De Havilland Mosquito |
Name | Length | Wingspan | Weight | Max Bomb-load | Armament | Speed | Ceiling | Range |
Empty | Max Take-Off |
De Havilland Mosquito | 44 6 | 54 2 | 14,300 lbs. | 25,000 lbs.. | 4,000 lbs. | varies | 379 mph | 34,450 | 1,860 mi. |
De Havilland Mosquito Tactical Bomber
ID: Plastic tactical bomber gaming piece: De Havilland Mosquito tactical bomber from the game Axis & Allies Europe 40-2nd Ed& Pacific 40-2nd Ed.
The Story of the de Havilland Mosquito: The de Havilland Mosquito was a radical idea that worked. The de Havilland companys founder had had considerable success in building aircraft of composite-wood construction and he felt that he could build a very fast bomber with these techniques that would need no defensive armament, using only its speed and agility to elude interception. He argued that wood could be as strong, pound for pound, as aluminum or steel, and wrote a letter proposing such a development to the Air Ministry. The idea ran quite contrary to the trends of the time, which had been increasingly moving to all-metal aircraft, but the Air Ministry approved the production of some proto-types since its all-wood construction meant that it would be less of a drain on strategic materials, such as aluminum, as long as the required Merlin engines could be spared. With some delays caused by Ministry priorities (and even by workers having to take shelter during bomb raids during the Battle of Britain!) the prototype was finally completed in early 1941 and exceeded even the expectation of its designers by being faster than the brand-new Spitfire Mk II! The Spitfire turned out to be a very flexible design as well, serving not only as a light bomber, but also as a fighter-bomber and night fighter with considerable success! By the end of the war, the Mossies (as their crews affectionately called them) had become legendary. Even Herman Goering, chief of the Luftwaffe had high praise for the design, saying it made him green and yellow with envy that, The British, who can afford aluminum better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again... they have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops! (Pathfinder Aircraft: The Mosquito." RAF Pathfinder Command.)
Usage Notes: Use this piece for Global 1939 and Invasion of Italy Variants as a tactical bomber unit. Other British aircraft of interest may be: the Supermarine Spitfire Fighter, & the Handley Page Halifax Strategic Bomber.