Haynes de Havilland Mosquito Owners’ Workshop Manual

Haynes de Havilland Mosquito Owners’ Workshop Manual
1940 onwards (all marks) – An insight into developing, flying, servicing and restoring Britain’s legendary ‘Wooden Wonder’ fighter-bomber
Author: Jonathan Falconer and Brian Rivas

Mosquito. The very name says it all: home in on your target at speed (often undetected), sting hard, turn around and scarper, outwitting the enemy’s attempts to swipe you out of the sky by virtue of your speed and manoeuvrability. If ever an aircraft was aptly named, it is the de Havilland DH 98 Mosquito.

Strangely, it came from the drawing board of a company more at home with elegant biplanes and graceful airliners than aggressive military types, but de Havilland showed in no uncertain terms that, when circumstances called for it, they could produce a decisive design that would outpace and out-manoeuvre anything the opposition could throw at it. Starting with a clean sheet and never hidebound by convention, their idea was fresh and simple, but baffling to the Air Ministry: a speed bomber built from wood with no armament. It seemed laughable.

But de Havilland had the last laugh, for the Wooden Wonder went on to define the concept of multi-role combat aircraft in the Second World War, serving illustriously all over the world in a huge variety of tasks that it fulfilled with honour. Loved by pilots, feared by the enemy, the ‘Mossie’ was a spectacular warbird without equal.

Jonathan Falconer and Brian Rivas open the hangar doors to examine the Mosquito in close-up. They review its development and construction, and recount its impressive career in war and peace, before lifting the inspection panels to look under its skin. Detailed chapters concentrate on the aircraft’s anatomy, and reveal how it was flown and maintained. The fascinating story of how Mosquitoes are being returned to flight in the 21st century gives full details of Avspecs’ restoration of FB 26 (KA114) and Victoria Air Maintenance’s rebuild of B 35 (VR796), among other projects.

Lavishly illustrated with more than 300 photographs and technical drawings, the Haynes de Havilland Mosquito Manual offers a refreshingly different perspective on the world’s first multi-role combat aircraft.

Authors: Jonathan Falconer has written widely about the RAF during the Second World War and is the author of nearly 30 aviation and military history titles. His publications include Stirling in Combat, Filming the Dam Busters, RAF Bomber Crewman, RAF Airfields of World War 2 and the Haynes D-Day Manual. He lives in Wiltshire.

Brian Rivas has a background in journalism and a lifelong interest in aviation, with a special affection for de Havilland. He is the author of A Very British Sound Barrier, which is the story of the DH108 and its pilots, and co-author of John Derry, The Story of Britain’s First Supersonic Pilbt. He lives in Somerset.

ISBN: 9780857333605
Format: Hardback
Product Pages: 178
Dimensions: 270 x 210 x 15 mm