In the 1980s, Jane's of London initiated an art project. It teamed great writers and a magician of light and shadow to profile famous WW II airplanes while telling combat episodes of their pilots.
Hang a pair of Spitfire engines on a lightweight composite (in this case, wood) airplane and what do you get? A scourge of Germany. Do not make the mistake of thinking a wooden warplane might be weak- Mosquitos carried 4,000 lb bombs as far as Berlin (and sometimes twice in a night). De Havillands built upon their pre-war racers, imagining unarmed bombers whose defense was speed instead of turrets. Contrasted with the heavies used in Bomber Command, they were faster, crewed by two instead of seven, had half as many engines, better than double the fuel mileage, and had lower loss rate, even if they carried just 1/3 the bombload.
Some received the latest engines, allowing them to perform as high-flying leaders following radio beams from England. When the equipment indicated, the Pathfinder's flarebombs would drop serving as aiming points for following Mainforce heavies. In the electronic war, the Mosquito carried predecessors of the Electronic Warfare devices (EW) still used by warplanes today.
While not available in quantities to meet all demands, they became a significant nuisance to the Reich; knowing that Goering planned a speech 30 January 1943, Mosquitos raided the city, forcing everyone into bomb shelters. In fact, their appearance on any night was enough to keep sizable numbers awake and sheltering- wondering 'why Goering could not protect against a mosquito?'
A versatile platform, others proved excellent nightfighters, rocket toting fighter-bombers, photo ships and even carried a 57 mm cannon for ship-busting. They adapted to many roles not originally envisioned by planners, but undoubtedly helped win WW II.
See sideviews and details on pages 10-16. There are great comparison drawings on pages 26-32, and their cockpits on p.39.
Other Mosquito books: Achtung! Moskito!: RAF and USAAF Mosquito Fighters, Fighter-Bombers, and Bombers over the Third Reich 1941-1945,Night Flyer: The Success Story of RAF 100 Group, Mosquitos over the German Night Fighters (Fighter Pilots),The strike wings: Special anti-shipping squadrons, 1942-1945.
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