Rod Lewis' de Havilland Mosquito
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Noted warbird collector Rod Lewis, EAA Lifetime 498155, brought his de Havilland Mosquito to Oshkosh for EAA AirVenture 2019. Rod’s example, one of what is believed to be only four airworthy examples of the type in the world, is an FB Mk.VI that was built in 1945. It entered service with the RAF in an operational training unit, and was then sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The airplane ended up in California, and sat for decades until it went back to New Zealand when Avspecs began the four-year restoration in 2014.
We need more of these people saving these fantastic war planes. Rod Lewis and Avspecs should be congratulated
They have been, at international levels, and quite rightly. Long may Avspecs prosper. I'm sure they will, their products are way too seductive. Come on you rich men,
never mind yachts, look to the skies.
“We’re not saving the world but we’re honouring the people that did”. I was already welling up, but this finished me off! Great work, great video.
What a wonderful compliment, and so apt.
Me too
@Alessandro Côrtes Indeed. Perhaps "the people who thought they were saving the world" would be more apt. I doubt most of them would have lifted a finger if they'd known what they were actually fighting for.
@A. Côrtes GET YOUR MEDICATION REVIEWED ---QUICKLY.
@@jdg9999 CHRIST !! THERE'S TWO OF 'EM. THE ONLY POSITIVE THING FROM THAT VERBAL DIARRHEOA OF YOURS, IS THAT YOU--AND YOUR TWIN, WOULDN'T BE HERE.
"We're not saving the world by doing it, but we're honouring the people that did".... Fantastic quote!! How wonderful to see her in the air after all that dedication & hardwork
Not all the Mosquito yellow birch came from Finland. If I have my information right, the Canadian-built Mossies were made from yellow birch harvested by the Hays Lumber Company, Kennisis Lake in Haliburton Ontario. The mill is gone but the land is now called Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve with a new mill as well as a popular camping, snowmobiling, and forest research center.
Beyond incredible. Love these guys for making the enormous effort. A tribute to those that flew the Mosquito in wartime.
The " Mossie " she were the finest MRCA of the period. Bar none. Well done gentlemen.
Well done , indeed.
Agreed. Twin engined. Two seats. Hugely versatile, a vast range of different weapons could be fitted. The Tornado or F4 decades before they were imagined.
It was the best Schnellbomber ever... (o:
people wax lyrical over the spitfire and mustang.... if i had the resources, i'd have a new build one of these in a heartbeat.
just so beautiful an aircraft.
The Mosquito has twice as much Merlin-love and enough room for the crew to have plenty of coffee and sammiches. Maybe even enough room to have a proper in-flight dump if need be.
@@claydayton1897 that last remark sort of dimmed the glow somewhat
@@MrDaiseymay You're welcome.
@Ben SMITH, totally agree. If those lottery officials would do their job right and pick my numbers, I would be in the market for a Mosquito to be produced for my usage. Such a gorgeous aircraft.
@@claydayton1897 That would have been a very tight squeeze, if you'll excuse the expression.
I used to work in the factory with blokes that built them during the war. I used to love it when the company mosquito would park up in the flight test hangar.
When was this?
Me too Hatfield 1979's and 80's
Perhaps you met my father then.....:)
@@babaganoush6106 My friends Grandad built them at Hatfield during the war as well
HOLY SMOKES !!! This is so totally amazing !!! I have been telling this story for 55 years never dreaming I WOULD EVER SEE THE PLANE AGAIN!!. When I saw it in the video I jumped up and said "THERES MY MOSQUITO!!!!!!!" My cousin and I use to play on that Plane at Whiteman in Pacoima 55 years ago when we were Kids!!! we rode our bikes there … The airport manager came up to us one day and said "if you kids love this thing so much , I will sell it to you for a hundred bucks, but you gotta get it out of here!!" . We got our paper route money and bought It.. my dad wouldn't let me take it home and put it in the back yard ,,lol.! About 6 months later, the airport guy gave us our money back . He told us he was going to cut it up!!! We were devastated !! But there was a B25 that we started playing on next !!! I never thought in a million years it was saved !!! A great ending to our experiences THANKS
You need to send your story to the new owner's, it's very interesting and relevant to the planes history.
That's a great story, and yes you should contact the new owners. It's a part of the history of the aircraft like the other commentator said.
@@Useaname thanks I will !
Many planes can lay claim to be the best plane of their time, but only one is totally unchallenged: the Mosquito. Unarmed bomber, reconnaissance, fighter bomber, night fighter, ground attack, maritime patrol: unrivalled versatility.
That is the aircraft, one of them anyways, that my uncle flew in WWII: fighter, fighter bomber, and radar jammer variants. He did not fly the anti shipping version. Flew the B25D bomber as well for the RCAF
A beautiful comment “We’re not saving the world but we’re honouring the people that did” The Mozzie and the Hunter have the most beautiful lines.
As weird as this sounds-she looks happy in the air.
Not so weird. Flying is it's purpose.
Planes are made to fly, they are clumsy on the ground by comparison.
PERHAPS LIKE A CAGED BIRD, SUDDENLY FREED?
@Hammerschlägen M I like shouting--NORMALLY
Kudos to all who designed , built , flew and maintained the magnificent Mosquito back in the day and through to the present.
The best multi-role aircraft of WW II. Consider the "Tsetse" Mosquito which mounted a 50mm auto load cannon, which extended back into the bomb bay and ended many a U-boats day.
I believe it was a 57mm Molins gun. From other videos I've watched, the pilots said they never had any problems with this gun cracking it's mounting despite the massive recoil, nor any other major mechanical problems. Amazing engineering.
Oodles of Noodles They even fitted one Mosquito with the massive 32-pounder antitank gun (by way of comparison, the Molins gun was only a 6-pr) and it apparently functioned perfectly well.
@@mebsrea jeeeeeeeeez I never heard of that one.
Rain Coast The B25H carried a 75MM Tank gun in the air !!! Way larger than the mossies 50MM !!!!!
@@wilburfinnigan2142 And the B25 was larger than the Mossie and, unlike the Mossie, it's gun had to be hand loaded so the pilot had to wait for the crewman (usually the redundant bomb aimer) to load and give the OK.. It could only fire about 4 times on a given rune ,as it was a low level weapon that had to be flown straight and level, which put it at risk from ground fire. And for a plane of it's size, it could only carry about 25 rounds.
Thanks for the video,My Dad was involved with the making the wooden frames for the first prototype,Very proud
lovely - the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (I know it was later but so are the Spitfires which have Griffins) should have one of these built in NZ by this team. Good use of lottery money I reckon.
100% agree
Also the Lancaster (part of the BBMF) was not around during the battle of Britain, so why not.
@@BillCook62 Very good point.
I agree as well, they give out millions to theatres down in London for all the toffs to go to, how about some lottery money for a mossi??? But they would rather spend it on shite!!!
Excellent idea, and seeing as we already have a ''Peoples Mosquito'' being restored right now, what better project, to direct the lottery people to, than this most popular project. I have donated already, am a member, and buy quality gifts from their online shop. I urge you all, to take a look, and donate a few quid. Then we will see our own beauty at our airshows again.
A beautiful sight to behold. I've always thought this aircraft should be in the "Battle of Britain" squadron. While it wasn't in the actual battle of Britain, but nor was the Lancaster.
They don’t make ‘em like they used to. Mossie is a beaut.
A deadly efficient machine wrapped in an absolutely beautiful package. IMO the most elegant looking fighting aircraft of WWII. Signed: a hopeless Anglophile in CA.
@Hammerschlägen M Thanks, thats generous of you, but quite true, friend, Sadly, it seems that those in charge today, wish us ill, and besmirch our brave men and their achievements.
@nuff said TRUE---BUT, it makes me BLOODY ANGRY, to see what those here-today-gone tomorrow, gutless politicians have done to the freedoms, that TRUE HEROES, fought for.
Went to the first mosquito spectacular at Ardmore airfield and still watch the video I made of it occasionally. I followed it’s rebuild at Ardmore over a year and a half and wasn’t unwelcome. An awesome team at Avspec.
Another stunning Mossie from New Zealand. I like the updates like this - but much more satisfying would be a detailed interview/build movie with Avspec people as to how they achieve such results. There are so many questions like metal hardware - how much left and how was it restored, paint process - why was it chosen and how applied. Cockpit detail - surely most of it was missing...etc. Here's hoping.
As a little boy I climbed all over this plane at Whiteman Airport we had a Stearman and my father said This Plane wood never fly again because it was rotted wood. call that 1967. Great to see it went to some good hands and back in the air instead of a static Museum peace.
Hi , me too ! I lived by Osborne and Woodman. Check my post earlier ! Al . Never knew what happened to it. Now I do !
There is no such thing as an object that is VERY unique. Full stop. Unique comes from the French word for one UN.. The Mosquito is my prefered aircraft BUT don't screw up my native language
Yes,, it gets a tad irritating, doesn't it. Agreed - you can't have something that's 'very' unique - it is either 100% unique or it isn't at all. Dictionaries are easy to come by.
OK your point is correct. But, to me, compared to the effort that went in to restoring this machine. It falls into the nitpicking category.
Just fantastic, that plane looks like a model it is so clean
Mossy is a beauty imo.
And the Hurricane, Spitfire, p38 Lightning, p40Kittyhawk, and the p51Mustang. A few others too.
Sadly, another brilliant concept that came about despite the British government, rather than because of it.
TRUE---and it nearly happened to the MERLIN as well. Rolls Royce were denied government financial help in 1937, to develop the vital MERLIN ENGINE. So Rolls Royce dug into their own reserves, to developed the most important Allied engine of the War. Imagine the Spitfires and Huricanes, with underpowered engines, in the Battle of Britain . There's a long history of this---blind ignorance with Whittles JET engine; half hearted interest in Watson--Watts Radar research, Disbelief in the Nazis V" rocket.. Churchill's chief science advisor , said it was not possible ( good job he didn't believe him) and so on.
Utterly beautiful. De Havilland, created shapes that belong nowhere else, but up in the clouds , but with deadly intent.
one of the finest aircraft ever made , and stunningly beautiful too.
A truly great tribute to the many who fought and died for the freedom that permits projects like this to be completed.
Did you know that the Mosquito was the plane which gave its crew the best chance of survival?
My favourite plane . Thank for making them . They are a beauty....
Just still find it crazy those things are wood.
Yep, just like the very underestimated Hawker Hurricane.........
JohnVHRC
Would it make you feel better if I told it it was a composite construction ? :)
My partner had the same reaction, when I showed her a video of a mosquito flying, "yes and it could do 400mph", was my reply, she was shocked
99rsk No. The Hurricane was metal and fabric over a metal tube framework.
@@Joop.23-2-63 TRUE--but you can understand the thinking behind the desicisn, NOT to back the Mossie project, given that the world was building all metal frames and laying them with Ali for withstanding much higher stresses in combat, than the tube and Canvas Covering of the Hurricanes. It was the very reason that the Spitfire was given the roll of fighting like for like, against the ME's, besides, it harped back to another era, that was almost over. BUT--the Hrricane did a fantastic job against the Luftwaffe Bomber's, as we all know.
From a time when England was worth its weight in balls...To bad thats all gone. Now just a shadow of the former....
Oh NO IT AIN'T---our Balls are still Massive.
2:53 That is a most disturbing image.
5:14 That is so much better!
Thank you Avspecs,, and everyone who helped bring this magnificent bird back to life.
Wood - nature's carbon fiber reinforced material?
Love the tetse piccie...when you absolutely have to kill that sub or tank....accept no other....dh tetse
A family friend is a Mosquito fighter ace named Russell Bannock...he just turned 100...Man, he would probably love to fly in this model for one last hurrah! Russell lives in Toronto but visits his son in California frequently...
Next one a Bristol Beaufighter please! They are both my WW2 fave British fighter/bomber types. Awesome work guys. Never stop.
That would be great---built like the proverbial crap'ouse, the Bristol had the muscles, the Mossie , the elegance.
Superb work, always loved the 'mossie' as a kid and was first introduced to it reading the victor comic which always had real life hero stories on the front page.
Fantastic plane and it is wonderful to see one flying again, so good the Germans awarded 2 kills for shooting one down.
BEAUTY AIRCRAFT WAS BUILT THE MOSQUITO
THANK YOU SHARE VIDEO
Still as beautiful as ever.
I highly recommend watching the RAF documentary on UA-cam about "Operation Jericho" the successful low level bombing raid on Ameins Prison in German occupied France on February 18, 1944 with an attack force of 18 Mosquito FB Mk VI's and 1 photo recon Mosquito that filmed the operation, and also included 14 Hawker Typhoons.
They made it in Coastal Command variant. My favorite type.
Maybe they could build new ones now that the production mounds and jigs have been made ......cool narrator
Yep, that would be so cool. And personally i think if they build one 'modernised' version with wood stucture but with turboprop engines and glass cockpit, it would be cool in a different way. Something like a modern tribute to a legend of an aircraft.
There were several twin engine merlin aircraft, the wellington and beaufighter both had merlin equipped varients. Along with Westland interceptors.
Only the Westland Welkin had twin Merlins and was never used operationally ... its predecessor (the Westland Whirlwind) had Rolls Royce Peregrine engines. However, the Mosquito's baby brother ... the DeHavilland Hornet ... did have twin Merlins and was used operationally (in Malaya). A superb aircraft, once described (by Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown) as "over-powered perfection"!
Toby Wenham: No the Westland had the Peregrine The Merlin could not be retro-fitted without major structural change
@@hoatattis7283 in the whirlwind yes. Not in other ones of Thier aircraft
I was in Auckland a few months ago and stopped in at Avspecs, they have good group of passionate guys.
Magnificent. I was moved not just by watching the building and flying of this aircraft but also those words honouring the aircrew that flew these beautiful machines in such horrifying circumstances.
If I just had a billion dollars, I would love to own one like that. A labor of love to restore a beautiful aircraft.
Like so many British aircraft designs, the de Havilland Mosquito looks graceful in flight that it seems to be floating.
VERY TRUE--IT'S NATURAL HABITAT
Every time I see something to do with Mosquitos, I'm reminded of a remark the late Australian cricket all-rounder Keith Miller made. In the process of paying out on young modern cricketers who moan about being under pressure, Miller, who flew Mosquitos in WW2, said, "Pressure is when you're almost out of fuel and you've got an M.E.109 up your arse. That's pressure, son!"
I bet in times like that, Keith was glad he was in a Mosquito!
GREAT
Honoring the people who saved the the world is a grand gesture of worth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
My father Flt Allan Smith Jr flew Mossies in WW2 and I have learned so much since his passing. This video is a wonderful tribute to those brave aviators.... Incredible
I read the plywood was made in Wisconsin using presses sourced from Germany! I'm glad that people can work on these types of things. Thanks for sharing.
She looks so perfect, she looks like a model! You've done an amazing job :)
Honoring the people that did. Wipes tears from eyes.
Our house was on the Hatfield flight path for de haviland.
We saw /heard lots
Very proud
Stunning, absolutely totally stunning and deadly. What a tribute to those who flew them. My uncle flew them. He always said there was nothing to touch them. Like the Beaufighter a real tank buster as well as the many other roles successfully undertaken. A truly great aircraft.
Well done, a truly incredible restoration, worthy of honouring those heroes.
and the trophy's they won for their efforts.
People mostly think it was the spitfire and the Lancaster that won the war, no there all wrong, the mosquitoes did every role in the history of flying, fighter, bomber, reconnaissance and passenger (all be it two people in the bomb bay) but it’s role covered everything. The best airplane in WW2 in my eyes, I fly an rc mosquito and every time I fly it it puts a lump in my throat. I wish we could get one flying again in the UK as we tragically lost ours in a display crash years ago.
DeHavilland may well have used metal for construction of the Mossie but the Department of War would not allocate alloy for the prototype as it was in short supply.
That is the primary reason for the adoption of wood and with their previous experience in this form of manufacture DH made one helluva job of it in short order.
I have to congratulate these Kiwis though - having rebuilt two light aircraft, much smaller and simpler than a Mossie, I know the difficulties one can meet - these guys must be a very determined and talented bunch!
I've always dreamed about making one out of carbon fiber. To the exact specifications I mean, only lighter... and thereby faster.
Probably not just faster, but with a longer range to boot. :)
Beautiful airplane and a beautiful restoration. Glad to see such an iconic plane still flying. Wish the sound track had been the engines instead of music. The purr of twin Merlins is music enough.
Absolutely gorgeous!
What a beautiful machine
Sorry you are wrong, you are saving the world by doing it. Projects like yours are the heart beat of the human race.
Magnificent machine
... and Americans flew it in the 25th BG(SP) out of Watton England.
Diver6106 ; Were they not told to give it back and fly the P38 version The Lockheed lobby were very strong back home
@@hoatattis7283 No, they flew the Mossies until the end of the war. I think the P-38s were going to the Pacific as they increased actions.
@@Diver6106 Ok Thanks
@@hoatattis7283 Dad went thru an extensive workup to fly the Mossie, even going to the engine plant for certification. While his navigator went on to fly missions. Then he flew recon in it over the pocket of Germans around Antwerp 'til VE day.
@@Diver6106 Was he US or RAF
Wow, just wow. Thanks to the owner and all those who rebuild this plane. Wow.....
Fantastic dedication! Great job,! Thanks for posting! Cheers!
My Grandad was a navigator in one of those flying low level strikes for RAF 613 Squadron during 1944 - 1945. Beautiful aircraft, but terrifying missions. It's really good to see one flying again.
Awesome...absolutely brilliant. 👍🏻👏🏻
I've just had some sort of wargasm.
Utterly magnificent. So thank you all involved and for posting this. It's very stirring.
Awesome! Loved seeing this at Airventure 2019.
That last comment was spot on.
The last flying "Mosquito" in G.B. crashed at an airshow near me in 1996, while pulling out of a loop: the accident was said to have been caused by a power-loss (possibly a carburettor design-fault that hadn't been discovered until then (1996!) Let's hope that none of the flyable "Mosquito" restorations/new-builds gets wrecked when a pilot is tempted to do aerobatics.
Did you know that Canada built the lancaster the hawker huricane and the mosquito which was made from wood harvested from the forests of British Columbia Canada
Edward Andrews The Mosquitos were built in Australia as well
Several different types of A/C were constructed in Canada. Lancs, Mossie's,
Boleybrokes, Hell Divers, Hampdens, Hurries. The fuselage section which
contained the " pressurization " tube for the B -29s were constructed at the
Boeing hanger in Vancouver. Other components were also fabricated.
Top shelf Canadian lumber was used in the " Mossie's " construction.
As noted above, B.C. forests provide Sitka spruce. The birch veneer utilized
to " skin " the " Mossie's " wings was sourced from J.D.Irving wood lots from
St.John, N.B.
Edward Yes and did you know those plane also used the Packard, built in the USA merlins ????? Do the research !!!! DUUUH!!!!!
Canadians also flew 63 different aircraft up to and including the B17 flying fortress in 1939
@@edwardandrews1241 The RCAF purchased 6 B-17s ( x - trainers ) from the
American's. 3 B-17 E and 3 B-17 F variants. When these A/C were TOC
at RCAF Stn Rockcliffe, Ont they were described as being " clapped " out.
All un necessary equipment had to be stripped out. A few of these kites
had to have the engines removed for overhaul, and fresh ones sourced .
These B-17s were assigned to No.168 HT Sqdn. Their sole job was to fly
the mail, and operations began in December of '43. Only one of the B-17s
survived, and she was sold after the War. Cheers and Merry Christmas.
Powerful stuff. May engineers like these be eternally blessed. We need more epic people like these,for we need more legendary machines like the Mosquito in the air.
(They) packed the nose of the mosquito with a Lot of fire power
yeah--how come it never shattered ?
Stunning job, brilliant work and restoration project, no wonder you feel privileged. Quality!!
Little NZ , Thank You.
The RAF Memorial flight needs a Mosquito !
we are restoring one now---'THE PEOPLES MOSQUITO'' FORMALLY STATIC DISPLAY AT THE DeHAVILLAND MUSEUM, HATFIELD Nr LONDON. MAKE A DONATION, AND BUY QUALITY GIFTS FROM THEIR ONLINE SHOP. GOOGLE ''THE PEOPLES M,OSQUITO, SEE HOW SHE'S DOIN, AND DONATE--I DID.
My favorite plane of all.
One of the most amazing, versatile aircraft of WW2. Probably my personal favourite - and how fantastic it is to see this. A real, honest to god, flying Mossie. Absolutely brilliant.
One day i hope to display the mosquito, love the warbirds but especially this one, while i concede the spitfire and hurricanes were the aircraft that saved britain during the battle of britain it was the mosquito that proved truly the most versatile of the bunch, made of wood, powered by mighty v12s, and flown by brave crews. I have time in the Tiger Moth and hopefully soon to have some on the Harvard, but the Mosquito is the ultimate goal.
Not just for me but to remember those that gave so much in the defence of freedom and hope. I truly believe it was what i was born to do, the last words my Great Grandad who was in the Royal Norfolk Regiment in WW2 said to me where, "why arnt you flying".
I owe it to him and i hope that i do not let him down after he and so many others sacrificed so much.
The Timber Terror, or Wooden Wonder has been my favourite aeroplane, for almost 60 years, since I saw one as a child. Very happy to see some being restored. There is a man, not many miles away from here, who has built one from scratch, using original parts from all around the world. It was being taxied along with a Lancaster which is being restored to airworthy condition, earlier his year. It would be really something to see both of them flying again.
Thanks to all of the people who have rebuilt this example to airworthy condition, and of course, thanks to the men who first flew them, about 80 years ago.
Superb workmanship, thankyou Kiwis.
only the best
Beautiful! Very Beautiful!!
What a project. Congratulations to all involved.
Massive love and respect to the AvSpecs guys in New Zealand for doing what they've done, restoring Mosquitos. It's a shame that we haven't had one flying here in Britain for many years. In America, they generally fly slowly in straight lines with the announcer shouting how amazing it is. Still, they have been financing it, so much love to them too - and thanks for the great videos from Rod Lewis Inc so us people can enjoy a little bit of it.
A beautiful flying machine gentlemen. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.Just look what you gave this generation and future generations to enjoy seeing a part of history.
Awesome restoration!
You can tell it was good (it could carry the same bomb load as the hugely bigger American B17) by the way the Americans like to run it down. Often denouncing it as a death trap.
I thought it was made of wood partly as a result of De Havilland’s experience with wood construction but also to save on scarce metal plus the abundance of factories throughout Britain used to manufacturing in wood. But that might just be propaganda.
The Mossie a death trap? No, it was the WW2 plane which gave its crew the best chance of survival. No plane had a comparable crew survival rate.
@@paulstandeven8572 There was only one other A/C that had a comparable
survival rate. The B-26 Marauder.
Sorry Old Man you are wrong !!! Stock as built bomb load for the Mossie was 4 500# bombs thats 2,000 #'s !!!! USAF specs list the B17G's bomb load at 6,000#'s at 2000 Mile range !!! The B17G was the most built version at 10,000 units, that one model was built in larger numbers than ALL Lancasters at 7377 !!!! So old Man Facts don't lie but you do !!!! Give it up you fukin liar !!!
@@wilburfinnigan2142 Facts, facts....
In Wiki, I read the B-17G total production 8680, not 10,000 units
I see B-17G bomb load listed variously as 4000lb or 4800lb, never listed as 6000lb.. +Also, when carrying maximum bomb load, or an overload, the range is inevitably reduced. If you put a 6000 lb bomb load in a B17, there's no way it was going to fly 2000 miles.
Note, lb is an accepted abbreviation for 'pounds', not # - that is a US symbol for 'number', or a musical sign for a sharp note.....
When you are insisting on exactitude, it removes any credibility you might retain if you are yourself inaccurate.
Paul Standeven. I saw an American documentary about restoring and old Mosquito. It was quite critical of the design saying that a lot were lost due to its tendency to stall under not that unusual manoeuvres. The programme had little to nothing to say about it unusual capabilities.
Being British I have only heard of the Mosquito as a wonder plane.
But what does seem to be true was it’s versatility. And it could carry a similar bomb-load to that of the vastly bigger B17.
My favourite Aircraft. Well done guys. Epic job.
Truly AWESOME :)
The Mosquito is a beautiful thing!
Sad to see this plane was left to rot initially. Good thing it got restored.
What a great story, and a fantastic achievement
A real exception machine.
She is magnificent .. well done to the restorers.