De Havilland Mosquito Launch Spectacular

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nuuumannn

nuuumannn

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Oct 12, 2011
Nelson
A big occasion for British warbird fans, on 29 September the new build de Havilland Mosquito FB.26 is scheduled to fly for the first time at Ardmore Airfield, New Zealand. This will be the first time a full size Mosquito has flown since 1996, when RR299, the British Aerospance Mossie T.3 was lost in tragic circumstances that year. There will be an airshow celebrating everything de Havilland, as well as the star of the show's public unveiling and first flight. It's owned by Jerry Yagen and will go to the United States, so expect it to be seen at the odd airshow or two there in the future.

Here is a few links for further information; Avspecs' Facebook page with recent images of the aircraft:

http://www.facebook.com/Avspecs

Info on the rebuild project:

Mosquito Aircraft Restoration, Auckland New Zealand

:)
 
Brilliant! Looking forward to seeing this baby in the air. I was supposed to be on the Fire Crew the day the Mossie crashed at Barton, but I was away, fortunately. A very sad and tragic event.
 
I've been looking forward to this for some time. Reps from the Calgary Mosquito Society, of which I'm a member, will be there and I wish I could be.
 
Indeed, Terry, 'twas a sad day indeed. I went to Legends '96, the last full airshow it appeared at (although Hoof Proudfoot was killed in the Lightning at that show) and then went to RIAT '96 a week later, which it was going to go to, but didn't. That week was quite a bad one for accidents, not only was the Mosquito and P-38 lost, but the last flying Bristol Freighter was written off in the same week. :(

As for happier Mossie news, I will be attending the event, so will be posting photos.
 
Melonfish said:
Not only that but it looks like he could continue to produce airframes for mossies! that really is epic.
Click to expand...

They built 5 fuselages from the molds, 4 for sale, and the manufacturer is keeping 1 for himself. So there should be 5 flying at some stage. But, given how long this build has taken (We were told it should be available at Classic Fighters Airshow in 2011), it will be some time before you see another in the air.
 
That looks like it is about the same stage as the new-build one was 18 months ago.

The last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time.....
 
Hi Guys,
I apologise if this is not the right forum, but hope you can help. My father in law died earlier this year. He kept his wartime exploits to himself. He is German and served in the Luftwaffe, but my wife (his daughter) believes he may have been in intelligence and he certainly worked for the RAF after the war at Gutersloh.

We have found this old picture (attached). Friends say it is him (centre) by an aircraft in Denmark after the war and wearing an American uniform. I am not sure as I think it is some kind of recce Mosquito and he is in RAF uniform. I also suspect it is during the war as he looks younger than 26 years old.

Do you know where I could start looking for information?

Thank you,

James Martin
R in Denmark after the war.jpg
 
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The aircraft appears to be a Mosquito BIV, possibly of the Light Night Strike Force (RAF), and the uniform at first glance, looks like the RAF 'Battledress' blouse , with what appears to be the badge of a Aircrafstman on the left sleeve. However, this is not certain, as it is obviously at least one size too large, giving the appearance of a tunic below the folded arms, but it does exhibit the rougher texture, compared to the Service Dress tunic.
The Mossie is a bomber, not recce, with the nose glazing painted over in black. I can try to find the Squadron, as the nose art seems familiar, but as for dates and location, that's doubtful at the moment.
It would be highly unusual for the photo to be taken during the war, with the RAF uniform, but, once vetted and approved after the war, it's possible, and some Mossie units retained the same colour schemes for some time, although national markings reverted to the full, three colour roundels.
It's interesting that the person on the right (in the photo) does not appear to have any insignia on his BD blouse, not even the RAF Albatross, just visible on the right shoulder of the chap on the left in the photo, who is also wearing Corporal's stripes on his Service Dress tunic.
The forage cap worn by the centre person is difficult to pin down - it looks darker than the RAF caps, and could be a Luftwaffe item, but it could also be the effect of lighting.
EDIT: It would probably help if a 'Mod' could move this request post to a more suitable forum thread, where it would receive better exposure and possible response.
 
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Hello James and Terry, yes, a better location for this query to open it up would have been fortunate, but glancing through a stash of Mossie literature I have out at the moment :)) ), I came across the very same picture in a book, much to my surprise. So, James, I can reveal that the image was taken during the war in the UK at RAF Marham in 1943 and displays Mosquito B.IV Series II DZ319 'H' of 109 Squadron, which was an Oboe equipped unit of No.8 (Path Finder Force) Group. 109's squadron codes were 'HS'. The picture is significant because it was taken after DZ319's 101st sortie; its high sortie rate can be seen on the nose of the aircraft! Apparently this number of operations was normal within 109 Sqn; I've seen an image of one aircraft having carried out 203 sorties. Exactly when the image was taken in 1943 I can't say, but DZ319 took part in the first operational use of Oboe on 20 December 1942 and it was frequently used on target marking sorties with heavy bombers in early to mid 1943. From mid 1943 the B.IX began to replace the B.IV in the target marking role equipped with Oboe. I hope this helps with your research.
 
Great stuff Grant. I can confirm this is the correct info, as I found a similar picture and a profile. It therefore seems doubtful that the chap in the centre is your father in law - but, you never know !
 
Grant and Terry - thank you so much for that and for such a quick reply. Terry - we are looking deeper into my father in laws war history. We have now got his old papers and are starting to work through them. We know that he was in German intelligence and worked in Scandinavia (Norway at least) and believe he may also have visited Eire. His wartime girlfriend is alive and the pair spent many hours chatting together on skype (great thing!). She is now sending us other material. We do believe the man in the centre of the picture is him but as to how and why we do not know. He went to a Lincolnshire bomber museum about 6 years ago and pointed himself out in a group picture of RAF guys. My wife and cousin were with him so I will find out which museum it was.

There are lots of unanswered questions about his war years. His wife was English for example and they went to live in Germany straight after the war. How they met was never explained.

Grant - do you have the title of the book that the picture was in as that could be another line of inquiry.

Many thanks guys and I will let you know.
 
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