10 - Mosquito
Issue 10 - de Havilland Mosquito: Contents
25 May 2011
The ‘Wooden Wonder’ was without doubt one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the Second World War. In this issue we examine all of the variants of this much modified machine and place the reader in the cockpit. From anti-shipping strikes in the fjords of Norway to the jungle heat of the Far East, we tell the whole story of this elegant machine and the men who flew her.
Issue 10 - de Havilland Mosquito: Editor's introduction
25 May 2011.
Legend understood - Just so you know, and I make no excuses for this, I have found that this is the hardest page to write in the whole magazine. Summing up an entire edition in a few paragraphs, particularly when you are dealing with such a large subject as this, is difficult without leaving out something important, making it sound glib, or worse still, trite. Consequently, when it came to the Mosquito, information was not the problem. The problem was trying to understand the true nature of a legend, and express it clearly.
Issue 10 - de Havilland Mosquito: Mosquito Prototypes and Testing
25 May 2011.
In September 1939 a team led by chief designer Eric Bishop set up shop in Salisbury Hall, a 17th century manor house near de Havilland’s Hatfield factory. By coincidence, it was no stranger to designers of streamlined high-speed machinery, having previously been home to Sir Nigel Gresley, creator of the LNER’s A4 class locomotives, of which Mallard was – and is – a record-holding example.
Issue 10 - de Havilland Mosquito: 10,000 Cookies! The Light Night Striking Force
25 May 2011.
The Mosquito Squadrons of 8 Group, the Pathfinders of Bomber Command, undertook many roles, from developing accurate navigation and bombing systems and flying bomber support sorties. They also flew diversionary raids to the Main Force, becoming known as the Light Night Striking Force. Martyn Chorlton details the history.
Current Issue: Lockheed P-38 Lightning
On January 27, 1939, Lockheed test pilot Ben Kelsey took the prototype XP-38 Lightning into the air for the first time. The big, twin-engined, twin-boomed fighter was to become one of the most easily identifiable fighters of the Second World War, and was to be the only US fighter aircraft to remain in production throughout the conflict. Its unusual design had a number of advantages. The guns, being grouped close together in the nose, gave the P-38 a tremendous concentration of firepower. The tricycle undercarriage made ground handling simple when compared with the tailwheel designs common to the period. The P-38 was used across the world, undertaking long range fighter escort, fighter-bomber and reconnaissance missions in Europe as well as across the Pacific and Far East.
This issue of Aviation Classics tells the whole story of this ground breaking aircraft, as well as the people behind the development and operational success of this beautiful machine.
PLUS:
• Next issue on sale: 30th March 2012
