The Mosquito is classic, the lines are just perfect and
iconic. It was so versatile, it was so
innovative. It was powered by an engine that
just gives you goosebumps when you listen to it and it did help
win the Second World War. What do you say about an
airplane that is made out of wood and beats the hell out of
everybody out there flying? The Mosquito is a phenomenal
airplane for quite a number of reasons. It went against the grain of the
times when it was designed and when it was built. In December 1939, when Geoffrey
de Havilland decided to create his own aircraft in secrecy,
without any government funding, the phoney war was going on in
Europe. The main line of attack for the
Allies was bombing Germany, so it made sense for de Havilland
to create a bomber aircraft that would fulfill that role. The design concept was radical. Everybody was building large 4
engine bombers, covered in defensive armour and with
defensive machine guns and de Havilland said "No". "We're going to do something
radically different here; a light wooden bomber and one that
relies on speed to get the job done and to protect the
crew." The British were also trying to
design a huge bomber fleet made of 4 engine aircraft that would
fly for 1,000 or 1,500 kilometres deep into enemy
territory and then come back. Well the Mosquito had that range
with only 2 people. Who would have thought that in
1940 someone could come up with an idea of, "Well, we're going
to build this bomber made out of wood and it's going to play a
major role in World War II." Nobody would have bought that
but I guess somebody did, because they went ahead and
authorized construction. Geoffrey de Havilland found an
ally in the form of Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who was with the Air
Ministry in England. Freeman believed in de
Havilland's design. It was Freeman who brought it
forward to the Air Ministry and then to the Royal Air Force. In fact Freeman found himself
facing considerable headwinds and the airplane was initially
known as "Freeman's Folly". The initial contract order was
for just 50 airplanes. "Logs like these once became
furniture. Now, they're made into war
weapons." The aircraft was made of wood
because it was designed in secrecy at the beginning of the
war, already in a rationing
environment. Geoffrey de Havilland knew that
he would not have access to all the latest materials. By taking regular wood, it made
the aircraft easy to make. It came from a technology that
existed since the beginning of aviation. In those days, there were many
people in England who were used to working with wood, building
furniture, building carriages, any number of things. You had the pool of craftsmen
and you had this material that wasn't getting used, because
most planes were now made of aluminum, so they put this
concept together. The aircraft was kind of a
versatile airplane to fly, but also to be made. There are a number of dynamics
that are involved in designing a wooden airplane. It will be slightly lighter, but
not a whole lot. What it will be is, the
advantage of most metal airplanes of the day, is
incredibly smooth because there are no rivets, there are no
little dimples or protruding rivet heads and that makes a
tremendous amount of difference in the airplane. It is, in fact, extremely
strong. Because it is made of wood, it was almost undetectable by
radar. It's speed, up to 1944, made it
the top aircraft to beat. November 1940, in the midst of
the Blitz, during the Battle of Britain, Geoffrey de Havilland
flew the Mosquito for the first time. The airplane proved itself to be
an immediate success. Faster than any other airplane
in the world. Faster than any other British
fighter or German fighter. Way ahead of the design
expectations, being very fast, very maneuverable, 100 miles an
hour faster than the fighters that would be pursuing it. Not only had its speed, it had
versatility, but it had range, ceiling and only 2 crew members. But here's the astonishing thing
this wasn't a fighter airplane. It was a bomber, faster than any
of the fighters. So right away everyone perked up
on, "Hey, just a minute, we may have something here." de Havilland proved its
flexibility right away by showing aerobatic displays with
the airplane. With a twin engine bomber. I'm very, very proud of de
Havilland for having the courage, against the odds of Air
Ministry, to go ahead with a project they believed in. He did some aerobatics,
high-speed fly-by, smooth. One thing he did, which I'd
never seen done before ... He did a loop. At the top of the loop he
feathered both engines in other words shut them down,
completed the loop. With no power on, he landed
right in front of everyone. That's quite a miracle. Right away, officialdom started
to perk up, and they said, "Well, look, if it's
faster than all of the enemy fighters, what if we did put
some guns on it? Not so that it can defend
itself, but make it an offensive weapon. Make it a fighter plane so it
can shoot down the enemy bombers and perhaps the enemy fighters
as well." So in fact, the second prototype
Mosquito was built as a fighter plane. Right away, as soon as they saw
the possibilities, versatility became the key strength of this
airplane. Especially in 1940, when it came
out, it was the most advanced aircraft of its day. Yet, it was
obsolete in a sense, by its construction made of
wood.
