dana Bell (Sep 24, 2018)

Hi Tagas,

Your last photo interests me. Do you have any back story on DK296 and why she was considered Lend Lease?

Cheers,


Dana

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## wuzak (Sep 24, 2018)

It went to the Soviets

Incident de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk IV DK296, 15 May 1944

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## Wurger (Sep 24, 2018)

Yep.. there are other known images of the kite...


























the pic source:
http://albumwar2.com/the-british-fi...quito-in-the-ussr-after-an-emergency-landing/
Mosquito B.Mk.IV

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## Crimea_River (Sep 24, 2018)

According to a database in my possession, DK296 had the following colourful history:

"Delivered to 105 Sqn as GB-K, by September 1942 it had been re-coded GB-G for Sqn Leader DAG (George) Parry, DSO, DFC, who had always used the code “G” on his aircraft. While with 105 Sqn it claimed one bird strike and a chimney pot! It was flown on most operations by Sqn Ldr Parry including a raid on Gestapo HQ in Oslo on 25th September 1942 and the raid on the Philips factory on 6th December 1942. In mid 1943 Sqn Ldr WW Blessing crash-landed the Mosquito at Marham, breaking its back. DK296 was withdrawn from use on 24th August 1943, rebuilt and placed into store at No 10 Maintenance Unit at Hullavington. In September 1943 it was issued to 305 Ferry Training Unit at Errol, where it was given Russian markings and trained Russian crews who were converting to Albemarles. On 20th April 1944, DK296 was sent to Russia, being officially accepted there on 31st August 1944 and subsequently serving in the Red Air Force.

Written off on 15 May 1944 in landing accident at Sverdlovsk when pilot A. I. Kabanov lost control with engines at low power setting, turns to port, runs off runway, shears off undercarriage and skids to a stop on its belly. Pilot and navigator P. I. Perevalov unhurt. This was the ninth flight of DK296 (which never received a Soviet serial) since it arrived in Russia and was the only Mosquito delivered to Russia. Kabanov was the Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Institute of the Air Force at this time, and had much experience flying foreign types."

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## Crimea_River (Sep 24, 2018)

Wurger said:


> Sorry Andy but it seems that's not the serial you posted. I would say that's either the RS705(6) or RS735(6). Also it might be RS708 or RS738



The observation and photo was passed on to our group by a knowledgeable person and I'm prepared to take their word. The second numeral can't be a 3 as the RS7XX series didn't make it into the 30's as far as I'm aware. There could be distortion of the serials where the upper and lower camo lines intersect, possibly due to light reflecting differently where the paint has been applied slowly and in multiple layers. So if the second number is a zero, then the third could very well also be a zero as well though I would grant that the final number could be interpreted differently based on this lower resolution photo.


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## Dana Bell (Sep 24, 2018)

wuzak said:


> It went to the Soviets
> 
> Incident de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk IV DK296, 15 May 1944





Crimea_River said:


> According to a database in my possession, DK296 had the following colourful history:
> 
> "Delivered to 105 Sqn as GB-K, by September 1942 it had been re-coded GB-G for Sqn Leader DAG (George) Parry, DSO, DFC, who had always used the code “G” on his aircraft. While with 105 Sqn it claimed one bird strike and a chimney pot! It was flown on most operations by Sqn Ldr Parry including a raid on Gestapo HQ in Oslo on 25th September 1942 and the raid on the Philips factory on 6th December 1942. In mid 1943 Sqn Ldr WW Blessing crash-landed the Mosquito at Marham, breaking its back. DK296 was withdrawn from use on 24th August 1943, rebuilt and placed into store at No 10 Maintenance Unit at Hullavington. In September 1943 it was issued to 305 Ferry Training Unit at Errol, where it was given Russian markings and trained Russian crews who were converting to Albemarles. On 20th April 1944, DK296 was sent to Russia, being officially accepted there on 31st August 1944 and subsequently serving in the Red Air Force.
> 
> Written off on 15 May 1944 in landing accident at Sverdlovsk when pilot A. I. Kabanov lost control with engines at low power setting, turns to port, runs off runway, shears off undercarriage and skids to a stop on its belly. Pilot and navigator P. I. Perevalov unhurt. This was the ninth flight of DK296 (which never received a Soviet serial) since it arrived in Russia and was the only Mosquito delivered to Russia. Kabanov was the Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Institute of the Air Force at this time, and had much experience flying foreign types."



Many thanks, gents!

Very interesting!

Cheers,



Dana

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## Wurger (Sep 25, 2018)

Crimea_River said:


> The observation and photo was passed on to our group by a knowledgeable person and I'm prepared to take their word. The second numeral can't be a 3 as the RS7XX series didn't make it into the 30's as far as I'm aware. There could be distortion of the serials where the upper and lower camo lines intersect, possibly due to light reflecting differently where the paint has been applied slowly and in multiple layers. So if the second number is a zero, then the third could very well also be a zero as well though I would grant that the final number could be interpreted differently based on this lower resolution photo.



I see. However this says RS739...






also the distortion at the demarcation line between two colours doesn't seem to be for the 0 or 3 digit. It is clearly seen that it is more down then the lapse between top and bottom parts of the digit .


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## MX Trainer (Sep 27, 2018)

Some photos taken of the Bob Jens Mozzie before it went for the restoration in Victoria.

Chuck Torrey

I believe she carried the civil registration of VR796 - CF-HML and was operated by Spartan. It is now CF-HMJ.

*She is a B35 Bomber. Similar to a B.XVI except for Merlin 114 engines in early versions, Merlin 114A engines in later versions. 274 built, including 65 by Airspeed Ltd.

Regards, MX*


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## Crimea_River (Sep 27, 2018)

Yep, she is indeed an ex-Spartan machine. I understand they tried hard to get the old HML registration reinstated but Transport Canada wouldn't give it to them as another aircraft now has it.

The Calgary Mosquito Society


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## Wurger (Sep 27, 2018)




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## johnbr (Oct 16, 2018)



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## Wurger (Oct 16, 2018)




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## johnbr (Dec 27, 2018)



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## johnbr (Aug 2, 2019)

Andrew Clayton (@classicwarbirds) | Twitter


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