de Havilland Mosquito

The "Mosquito" was designed at de Havilland in 1938 as a light bomber. The prototype made its first flight on November 25, 1940, reaching 640 km / h during tests. The "Mosquito" - BIV "bombers entered service on September 8, 1941. The first expedition took place the day after the Kiel night bombing in which 1,000 aircraft were involved.

The first series of bombers bore the designation "Mosquito - BIV". They were equipped with the RR "Merlin - 21" (or 23) engines with a capacity of 1280 (or 1390) hp. The bomb load was 4X113 kg. The last examples with "Merlin-25" engines (1620 HP) could carry 4X226 kg of bombs, and 56 aircraft were adapted to a bomb weighing 1815 kg.

The nose of the fuselage was glazed. The plane did not have any shooting weapons. "Mosquito-NF II" was the first serial fighter, the prototype of which was flown on May 15, 1941, and which began service in January 1942. It had an RR "Merlin-21" (or 23) engine and was equipped with AI-IV with an arrow shaped antenna. Armament was 420mm cannons in the lower fuselage and four 0.303 inch (7.7mm) Browning machine guns in the nose of the fuselage.

In January 1943, the 307 Polish Mysliwski Night Squadron received planes that were considered to be one of the best used during World War II. They were "Mosquito-NF II".

Initially, they were flown over France with the attack of ground targets. From August 1943, the fighters "Mosquito-NF II" 307 Squadron were entrusted with patrolling the Atlantic in the Bay of Biscay. Until November 1943, the squadron won a series of victories over the Nazi long-range fighters, including the greatest victory on the 11th, 1943. one squadron key shot down "Bf-110" for sure, two probably, and damaged one, while the other key shot down "JU-88" and damaged one.

In September 1943 the squadron used several "Mosquito-FB VI" machines. In November 1943, while resting on the "Mosquito-NFH", "He-177" and "JU-88" were shot down on the "Mosquito-NFH". From January to November 1944, the squadron flew the "Mosquito-NFXII", initially over the North Sea, and from May over Europe, attacking ground targets and shielding bombers from Nazi night fighters.

Bomb version "Mosquito-FBVI" was used, from December 1943 until disbandment, Squadron 305, transferred from bomber to tactical aviation. These planes were used to attack single ground targets. In March 1944, bomb launchers on the coast were bombed French.On July 31, 1944, large fuel tanks in Nomexy were destroyed. On August 2, 1944, the Nazi sabotage school in Chateau-Maulney was destroyed. The "Masquito" squadron took part in the conquest of Antwerp and the fight against the Nazis in the Ardennes. On the reconnaissance version of the "Mosquito PRIX", on October 3, 1943, the missile center in Peenemünde was removed and confirmation of the Polish intelligence data on the attempts with the "V" weapon was obtained. Polish pilots serving in the English reconnaissance squadrons made flights over Europe on the "Mosquito", even flying over northern Italy.

The most frequently produced was the "Mosquito - FBVI". The hunter-bomber version: initially (several hundred units) with "Merlin-21" (or 23) engines, and later with RR "Merlin-25" engines (1620 HP), entered service in 1943, attacks on ground targets were carried out with great accuracy (e.g. the command of the Gestapo in Oslo was destroyed.) From 1942, these planes were used to mark the routes and targets for bombers. made 1 night flight of the "Mosquito-NFXII" fighter with the AI-VIII radar hidden under the cover on the nose of the fuselage. For this reason, the machine guns were removed, leaving only the cannons.

"Mosquito-NF30" was the last produced night fighter. It had a Merlin-76 "(or 113) engine with max. 1,535 hp. (1690 hp with additional charging). It had a ceiling of 11,000 meters. Weapons (FBVI): 420mm cannons in the lower fuselage and 4 Browning 0.303 inch (7.7mm) machine guns in the nose of the fuselage and two bomb hooks in the rear of the bomb bay and two under the wings.

Specifications:
Wingspan - 16.51 m
Length - 12.65 m
Height - 4.65 m
Bearing area - 40.4 m²
Speed max. - 611 km / h
Ceiling height - 11,000 m
Range - 1940 - 2740 km

The de Havilland Mosquito plane can be said to be one of the few that allowed for many spectacular successes during the Second World War.

The creation of this structure was accompanied by the desire to achieve a significant speed that would avoid contact with the enemy. Such a concept was adopted for its design by the de Havilland aviation company, specializing in the construction of high-speed communication aircraft. The road to the creation and development of production was not easy. The design was initially received cool and skeptical. The Mosquito showed its qualities during rehearsals and shows, where it turned out to be faster than the RAF's pride - Spitfire. The initial difficulties and problems turned into a series of successes. This wooden structure maintained the primacy among serial machines in terms of horizontal speed until 1944.

DH plane. 98 Mosquito Mk. II was a two-engine, two-seat, wooden-frame mid-wing aircraft. The NF Mk. II was equipped with radar devices and was designed for night operations, while the F Mk. II was a day fighter.

Mosquito NF Mk. II were commissioned in January 1942. This design was very favorably assessed by the pilots as being fast, maneuverable, even capable of acrobatics and heavily armed. The plane was nicknamed "wooden wonder". Its advantage was the ease of use both on the ground and in the air. As it turned out to be very resistant to damage, and the fact that it could continue the flight and land with one engine working, it was classified as the safest of the structures.

The advantage of the Mosquito was the A.l. Mk. IV / V. It had a greater range than that of the Luftwaffe, although its disadvantage was a narrow search field. The disadvantage of the plane was the narrow track, which made the plane not very stable on the ground. It required more experience from the pilot, similar to landing with one engine working. This is reflected in the statement of the Polish pilot from 307 Squadron Jerzy Damsz: “Mosquito - the plane that won our hearts. In the air, he obeyed the pilot as much as a good dancer to his partner. "