The wooden wonder documentary

[Mastermariner]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ha8h5Pfy_s&index=85&list=WL

 

Interesting airplane.

Compared to the Lancaster and B 17 how did it compare bomb load, cost etc?

 

Master

[Klaue]

S! What a great video. THX for sharing outstanding.

[Leaf]

The documentary on the plane that saved Britain is not available...in Britain. 

 

EDIT: If you live in the UK, it's currently available on 4oD. (Channel 4's equivalent of iPlayer)

Edited July 5, 2014 by LeafyPredicament

[Skoshi_Tiger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ha8h5Pfy_s&index=85&list=WL

 

Interesting airplane.

Compared to the Lancaster and B 17 how did it compare bomb load, cost etc?

 

Master

Mosquito max bomb load was 4000lbs V Lancaster 14000lbs (or 22000lbs worth of Grand slam in specialized version)

[Mastermariner]

http://www.2worldwar2.com/mosquito-2.htm

 

"Bomber command used the De Havilland Mosquito to improve the very poor accuracy of the heavy bombers and to reduce their losses, but it refused to consider the alternative, which was finally adopted only after World War 2 and dominates modern air power since. The alternative was to replace the big and slow and expensive heavy bombers with the Mosquito as Bomber command's main bomber. The points in favor of this alternative were also clearly presented by group commander Bennett, as a comparison between the Mosquito and the Lancaster, which was the best British heavy bomber:

• Mosquito carries to Berlin half the bomb load carried by a Lancaster, but...
• Mosquito loss rate is just 1/10 of Lancasters' loss rate
• Mosquito costs a third of the cost of a Lancaster
• Mosquito has a crew of two, compared to a Lancaster's crew of seven
• Mosquito was a proven precision day bomber and the Lancaster was not.

Bennett added that any way you do the math with those data, "It's quite clear that the value of the Mosquito to the war effort is significantly greater than that of any other aircraft in the history of aviation". In the German side, Erhard Milch, the deputy head of the Luftwaffe, said about the Mosquito "I fear that one day the British will start attacking with masses of this aircraft". But in one of the greatest allied mistakes in World War 2, bomber command persisted with its heavy bombers, and less than 1/4 of the Mosquitoes produced were of bomber types."

It's not as simple as comparing weight of bomb load. The whole cost of the unit, material, personal etc has to be added. What's the use of a bomb falling way of target?

How does the B-17 add up?

 

Master  

[Skoshi_Tiger]

It's interesting to see that after the war Britain developed the Mosquito concept of small (relatively ), fast,  unarmed bombers  with the likes of the English Electric Canberra and the Vulcan.

[MarcoRossolini]

Is there ever a documentary made about military hardware which doesn't a) say the equipment saved/won the war  and b) isn't "top secret" ?

 

Interesting doco non the less, I'll definitely have a look

And good on the BBC for making a doco with the presenter in a wheel chair, honestly that's something to be applauded these days.

[Sternjaeger]

The Mossie was a peculiar machine: lots of power (great once airborne, always tricky when you had to put her down or take off..), unconventional structure, staggering performance. 

In a way it was a racing aircraft really, a curious hybrid which wasn't exactly perfect (it suffered badly from humidity, the ones in the pacific had catastrophic failures), but surely made a name for itself! 

 

I'd love to see one flying, but frankly even seeing it parked is impressive!

[TheBlackPenguin]

Thanks for the upload!

 

If I had to choose to fly an airplane in WW2, the Mosquito is the one I would choose for sure.

 

The average bomb load of the B-17 was around 4,000 lb, so the Mosquito had a similar load to the B-17.

[Mags]

Thank for sharing this. Very good documentary. The presenter-guy had a great time...I would have had that too!

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 Thanks for sharing. Mosquito truly was a great and versatile plane. Those humidity problems Stern mentioned were cured mostly by the change of the glue used etc.

[Sternjaeger]

S!

 

 Thanks for sharing. Mosquito truly was a great and versatile plane. Those humidity problems Stern mentioned were cured mostly by the change of the glue used etc.

 

were they? I thought it was withdrawn from PTO service?

[Feathered_IV]

Mossies were built in Australia under licence and used in action as well as for some time post-war, if I remember rightly.

 

Thanks for the documentary. I really enjoyed watching it. Certainly one of the most beautiful and interesting aircraft of all time

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 I could be wrong, but I read somewhere that the problem was the glue and it had to be changed curing most of the problems. And wasn't the Mosquito's successor Hornet also used in Malay campaigns?

[MiloMorai]

Two glue types were used - Casein glue was the initial adhesive, which was susceptible to heat and humidity. This failed in the far east. Aircraft assembled using formaldehyde resin glue were not affected.