De Havilland Mosquito

Peter wrote:

I can't Imagine.

If the insurance has gone up, and it wouldn't surprise me as their risk calculators don't recognise decimals or fractions below 1, moving to piston engines would be both cheaper and easier. The Mosquito was great to watch and hear in flight but there must be others that would benefit from feeling the air under their wings?

In the classic car scene there are lots of replica bodies available to create replicas of cars that are far to expensive in original form. I wonder if it would be possible to create a full size replica using modern materials to give the look of the original and if possible the sound?

They sort of do that now. When a spitfire emerges from the sands of Calais and they 'restore' it working upwards from the manufacturers plate, they've pretty much done what you have described by building a brand new aircraft.

But they did it properly using original drawings and manufacturing techniques so you pretty much get a brand new aeroplane but it's treated as a restoration because they used the original manufacturers plate.

Had they used mock up type materials etc. As you describe from the classic car market they would never be available to fly it as it would need all sorts of prototype flight testing and flight approvals from the CAA to get a permit to fly so if anything it's probably more straight forward to rebuild a real aircraft!

Anyone see the replica Bentley and Etype Jag on "top gear"? They certainly werent cheap, 500k each!!

The one at Ta Qali might take a week or two to rebuild.

Seeing these pictures reminds me of the Spartan A/S Mosquitoes at Hurn (All CF-IMx etc), the Spanish one EC-WKH that passed through and that batch that stood for a time at Thruxton (G-AOCx if I remember correctly).(All this in the mid-late 50s)

There were also some Mosquito and Sea Hornet bits found in the hedges at St Davids. What happened to them?

John wrote:

There were also some Mosquito and Sea Hornet bits found in the hedges at St Davids. What happened to them?

They went into the rebuild of HJ711 at Elvington . See 1972 in this link ;
www.mossie.org/HJ711/HJ711_history.htm

In the news: WW2 Mosquito aircraft blueprints found at Airbus factory
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-40873628

Thanks Evelyn. Also posted in the Hawarden thread.

I wonder if these are original or duplicates, that is, whether the 35mm film frame on each card is a direct photograph of an actual production drawing or a duplicate of another card. Fortunately someone recognised their historical importance although they were never 'lost'!

PETERTHEEATER wrote:

Yes, but it never went into production. There is a specimen 'plank' in the Science Museum, London with a story card. Keele University R and D was involved.

As an alumni of Keele Joint honours biology and geology failed ! i can remember some huts used for ancilliary purposes which looking back i assume of been(they might even still be there) part of the Keele Hall ww 2 U.S army camp k2666 capacity 2,400 AAf-536 listen in Paul Franciss'es post Army camps/Barracks /Staffordshire . as keele university at the site originates from the 60's i am perplexed as to how it was involved in R and D for the Mosquito.

Keele University has a number of important Archives. Perhaps they were not directly involved with Mosquito production but house documents relating to the production.