Seems NZ has a Mosquito infestation...

MontyB

All-Blacks Supporter
We have two more undergoing restoration as well.

Rising from the ashes...
A restored WWII de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito fighter-bomber was flown for the first time out of Ardmore Airport yesterday following a lengthy rebuild. As a tribute to the RNZAF, the aircraft wore the same colours as the original: No. 75 Sqn RNZAF – NZ2337 (YC-F) which was destroyed in a hangar fire at Ohakea 66 years ago. Fittingly, the two test pilots who flew the Mosquito are both ex-RNZAF pilots, Dave Phillips and Keith Skilling.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-I4hZah_Pc[/ame]

Something not seen for quite a while I imagine...

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A Mosquito with a Spitfire as a chase plane.
:)
 
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Brilliant. An amazing and very versatile aircraft.

Last time I saw one was about 30 to 40 years ago, when one flew low over my house in UK
 
MontyB,
Thank you for the treat! It may be the ONLY Mosquito I like. And the sound... Yeah!!!

Dadsgirl
 
Seems I was wrong there are at least 6 being rebuilt here.
Two for American collections.
Three for local collections.
One for a UK collection.
 
Seems I was wrong there are at least 6 being rebuilt here.
Two for American collections.
Three for local collections.
One for a UK collection.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight want one, I don't know if its one you blokes are building.

MontyB,
Thank you for the treat! It may be the ONLY Mosquito I like. And the sound... Yeah!!!

Dadsgirl

Ah a Lady of taste. The Rolls Royce Merlin has that ""Special Sound."" Whenever I hear one (or multi's like the Mozzy) the hair on my arms stand up. Its a beautiful V12 27 Litre that was transformed and improved over the years and used in many aircraft, as well as detuned versions in Motor Torpedo and Motor Gun Boats as well as tanks.

All in all an amazing engine
 
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The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight want one, I don't know if its one you blokes are building.

We are building one to be based at Biggin Hill...
The Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar announced on 4th November 2015 that they had been commissioned, in association with Avspecs in New Zealand, to restore a de Havilland Mosquito to airworthy condition. The Mosquito will be based at Biggin Hill.


Avspecs were also responsible for the restoration of KA114, Jerry Yagen's airworthy Mosquito FB.26, now based at the Military Aviation Museum, Virginia Beach, Virginia.


The second and only other airworthy Mosquito is B.35 VR796, which was restored to flying condition by Victoria Air Maintenance in British Columbia. VR796, now owned by Bob Jens in Vancouver and painted to honour the famous "F" for Freddie, made its first post-restoration flight on 16 June 2014 and its first airshow display at Abbotsford on 9th August 2014.


Of the nearly 8,000 built, only another 28 Mosquitos remain either on display, in storage or under renovation around the world. Amongst these is RL249. This is being rebuilt for The People’s Mosquito, a charity whose aim is to restore de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito NF.36 RL249 to flight, as well as informing and educating current and future generations about the Mosquito and its place in history. Although originally an NF.36, RL249 is being rebuilt as an FB.V1 with the intention that it could also be converted to an NF.11, T.111 and possibly other marks.
The last Mosquito to fly in the UK was G-ASKH, which was lost with its 2 crew at an airshow incident in Lancashire on 21st July 1996.
http://britishairshows.com/de-havilland-mosquito-to-fly-in-uk.html
 
We are building one to be based at Biggin Hill...

Then it cannot be the one that the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight commissioned.

Its good to hear that so many Mosquitos are being returned to airworthy condition, they really were an amazing multirole airframe.

I have heard that another Lancaster in the uk will be brought back to airworthy condition again, at present she is only certified for taxi runs.

I would like to see three more aeroplanes brought back to airworthy condition, a Wellington, a Short Sterling and a Halifax. They all made a very important contribution to Bomber Command.
 
My understanding is that there will not be a Short Sterling rebuilt in the near future as they were almost entirely destroyed post-war and the ones that have "survived" are being dredged from lakes around Europe.

There is, however, two Wellingtons, one they pulled out of Loch Ness and the other was used as a post-war aircrew trainer currently at Cosford undergoing restoration although I am not sure whether it is airworthy but it is probably the most likely candidate as it must be relatively intact and could be used as a template for others.

The Halifax is another possibility as there is one largely intact one in the UK at the Yorkshire air museum and 3 or 4 others that have been restored that were mostly pulled from Norwegian Fjords.

I think the main problem is that they are expensive as hell to rebuild, maintain and nowhere near as sexy as a Mosquito, Mustang or Spitfire.

This was interesting as well:
08 September 2014


Yesterday at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby, the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster and the visiting Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Lancaster made a little more aviation history.
The 2 Lancasters over-flew the nation’s other working Lancaster Bomber "Just Jane" as she taxied on the ground, making this the first time since the 1960s that people have witnessed three of these machines in the same place at the same time, with all twelve Merlin engines turning.
Some five thousand people had turned out to witness the truly amazing occasion.
 
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My understanding is that there will not be a Short Sterling rebuilt in the near future as they were almost entirely destroyed post-war and the ones that have "survived" are being dredged from lakes around Europe.

There is, however, two Wellingtons, one they pulled out of Loch Ness and the other was used as a post-war aircrew trainer currently at Cosford undergoing restoration although I am not sure whether it is airworthy but it is probably the most likely candidate as it must be relatively intact and could be used as a template for others.

The Halifax is another possibility as there is one largely intact one in the UK at the Yorkshire air museum and 3 or 4 others that have been restored that were mostly pulled from Norwegian Fjords.

I think the main problem is that they are expensive as hell to rebuild, maintain and nowhere near as sexy as a Mosquito, Mustang or Spitfire.

This was interesting as well:

I remember the Wellington being pulled out of Loch Ness when it was on TV in UK many years ago, she pancaked into the lake after an engine failure during a training exercise. The crew who built her witnessed her being dragged from the Loch. A battery was connected and her navigation lights came on.

If I remember correctly RAF Cosford is/was an RAF Apprentice Trade Training Unit, the apprentices have rebuilt a number of historic aircraft over the years.
 
I remember the Wellington being pulled out of Loch Ness when it was on TV in UK many years ago, she pancaked into the lake after an engine failure during a training exercise. The crew who built her witnessed her being dragged from the Loch. A battery was connected and her navigation lights came on.

If I remember correctly RAF Cosford is/was an RAF Apprentice Trade Training Unit, the apprentices have rebuilt a number of historic aircraft over the years.

Reminds me of the StuGIII they pulled out of a bog a few years ago, hosed it off, flicked it into neutral and the tracks turned freely enough for it to be towed onto its trailer.

Vehicles were built to last back then, now a fuse blows and they ground the fleet for a month to figure it out.
 
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