de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito

Few can find much fault in the de Havilland design of its Mosquito series of nightfighters featured so prominently in the Battle of Britain and throughout the entire World War Two campaigns across Europe. The twin-engine nightfighter offered up a level of protection unseen before and would solidify its place in the Pantheon of military aviation history with stellar sortie ratios and performance handling.

The initial design foray for Mosquito production resulted in three similar takes on the same premise - to produce a fighter / bomber capable of flying high enough and fast enough that no defensive weapon could threaten it (a common formula for much of the Cold War-era jet bomber designs). The three models became the Mosquito in dayfighter, bomber and fighter-bomber variants. Production proceeded on the bomber variant while designs for the fighter and a specialized photo-reconnaissance variant was drawn up.

Upon seeing the Mosquito in trials, the British Air Ministry elected to fit the Mosquito with an impressive and highly sophisticated airborne interception radar (commonly referred to as AIR). The resulting breed was the Mosquito nightfighter variant (hence the NF designations) armed with an array of 4 x 20mm cannons fitted just below the two-man crew compartment (early versions also maintained machine guns in the nose). This nightfighter variant was further developed into a unique killing machine by the addition of a flat bulletproof windscreen for added protection and reinforced wing spars to boot.

Mosquitos replaced the outclassed Bristol Beaufighters (detailed elsewhere on this site) as the frontline nightfighter for the RAF, seeing action in most European and African Theaters that it could reach. This same model proved quite proficient as a ground attack aircraft, so much so in fact, that the fighter version planned was canceled altogether.

Attacking convoys, enemy bombers and fighters along with inbound supply trains, the Mosquito proved its worth. A mix of future models produced various Marks with improved radar systems and the deletion of the nose-mounted machine guns altogether). The Mosquito FB.Mk VI would go on to become the most widely utilized model in the series, able to mount 2 x 500lb bombs in addition to the four cannon armament and radar-finding system.

Mosquito fighters would not only be called upon to search and destroy incoming fighters and bombers but the series would also find a role in intercepting and destroying incoming V-1 rockets that would terrorize London and kill as many as 30,000 civilians by war's end. Mosquitos would account for no fewer than a reported 430 V-1 rockets at the end of the war.

The D.H.98 would see an evolution of sorts later on, being modified and successfully landed onto the deck of a British carrier. Of the 7,781 Mosquitos produced, most would agree that the NF.30 fighter variant was the pinnacle of the series, featuring a high-altitude capability. Mosquito lore would continue past the war with the DH.98 still serving in a defensive role during the Cold War while the rest of British aviation technology caught up to surpass it by 1950.

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Last Revision: 6/25/2009