de Havilland Mosquito
The Wooden Wonder
“A bomber built of plywood that outran the fighters sent to catch it.”
de Havilland · military
De Havilland proposed an unarmed bomber made of wood, fast enough that it would not need guns, and the Air Ministry thought it was mad. The Mosquito went on to fly as a bomber, night fighter, fighter-bomber, photo-reconnaissance aircraft and pathfinder, and it was the fastest operational aircraft in the RAF for most of the war. Furniture makers and piano factories built its balsa-and-birch fuselage. Six fly today, every one of them a restoration or a new build around original parts.
The Mosquito's fuselage was built in two halves like a model kit, with the wiring and controls fitted while the halves lay open, then glued together.
Two Merlins on a slim, graceful wing, a bulbous nose and a pointed tail. The whole shape is smooth because there are no rivets; it is wood under the paint.
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Wooden Wonder from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
