"The essence of leadership . . . was, and is, that every leader from flight commander to group commander should know and fly his airplanes."
- Air Vice-Marshal J. E. 'Johnnie' Johnson, RAF

The "Mossie," as it was known affectionately by its British crews, was both simple in construction and design. It was a twin engine, single boom aircraft that placed the pilot and navigator in a side-by-side sitting configuration. The Mosquito was one of the most cost effective aircraft ever built because it was constructed out of wood. Balsa was used for the plywood skin, Sitka spruce from Alaska and British Columbia for the wing spars, and Douglas Fir stringers and birch and ash for the longitudinal pieces. These were all held together with glue and wood screws. The result was an airplane that was easy to maintain, tolerant of battle damage, and simple to patch. It was faster than the Spitfire, flew higher than almost any other aircraft, and carried tremendous firepower over great distances. The bomber version operated with relative impunity over Germany til the end of the war, because the Luftwaffe never had a nightfighter fast enough to intercept it. Interestingly, the nightfighter versions of the Mosquito remained in production until 1947, two years after the war in Europe had ended.

The FB Mk. VI, which first flew on June 1st, 1942, was powered by two, single-stage two-speed, 1,460 hp (1,090 kW) Merlin 21s or 1,635 hp (1,219 kW) Merlin 25s, and introduced a re-stressed and reinforced "basic" wing structure capable of carrying single 250-or-500 lb (110-or-230 kg) bombs on racks housed in streamlined fairings under each wing, or up to eight RP-3 25lb or 60 lb rockets. In addition fuel lines were added to the wings to enable single 50 imp gal (230 L) or 100 imp gal (450 L) drop tanks to be carried under each wing. The usual fixed armament was four 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannon and four .303 (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, while two 250-or-500 lb (110-or-230 kg) bombs could be carried in the bomb bay.

Unlike the F Mk.II, the ventral bay doors were split into two pairs, with the forward pair being used to access the cannon, while the rear pair acted as bomb bay doors. The maximum fuel load was 719.5 imp gal (3,271 L) distributed between 453 imp gal (2,060 L) internal fuel tanks, plus two overload tanks, each of 66.5 imp gal (302 L) capacity, which could be fitted in the bomb bay, and two 100 imp gal (450 L) drop tanks. All-out level speed is often given as 368 mph (592 km/h), although this speed applies to aircraft fitted with saxophone exhausts. The test aircraft (HJ679) fitted with stub exhausts was found to be performing below expectations. It was returned to de Havilland at Hatfield where it was serviced. Its top speed was then tested and found to be 384 mph (618 km/h), in line with expectations. 2,298 FB Mk. VIs were built, nearly one-third of Mosquito production. Two were converted to TR.33 carrier-borne, maritime strike prototypes.

The FB Mk. VI proved capable of holding its own against fighter aircraft, in addition to strike/bombing roles. For example, on January 15th, 1945, Mosquito FB Mk. VIs of 143 Squadron were engaged by 30 Focke-Wulf Fw 190s from Jagdgeschwader 5: the Mosquitoes sank an armed trawler and two merchant ships, but five Mosquitoes were lost (two reportedly to flak), while shooting down five Fw 190s.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RCAF De Havilland Mosquito B Mk. VI intruder aircraft that was nicknamed "Moonbeam McSwine" and piloted by James Forrest "Lou" Luma, who was attached to No.418 Intruder Squadron, then deployed to Debden, England, on January 22nd, 1944. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 9-inches
Length: 6-3/4-inches

Release Date: April 2022

Historical Account: "Intruder Alert" - Encouraged to join the Royal Canadian Air Force following a chance meeting with a serving RCAF pilot, American James Forrest "Lou" Luma successfully negotiated his pilot training and was posted to fly the de Havilland Mosquito in England, even though he didn't even know what one looked like at that point. Arriving in England in the summer of 1943, he was assigned to No.418 squadron to fly night intruder missions and was given the luxury of just a single flight observing a flight instructor (from the navigator's seat), before making his first Mosquito solo. Re-assigned to the USAAF in July 1943, Luma was allowed to remain flying with the RCAF as they didn't want to break up his successful partnership with friend and navigator since training, Colin Finlayson, a man with whom he would go on to fly thirty operational missions. The Mosquito fighter the pair normally flew was quite unusual in that it sported nose artwork, something which was the exception rather than the norm on Royal Air Force fighters.

Known as "Moonbeam McSwine", the nose art featured a pipe smoking, gun toting Hillbilly girl of the same name, a character from the 'Li'l Abner' comic strip which was popular at the time. The pair scored their first victory when shooting down a Messerschmitt Me 410 nightfighter near Wunstorf on the night of January 21st-22nd, 1944, an aircraft which had shot down a British bomber earlier that same night and had returned to base to re-fuel and re-arm. On taking off for this second sortie, the Luftwaffe pilot forgot to turn off his lights, making the German fighter relatively easy prey for Luma in his prowling Mosquito intruder.