De Havilland Mosquito for me.
Reasons:
The De Havilland Mosquito was, in my opinion, the most useful single type of aircraft produced in World War II. Created in the face of fierce opposition from the officialdom, it flew through the war performing any task asked of it with great excellence.
As a reconnaissance plane, the Mosquito was a high-speed spy. The first prototype (Serial #W4051) was handed over to the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) on 13 July 1941, it became the first Mosquito taken on charge by the RAF. #W4054 and #W4055 followed on 22 July and 8 August respectively to the, now, No.1 PRU which was equipped with Spitfires, Ansons, Wellingtons and now, Mosquitos. Beginning in September No.1 PRU received seven more production PR.Mk.1s #W4056 and #W4058-63.
On 16 September, 1941, the first PR.Mk.1 went into action over the Bay of Biscay. The generator broke down, forcing the cameras to have no power. Sqn. Leader Rupert Clarke aborted the sortie, flying #W4055 at full pace he managed to out-run three pursuing Bf-109s at 23,000 feet. The following day the same crew, and the same plane returned over enemy terrority to photograph Brest, La Pallice and Bordeaux, they arrived back at Benson at 1745. This was the first successful PR sortie by a Mosquito.
The PR.VIII Mosqutio arrived in service with No. 540 Sqn. based at RAF Leuchars. Equipped with the Merlin 61 1,565-hp engine, these Mosqutios could fly high altitude missions over enemy terrority. These planes began their career on 19 February, 1943 then continued to carry out battle-assessment and target recon for the rest of the war. The PR.VIII Mosqutio also pictured the experimental rocket site at Peenemunde, and confirmed the existence of the V-1 flying-bomb along with it's dispersed launch sites.
Next came the PR.IX and PR.XVI Mosqutio. No.544 Sqn. was the first squadron to be equipped with the PR.IX, and it's first sortie was on the night 13/14 September 1943 when Flight Lieutenant R.L.C Blythe covered Vannes.
The PR.XVI began production in November 1943, with 100-Imp gal drop tanks these aircraft could cover 2,000 miles. On 19 Feburary 1944 a PR.XVI brought back photos of Berlin despite German interceptors had the skies covered. PR.XVI were despatched to No.544 Sqn. in March 1944, then No.540 in July 1944. The first were urgently despatched to No.140 Sqn. 2nd TAF, and helped in mapping out Normandy for the June invasion. The PR.IV, IX and XVI served across Europe, Middle East and the Far East.
The PR.Mk.34 came into service in June 1945. These were sent to the airfield at Cocos Island. They made recon flights to Kuala Lumpur and Port Swettenham. Thirty-Eight sorties had been made by this type by VJ-Day. The PR.Mosquito soldiered on as the PR.Mk.34A with the RAF until 15 December, 1955 with No.81 Sqn. based at Seletar, Singapore.
The USAAF was the second largest operator of the Mosqutio during the war. It received 40 Canadian-built F-8 Mosquitos and 80 PR.XVI Mosquitos , the USAAF did not use the F-8s operationally but the PR.XVI with the US 8th AF were used from 1944 right up until VE-Day. Operating at heights up to and including 37,000 feet these blue and red Mosqutios performed photo- and weather recon and chaff-dispensing duties.
To be continued... ... next time : Night Fighter Mosquito.
Reasons:
The De Havilland Mosquito was, in my opinion, the most useful single type of aircraft produced in World War II. Created in the face of fierce opposition from the officialdom, it flew through the war performing any task asked of it with great excellence.
As a reconnaissance plane, the Mosquito was a high-speed spy. The first prototype (Serial #W4051) was handed over to the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) on 13 July 1941, it became the first Mosquito taken on charge by the RAF. #W4054 and #W4055 followed on 22 July and 8 August respectively to the, now, No.1 PRU which was equipped with Spitfires, Ansons, Wellingtons and now, Mosquitos. Beginning in September No.1 PRU received seven more production PR.Mk.1s #W4056 and #W4058-63.
On 16 September, 1941, the first PR.Mk.1 went into action over the Bay of Biscay. The generator broke down, forcing the cameras to have no power. Sqn. Leader Rupert Clarke aborted the sortie, flying #W4055 at full pace he managed to out-run three pursuing Bf-109s at 23,000 feet. The following day the same crew, and the same plane returned over enemy terrority to photograph Brest, La Pallice and Bordeaux, they arrived back at Benson at 1745. This was the first successful PR sortie by a Mosquito.
The PR.VIII Mosqutio arrived in service with No. 540 Sqn. based at RAF Leuchars. Equipped with the Merlin 61 1,565-hp engine, these Mosqutios could fly high altitude missions over enemy terrority. These planes began their career on 19 February, 1943 then continued to carry out battle-assessment and target recon for the rest of the war. The PR.VIII Mosqutio also pictured the experimental rocket site at Peenemunde, and confirmed the existence of the V-1 flying-bomb along with it's dispersed launch sites.
Next came the PR.IX and PR.XVI Mosqutio. No.544 Sqn. was the first squadron to be equipped with the PR.IX, and it's first sortie was on the night 13/14 September 1943 when Flight Lieutenant R.L.C Blythe covered Vannes.
The PR.XVI began production in November 1943, with 100-Imp gal drop tanks these aircraft could cover 2,000 miles. On 19 Feburary 1944 a PR.XVI brought back photos of Berlin despite German interceptors had the skies covered. PR.XVI were despatched to No.544 Sqn. in March 1944, then No.540 in July 1944. The first were urgently despatched to No.140 Sqn. 2nd TAF, and helped in mapping out Normandy for the June invasion. The PR.IV, IX and XVI served across Europe, Middle East and the Far East.
The PR.Mk.34 came into service in June 1945. These were sent to the airfield at Cocos Island. They made recon flights to Kuala Lumpur and Port Swettenham. Thirty-Eight sorties had been made by this type by VJ-Day. The PR.Mosquito soldiered on as the PR.Mk.34A with the RAF until 15 December, 1955 with No.81 Sqn. based at Seletar, Singapore.
The USAAF was the second largest operator of the Mosqutio during the war. It received 40 Canadian-built F-8 Mosquitos and 80 PR.XVI Mosquitos , the USAAF did not use the F-8s operationally but the PR.XVI with the US 8th AF were used from 1944 right up until VE-Day. Operating at heights up to and including 37,000 feet these blue and red Mosqutios performed photo- and weather recon and chaff-dispensing duties.
To be continued... ... next time : Night Fighter Mosquito.
