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Britain's De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito^1,2,3

De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito:	De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito:	De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito:	De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito:
De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito:	De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito:	De Havilland Sea Mosquito:

Design

The de Havilland Mosquito was a private venture that was made primarily of wood that was conceived in 1938.^2,3

The outer skin was made of two plywood skins with spruce blocks between.¹ The wing was made out of wood with a fabric cover.¹

The bomber and reconnaissance versions had glazed noses.¹

The propellers rotated in the same direction which caused the plane to have a swing on take-off.¹

Prototype

Officials weren't thrilled by the plane but eventually it's performance sold it.¹

The first DH.98 / B³ prototype flew on November 25, 1940.^1,2,3,4 The F prototype flew in May 1941.³ The PR prototype (WR4050⁴) first flew in June 1941.³

In December 1940 the prototype was able to go 255 mph with the single stage supercharged Merlin 21 engines.⁴ Then on January 16, 1941 the WR4050 was able to fly faster than a Spitfire at 6,000'.⁴ The prototype then had Merlin 61 engines installed and it was able to go 433 mph at an altitude of 28,500'.⁴

Production

On December 30, 1940 a contract for 150 Mosquitos (fighters and photo reconnaissance planes) was given.⁴

Initially an order of 50 Mosquito bombers was given.⁴ De Havilland was instructed that the last 10, from the initial order of 150, should be made into unarmed bombers.⁴ These were to become the B IV Series I and the first prototype was designated the W4072 and first flew on September 8, 1941.⁴

• Bomber (B)
  • B prototype: 1³
  • B.IV: 300³ First production model.³
    • B.IV Series 1: 9³
  • B.VII: 25³
    • Constructed in Canada³
  • B.IX: 54³
  • B.XVI: 529³
  • B.XX: 245³
    • Constructed in Canada³
  • B.25: 400³
    • Constructed in Canada.³
  • B.35: 276³
• Fighter (F)
  • F prototype: 1³
  • F.II / NF.II: 467³
• Fighter Bomber (FB)
  • FB.VI: 2,257¹
    • Constructed by de Havilland, Standard Motors, and Airspeed¹
  • FB.XVIII: 27 converted FB.VI.¹
  • FB.21: 3³
    • Constructed in Canada.³
  • FB.24: 1³
    • Constructed in Canada.³
  • FB.26: 338³
    • Constructed in Canada.³
  • FB.40: 178³
    • Constructed in Australia.³
• Night Fighter (NF)
  • NF.XIII: 270³
  • NF:XIX: 220³
  • NF.30: 530³
• Photo Reconnaissance (PR)
  • PR prototype: 1³
  • PR.I: 10³
  • PR.IX: 90³
  • PR.XVI: 432³
  • PR.32: 5³
  • PR.34: 50³
  • PB.40: 6³
    • Constructed in Australia.³
• Trainer (T)
  • T.III: 362³
  • T.22: 4³
    • Constructed in Canada.³
  • T.43: 11³
    • Constructed in Australia.³
• Countries:
  • Australia: 208¹
  • Canada: 1,034³, 1,134¹
  • United Kingdom: 6,439¹
• Total: 6,535³, 7,781^1,2

On November 28, 1950, the very last Mosquito, a night fighter, was built.¹

Variants

• Bomber (B)
  • B.IV: High speed bomber that was unarmed.² Entered service in May 1942.²
    • B.IV Series 1: Shorter engine nacelles.^3,4 Could carry four 250 lb bombs.⁴
    • B.IV Series 2: Had longer engine nacelles.^3,4 Could carry 2,000 lb of bombs.⁴ Could carry two 50 gallon wing tanks in addition to the bombs.⁴
  • B.VII: Canadian version.³ Based on the B.V (not built).³ Had Packard-Merlin 31 (1,300 HP) or Packard-Merlin 33 (1,460 HP) engines.³ Could carry weapons under the wings.³ First flew on September 24, 1942.³
  • B.IX: Bomber.^2,3 Joined the Bomber Command in 1944.² Could carry, in a modified bomb bay, a 4,000 lb / 1,814 kg bomb.^2,3 Carried the bomb all the way to Berlin.² Oboe (pathfinding radar) was installed.²
  • B.XVI: Bomber.² Could carry a 4,000 lb / 1,814 kg bomb.² Pressurized cabin.^2,3 Wing drop tanks.²
  • B.XX: Canadian version that had Canadian or American equipment.³ First used out of Britain in August 1943.³
  • B.25: Canadian version.³ Had Packard-Merlin 225 (1,640 HP) engines.³
  • B.35: Bomber.³ Flew for first time in March 1945.³ Had Rolls-Royce Merlin 113/114 engines.³
• Fighter (F)
• Fighter Bomber (FB)
• Night Fighter (NF)
• Photo Reconnaissance (PR)
• Trainer (T)
  • T.III: Trainer.^2,3 Had Rolls-Royce Merlin 21 or 23 engines.³ First flew in January 1942.³
  • T.22: Canadian version of the T.III trainer.³
  • T.27: Canadian post World War II trainer.³
  • T.29: Canadian post World War II trainer.³ Converted from FB.26s.³
  • T.43: Australian trainer.³
• Torpedo Reconnaissance (TR)
  • TR.33: Post World War II carrier based.³ Had folding wings.³ Powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin 25 engines.³ Used a four bladed propellar.³ Based on FB.VI.³
  • TR. 37: Post World War II carrier based.³ Had folding wings.³ Powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin 25 engines.³ Used a four bladed propellar.³ Based on FB.VI.³

Usage

Twelve allied nations flew the Mosquito.¹

Out of all Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers, the Mosquito had the lowest loss rate.³

The Royal Air Force (RAF) accepted the Mk I photo reconnaissance version in the middle of 1941.²

First Use

The 105 Squadron used Mosquitos to attack Cologne in May 1942 / May 31, 1942⁴ in the daytime.^3,4 Four Mk IVs flew over the city after the first Thousand Bomber raid to drop their bombs and to photograph the results of the previous raid.⁴ Two of the Mosquitos were shot down by antiaircraft fire over Cologne.⁴ The next day, from high altitude, two Mosquitos bombed Cologne.⁴ Later a single Mosquito, at low altitude, overflew the city to take photos.⁴ That evening two more Mosquitos were sent and one failed to return.⁴

Main Night Fighter

In January 1942 the Mosquito started to replace the Beaufighter night fighters in defense of Britain.³ The Mosquito night fighters ended the war with 600 claimed kills.³

Against the Gestapo

The Mosquito FB.VIs were used in a precision bombing mission against the Gestapo headquarters in Oslo, Norway.^1,3 Unfortunately the bombs were duds.¹

Found the V-1

A Mosquito of the 540 Squadron flew a mission in October 1943 over Peenemünde which lead to the discovery of the V-1.³

Air Craft Carrier Use

On March 25, 1944, a Mosquito became the first twin-engine plane to land on a carrier, the HMS Indefatigable.¹

United States

The PR Mosquitos were designated the F-8.³

	De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito1	de Havilland B Mosquito3	de Havilland B.IV Mosquito3	de Havilland B.XVI Mosquito3
Type	Light bomber1	Light bomber3
Crew		23
Engine (Type)	2: Rolls-Royce Merlin 21 Piston1		2: Rolls-Royce Merlin 213	2: Rolls-Royce Merlin 72/733
OR				2: Rolls-Royce Merlin 76/773
Cylinders	Inline1		V 123
Cooling
HP	1,230 each1		1,480 each3	72/73: 1,680 each3 76/77: 1,710 each3
Propeller blades	3 each1		3 each3	3 each3
Dimensions
Span	54'1 16.51 m1	54' 2"3 16.51 m3
Length	41'1 12.43 m1	40' 11"3 12.47 m3
Height	15'1 4.65 m1	15' 3"3 4.65 m3
Wing area	454 ft2 1 42.18 m2 1
Weight
Empty	14,080 lb1 6,400 kg1		14,900 lb3 6,759 kg3	15,500 lb3 7,031 kg3
Loaded	22,440 lb1 10,200 kg1		22,380 lb3 10,151 kg3	25,917 lb3 11,756 kg3
Performance
Speed @ 20,000' / 6,096 m			341 mph3 549 kph3
Speed @ 21,000' / 6,400 m	379 mph1 612 kph1
Speed @ 28,000' / 8,534 m				415 mph3 668 kph3
Speed @ 30,500' / 9,295 m
Cruising speed			305 mph3 491 kph3	250 - 358 mph3 402 - 576 kph3
Climb to 15,000' / 4,570 m
Service ceiling	34,450'1 10,500 m1		27,000'3 8,230 m3	36,000'3 10,973 m3
Range	1,860 miles1 3,000 km1		2,040 miles3 3,283 km3
Range with 2,000 lb / 907 kg bombs				1,795 miles3 2,888 km3
Armament
Bombs	4: 500 lb1 4: 227 kg1
Bombs - internal normal load			2,000 lb3 907 kg3	2,000 lb3 907 kg3
Bombs - internal maximum load				1: 4,000 lb3 1: 1,814 kg3
Bombs - under wing				2: 500 lb3 2: 227 kg3

Sources:

1. Aircraft of WWII, General Editor: Jim Winchester, 2004
2. Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Editor: Karen Leverington, 1995
3. Aircraft of WWII, Stewart Wilson, 1998
4. Mosquito Bomber / Fighter - Bomber Units 1942 - 45, Martin Bowman, 1998

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