The conservative British Air Force had a soft spot for the mainstream multi-turret bombers at that time, believing that unarmed bombers had low battlefield survivability, and rejected Sir Geoffrey de Havilland's suggestion. However, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland did not give up this plan, and promoted it with its own investment. In order to achieve this goal, the design team led by r 〝123 engineer ishop must reduce the self-weight of the aircraft. First of all. The aircraft is no longer equipped with turrets for self-defense weapons, and the crew has been reduced from 6 to 2. Secondly, a special wood structure is adopted.
In the history of aircraft development, the light metal structure has replaced the wood structure or the steel pipe/wood skin mixed structure because the light metal structure is stronger and lighter, and it is obviously impossible to lose weight when the new aircraft adopts the traditional wood structure. The designer of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland Company decided to adopt a rare wood structure, namely "molded glued wood structure".
"Molded glued wood structure" was first adopted by LWF Aircraft Company, a small aircraft manufacturing company, on the LWFV aircraft of 19 19. The LWFV aircraft with small production capacity is only equipped by the Czech Air Force. 1922 Northrop company of the United States also adopted this structure on S- 1 biplane. First, a 6.4-meter-long mold is made of concrete, then spruce slices are coated with cheese glue and placed alternately, and the lid of the mold is covered. At this time, compressed air is filled into the rubber airbag in the middle, and the cheese glue is solidified to form a wooden structure, and the left and right wooden structures are joined together to form a fuselage with a wooden bonding structure. 1922 In August, this structure was patented in the United States. Because of its low production cost, S- 1 aircraft is called "the biplane of the poor".
On the basis of this structure, the "mosquito" type is improved, and the wood in the middle of the wood bonding structure is changed into light wood, that is, light wood, so that the weight of the wood structure is further reduced and the strength is enhanced. Wing: except for two metal beams in the middle of the wing, it consists of an integrally formed upper wing and a lower wing; Machine body: the left and right wooden bonding structures are combined into a cylindrical load-bearing structure, and the laying of wires and control cables is completed before the combination; Aileron and tail: metal or metal frame cloth skin; Cooler: installed between nacelle and fuselage, with air inlet at the leading edge of wing; The main landing gear is a double-column structure, and the engine is installed on a steel pipe bracket and supported by a rubber bearing seat.
Adopting all-wood structure is the most far-sighted decision of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland Company. It fully foresees that there will be a shortage of aluminum alloy in Britain during wartime, and there will also be a shortage of workers who can master the manufacturing technology of aircraft metal structures. Any skilled carpenter can produce wooden airplanes, and British piano factories, cabinet factories and furniture factories can all be put into airplane production.
1 940 March1day, due to the demand for high-performance aircraft after the outbreak of war, the British Air Force signed a contract with Sir Geoffrey de Havilland for 50 DH98 bombers, and approved the official name as "Mosquito". After Dunkirk retreated, the contract was cancelled due to the German invasion at any time, and the contract was resumed at the end of 1940. During the trial production of the prototype, it was the most tense time in the Battle of Britain. Sir Geoffrey de Havilland's factory in hatfield was bombed by German planes many times, and employees had to take refuge in bomb shelters frequently. Even so, with the efforts of the staff,1940165438+1October 25th, the first prototype was tested. In order to avoid being accidentally attacked by ground air defense fire and patrol aircraft, the plane was painted bright yellow.
After the test flight, the "Mosquito" style showed great potential and attracted the attention of the British Air Force. The dead weight, engine power and range of "Mosquito" are about twice that of "Spitfire", but its speed is 32km/h faster than that of "Spitfire". The ceiling is11000 m; Especially in the bomb load, the "Mosquito" type greatly exceeds the original design index (DZ594/G tested and carried 18 14 kg CookieBomb, which is four times the designed bomb load; In one test, due to the negligence of the staff, the plane was loaded with 4535 kilograms of ballast, and the plane still took off safely. According to the needs of combat missions, there are 43 varieties of mosquitoes in the production process, 26 of which participated in World War II operations.