Lightning Guy said:
The P-38L outperformed any mark of the Mossie built.
Only in terms of the '38L having a higher actual 'performance'. The Mosquito 'out-performed' the Lightning in
all roles except day fighter by the sheer diversity and effectiveness of the tasks it carried out. Oh, and the Fb VI was a day fighter variant, and don't say it wasn't 'cos it carried bombs - so did most other WWII day fighters, and what would you suggest they did with that bomb-bay space if not to offer bomb-carrying capability, given the already ample operational range for the ETO?
www.mossie.org
Quite a nice site, this; it has some nice stories of Recce-Mossie Vs '262 encounters.
8)
LG, think of it this way: if you had a fledgling airforce, and were required to pick as few aircraft types as possible to perform as many tasks as possible as well as possible in order to simplify production, you'd take the Mosquito every time. No matter that technically the '38 is a better day fighter, from a purely utilitarian point of view the Mossie, with the capability to excel at fighting, night-fighting, photo recconnaissance, strategic bombing, tactical bombing, carrier-borne strikes, anti-shipping strikes, anti-tank strikes (any Molins cannon that can sink a U-boat can take out a tank),
and with the ability to carry large cargo/ passenger loads (up to 6 people were squeezed into a transport Mossie once) at high speed, knocks the P-38 for six.
Oh, and weren't the de Havillands English? I know de Havilland Canada still exists whereas the British company don't, but I think the Mosquito is still a British plane.