Aeroplane Magazine Mosquito Special Issue

UNDOUBTEDLY one of the greatest and
most versatile aircraft of the Second World
War, the Mosquito was also the world’s fi rst
true multi-role combat aircraft (the second
not arriving until the Panavia Tornado).
Designed by a company with no previous
experience in producing high-performance
military aircraft, de Havilland managed to
produce a timeless classic which will remain one
of those spine-tingling machines now sorely
missed in British skies. However, while I write
these words, far away in New Zealand, the sound
of a pair of Merlin engines in harmony is to be
heard in the skies once more, as Jerry Yagen’s
long project (Canadian-built FB.26 KA114) is
now back in the air.
The Mosquitoes versatility during the Second
World War saw the aircraft operating in a variety
of roles including as a pure unarmed bomber, a
heavily armed fi ghter-bomber, rocket and heavy
cannon armed anti-shipping aircraft, radarequipped
night-fi ghter, an unarmed
reconnaissance aircraft, meteorological, trainer
and fi nally as a target tug. From the PR.1 to the
T.43, there was not a role the Mosquito could
not be adapted to carry out; the aircraft was
even modifi ed for light transport work both
during and after the war.