Those magnificent men in their flying machines

[sclamb]

From our local De Havilland Mosquito Museum.

Mosquito:



Sea Vixon:



De Havilland/Cierva C.24 Autogiro



De Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth:



Simon

[jaapv]

Do I see a piece of the wooden fuselage on the left of the Mosquito? Those things were built out of used matchsticks, I believe

[sclamb]

Jaap, yes it is part of a wooden fuselage, but luckily not part of a Mosquito!

Simon

[stuny]

Simon -

Lovely collection of photos and a/c. Thank you for posting them.

[sclamb]

Thank you Stuart.

Simon

[Marquinius]

Simon,

Very nice series, with the Mosquito being top of the bill! Don't tell me it's in flying condition ...

[sclamb]

Thanks Marco. I believe that the Mosquito is fully restored and flight worthy. It would be an amazing sight to see it in the air. A Spitfire did a few passes as I was standing in the car park!

Simon

[Marquinius]

Now that would be something: the sound of TWO Merlins in sync. I'll be visiting Duxford july 20 - 22 and am sure I'll get a good dose of sounds.

[michael_boylan]

Originally Posted by jaapv

Do I see a piece of the wooden fuselage on the left of the Mosquito? Those things were built out of used matchsticks, I believe

Yep. Made of wood. As were the jet powered Sea Vixens, Venoms and Vampires built after the war. Incredible mix of old and new: pioneering jet engines with glu-lam wooden fuselages.

It's a great museum to visit, if a little pricey. Amazing to see one of the best fighter/bombers to come out of the war was conceived and built in a shed. How British

Simon, thanks for posting.
070804_DeHavilland14.jpg

(D2)

Michael

[elansprint72]

I think that the piece of wooden fuselage actually is a Mosquito, they seem to have more bits and pieces than you can shake a (match) stick at, these days.
None of the Mosquitos at the museum are in flying condition, the only one left in the world which can fly is with Kermit Weeks at Oshkosh and for some reason he chooses not to fly it. There is some excellent footage on you-tube of it leaving Strathallan; there is also some awful footage of the last one which was flown regularly, coming to grief at Barton a few years ago. It used to be kept near Chester and we regularly saw it departing for airshows on a Friday, following the railway lines; the noise was fabulous. There is a shot of it flying on my website.
There is one in Oz which is coming along nicely and may get back into the air and there was one in Canada headed the same way until it was sold and dropped out of sight.
Thanks for showing these photos.
Here is the prototype Mosquito (which was actually built on site before being flown over to the DH factory at Hatfield) at the museum, it was undergoing a rebuild when I visited.

[biglouis]

Such an evocative WW2 plane, possibly the second most, after the Spit? Nicely captured. I once visited a Mosquito museum somewhere in Herts, is this the place???

LouisB

[sclamb]

Originally Posted by biglouis

Such an evocative WW2 plane, possibly the second most, after the Spit? Nicely captured. I once visited a Mosquito museum somewhere in Herts, is this the place???

LouisB

Yes Louis, this is the place.

Simon

[sclamb]

Originally Posted by elansprint72

I think that the piece of wooden fuselage actually is a Mosquito, they seem to have more bits and pieces than you can shake a (match) stick at, these days.
None of the Mosquitos at the museum are in flying condition, the only one left in the world which can fly is with Kermit Weeks at Oshkosh and for some reason he chooses not to fly it. There is some excellent footage on you-tube of it leaving Strathallan; there is also some awful footage of the last one which was flown regularly, coming to grief at Barton a few years ago. It used to be kept near Chester and we regularly saw it departing for airshows on a Friday, following the railway lines; the noise was fabulous. There is a shot of it flying on my website.
There is one in Oz which is coming along nicely and may get back into the air and there was one in Canada headed the same way until it was sold and dropped out of sight.
Thanks for showing these photos.
Here is the prototype Mosquito (which was actually built on site before being flown over to the DH factory at Hatfield) at the museum, it was undergoing a rebuild when I visited.

Great information, thanks. I got a picture like yours and it shows that the prototype remains as it was.



Simon

[roydonian]

An example from the era of 'wooden planes and iron men', and an earlier example of de Havilland design - the DH9 at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford.

[HarryW]

Ah memories.
Braddock VC in the Victor Comic circa late fifties/ early sixties.

Harry