Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Balsa Wood Bomber: De Havilland Mosquito” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/de-havilland-mosquito-wooden-bomber/.
Balsa Wood Bomber: De Havilland Mosquito
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
last2brake
Custom
I'll bet they sound fantastic...
Talyn
Emissary
Not only balsa wood.
While the de Havilland Mosquito was famously constructed using balsa wood as a core material. It was sandwiched between sheets of birch plywood to create a light yet extremely strong composite structure. The use of this innovative wood-sandwich construction earned the Mosquito the nickname "The Wooden Wonder".
Key details about the Mosquito's wooden construction:
7.7mm Browning machine guns = .303 British cartridge. The Brits were using "Imperial Measurements" at the time.
While the de Havilland Mosquito was famously constructed using balsa wood as a core material. It was sandwiched between sheets of birch plywood to create a light yet extremely strong composite structure. The use of this innovative wood-sandwich construction earned the Mosquito the nickname "The Wooden Wonder".
Key details about the Mosquito's wooden construction:
- Composite material: The primary material for the fuselage and wings was a sandwich of Ecuadorian balsa wood between two layers of birch plywood. This produced a lightweight monocoque shell that was incredibly stiff and torsionally resistant.
- Variety of woods: While balsa was crucial, other woods were used for reinforcing specific parts of the airframe, including spruce, ash, fir, and walnut.
- Production challenges: When balsa became difficult to source in sufficient quantities during World War II, de Havilland sometimes had to switch to spruce for the core material.
- Wartime innovation: The decision to use wood was a strategic one, as it avoided the use of aluminum and steel, which were critical and scarce wartime materials. It also allowed de Havilland to tap into the woodworking skills of furniture and piano makers for production.
7.7mm Browning machine guns = .303 British cartridge. The Brits were using "Imperial Measurements" at the time.
There is an old video from in cockpit of one cruising about the English countryside. The Merlins were well synch'ed and could be heard moving in and out of phase in the video, which was quite long.
This one I photographed at the fateful Oct. 1988 show at Harlingen, TX. She is apparently no longer airworthy and is a static exhibit at the EAA Museum. Still belongs to Kermit Weeks, I believe.
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last2brake
Custom
I really like 12-cylinder engines. I've heard a P-38 with twin-Merlins. I wonder if the counter-rotating props sound much different.
Gotta repeat that I'm a sucker for P-51s
P-38's had twin Allison's as standard equipment. Different design than the Merlin.
last2brake
Custom
Well, duh. Thanks
That would probably make it sound different, ehh ?
Actually, P-51s had drifted into my brain when I typed that. My dad bailed out of a P-51 once and I started wondering which engine was in the plane he crashed.
But it was a stupid thing to not think b4...
That would probably make it sound different, ehh ?
Actually, P-51s had drifted into my brain when I typed that. My dad bailed out of a P-51 once and I started wondering which engine was in the plane he crashed.
But it was a stupid thing to not think b4...
Talyn
Emissary
The early P-51's (A model) had the Allison engine but not turbo-supercharged s the P-38 Allison's were, which muffled the engine noise. The Japanese called the P-38 the "Whistler Death" because they were so quiet.
The Brits figured out about fitting the Merlin into the P-51 and the rest was history with the "B" model being the first with the Merlin as standard equipment.
Both engines had their pluses & minuses.
The P-38 was there from beginning to end in WW2, while the P-38 really didn't show up until 1943.
The Brits figured out about fitting the Merlin into the P-51 and the rest was history with the "B" model being the first with the Merlin as standard equipment.
Both engines had their pluses & minuses.
The P-38 was there from beginning to end in WW2, while the P-38 really didn't show up until 1943.
last2brake
Custom
Yep. Sorry. I had P-51s on the brain and I started thinking about the Allison-to-Merlin switch when I started wondering whether he had an Allison or a Merlin in the P-51 he crashed.
I think you meant to say that it was the P-51 that came into service mid-war And, like you said, the P-38 was operational at the beginning of the war.
And I apologize. Neither of them are Mosquitos
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Icepick Mike
Operator
I’m reading this article on my deck and a B26 and a Hellcat just flew over the house in a tight formation. I heard them coming before I saw them. Deep throaty sound and I knew I was in for a treat when they finally appeared over the house. That rumble those engines produce is beautiful. Must be an air show going on at one of the fields in the area.
At one time I lived just West of Palomar Airport and at the time "Cinema Air" had a hangar there with ~15 warbirds quietly housed in a hangar there. Various private owners who maintained flyable examples. From time to time I'd hear them coming or already overhead. Sometimes a contact mechanic there would give me a call if he was prepping a bird for flight.
The late "909" and I think "Diamond Lil" heading out over the Pacific from my Carlsbad apartment, mid '90s.
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last2brake
Custom
Nice pic.
One day, "909" and "Witchcraft" came out of nowhere and flew over the house one after the other. I heard them coming a mile a away.
It wasn't the BEST two minutes of my life, but it's, uhm, up there.