"Take One Step, Another Step" - Morton Hunter
Is it in the background introduction of the author of this one?
I will give you a piece of information. Although I don’t like to answer other people’s questions in this way, because it is not original, but it still has to be like this. I can’t explain it all at once. I don’t know if this meets your requirements, but I think you know that the Mosquito is a type of German aircraft with twin engines. In other words, this is actually a twin-engine Mosquito.
The information is as follows: read slowly, refer to it slowly...
Mosquito bomber
（DE·HAVILLAND Mosquito）
Due to foresight Faced with the possible shortage of materials caused by the war, the British found another way to use wood instead of aluminum to build combat aircraft that are as light as a swallow. Due to this decision, the "Mosquito" aircraft has several major advantages from the beginning, such as low price, good performance and saving raw materials. The "Mosquito" aircraft is a unique and outstanding aircraft model. It has several unique features: first, it adopts an all-wood structure, which is rare in aircraft in the 1940s; second, it has many modifications; third, it has an all-wood structure. It has good survivability. During the entire war, the "Mosquito" bombers in the Royal Air Force Bomber Corps alone flew 39,795 sorties and dropped more than 100,000 bombs. Only 254 of them were shot down, and the battle damage rate was only one thousand points. 6.3, which is less than one-third of that of ordinary bombers, setting the best record for the combat survival rate of Royal Air Force bombers. The "Mosquito" aircraft is the pride of the British, and it is also a legendary aircraft of a generation. The "mosquito" often mentioned by veterans during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was this kind of aircraft.
Attached is the Mosquito aircraft designer information:
The very famous British aircraft designer de Havilland is the designer of the "Comet" jet airliner. In 1912, the BE-2 biplane he designed set a flight altitude record of 3,960 meters. In 1920, the designer founded de Havilland Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and made many fruitful achievements. During World War II, he also designed and manufactured the "Mosquito" military aircraft, which was widely used in the military to perform reconnaissance, air combat and bombing missions. In 1944, he was knighted in recognition of his many important contributions to aviation. The "Comet" large jet airliner was a product he successfully developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1962, the British government awarded de Havilland the Medal of Merit.
On January 31, 1943, Goering was preparing to give a speech at the military parade in Berlin that morning. In the morning, the "Mosquitoes" of the British 105th Squadron flew in formation over Berlin, and the military parade had to be cancelled. The military parade that had been rescheduled for the afternoon was canceled again because the "Mosquito" of the 139th Squadron flew over Berlin again. Goebbels, who was going to give an encouraging speech in the afternoon, was also forced to cancel his speech. Although neither bomb was dropped during these two bombings, Goering and Goebbels' boast that "no enemy plane can fly over the seaport over Berlin in daylight became a joke." Goering was furious about this. , said in a speech to the German Air Ministry: .... I was very envious after seeing the "Mosquito" ... The British were able to get much more aluminum than we did, but they developed such an elegant wood. Even the British piano factory can produce airplanes in large quantities and at such a high speed. Compared with them, what have we done? .... There is nothing that the British cannot do. The British are geniuses. We are. What a fool...
What Goering mentioned was the DH98 "Mosquito" fighter-bomber produced by the British de Havilland Company, which was one of the most successful aircraft designs in World War II. The "Mosquito" aircraft is a unique and outstanding aircraft. It has several unique features: first, it adopts an all-wood structure; second, it has many modifications; third, it has good survivability for bombing and combat. The wooden aircraft that integrated reconnaissance, training, liaison, and anti-submarine warfare was once active on the vast Eurasian front. It was a famous aircraft at that time.
The "Mosquito" aircraft was born in the prestigious German Air Force in Britain. ·Heaviland Aircraft Factory.
The company had manufactured a series of light and medium-sized civilian aircraft with elegant and beautiful appearance for more than ten years before the war, and also had certain experience in the manufacturing of multi-engine aircraft. Represented as DH82 Tiger Moth and DH91 Albatross. In 1938, de Havilland suggested that the British Air Ministry develop a fast bomber that could exceed fighter speeds and thus be able to carry no self-defense weapons.
The conservative British Air Force had a soft spot for the mainstream multi-turret bombers at the time, believing that the survivability of unarmed bombers on the battlefield was very low, and rejected de Havilland's proposal. However, De Havilland did not give up the plan and invested its own money to move the plan forward. The design team led by engineers R.E.Bishop, R.M.Clarkson, and C.T.Wilkins designed according to the design goals of a bomb load of 454KG, a range of 2400KM, and a speed of 644KM/H. To achieve this goal, the aircraft's dead weight must be reduced. first. The aircraft no longer has a turret for self-defense weapons, and the crew is reduced from six to two. Secondly, a special wooden structure is used.
The reason why light metal structures have replaced wooden structures or steel pipe/wood skin hybrid structures in the history of aircraft development is that light metal structures are stronger and lighter. New aircraft using traditional wood structures obviously cannot achieve weight reduction. purpose. The designers of De Havilland decided to use a rare wooden structure - "molded glue composite wood structure".
"Molded glued composite timber structure" was first used by a small aircraft manufacturing company, the LWF Aircraft Company, on the LWF V aircraft in 1919. The LWF V aircraft, which was produced in small quantities, was only equipped by the Czech Air Force. In 1922, the American Northrop Company also adopted this structure on the S-1 biplane. A 21-foot-long mold was created out of concrete, and thin spruce wood sheets coated with cheese glue were placed alternately and covered with a lid. At this time, compressed air is filled into the middle rubber airbag. After the cheese glue solidifies, a wooden structure is formed. The left and right wooden structures are combined to form a fuselage with a wooden glued structure. In August 1922, this structure was granted a U.S. patent. Due to its low production cost, the S-1 aircraft was known as the "poor man's biplane."
The "mosquito" type is improved on this structure, changing the wood in the middle of the wooden glued structure to a light wood - Balsa (similar to my country's Paulownia), wood The structural weight is further reduced and the strength is increased. Wing: In addition to the two metal spars in the middle of the wing, it is made up of two integrally molded upper and lower wings; Fuselage: It is made of two half-wood glued structures on the left and right, which are combined into a tube. It is a shape-bearing structure, and the laying of electric wires and control cables must be completed before joining together; wings and tail wings: metal or metal frame cloth skin; cooler: installed between the engine nacelle and the fuselage, with the air inlet opening on the fuselage The wing leading edge; the main landing gear is a double-column structure, and the engine is installed on a steel pipe bracket and supported by a rubber support seat. The appearance is quite new. It adopts a conventional layout: a straight mid-wing, a straight leading edge, a forward swept trailing edge, and equipped with flaps and ailerons. The wing's trapezoidal ratio is relatively large, and there is a split radiator air inlet on the leading edge of the center wing to reduce surface protrusions. The nose of the "Mosquito" aircraft is blunt and round. Depending on the purpose, multiple guns may be installed centrally, or a transparent bombardier inspection window may be modified, or an airborne radar antenna may be installed... The fuselage with an oval cross-section is smooth and slender. The tail is tapered and equipped with a beautiful semi-elliptical tail fin, and the three rudders are covered with lacquered linen. There are two engine nacelles under the wings, the rear end is streamlined and refined, and the large-diameter low-pressure main tires are suitable for take-off and landing at airstrips. The two-seater cockpit is very compact, with the cockpit cover protruding above the nose of the aircraft in a multi-frame format, providing good visibility.
The adoption of an all-wooden structure was the most far-sighted decision of de Havilland. It fully anticipated that there would be a shortage of aluminum alloys in Britain during the war, and there would also be a shortage of workers who mastered the manufacturing technology of aircraft metal structures. , wooden aircraft can be produced by any skilled carpenter, and British piano factories, cabinet factories, and furniture factories can all be involved in aircraft production.
On March 1, 1940, the British Air Force needed high-performance aircraft after the outbreak of the war and signed a contract with De Havilland Company for 50 DH98 bombers (including prototypes) (B1/ 40), and approved the official name as "Mosquito" type. After the retreat from Dunkirk, the contract was canceled for a time due to the threat of German invasion at any time, but was resumed at the end of 1940. During the trial production of the prototype, it was the most tense period of the Battle of Britain. The vicinity of De Havilland's Hatfield factory was repeatedly bombed by German aircraft, and the staff often had to take refuge in air raid shelters. Even so, with the efforts of the staff, the first prototype (W4050) was tested on November 25, 1940. In order to avoid being accidentally hit by ground anti-aircraft fire and patrol aircraft, the aircraft was painted a conspicuous bright yellow.
After test flights, the Mosquito showed great potential and attracted the attention of the British Air Force. The "Mosquito"'s weight, engine power and range are about twice that of the "Spitfire", but its speed is 32KM/H faster than the "Spitfire" (during the test flight in 1941.2, it once reached a speed of 631KM/H); its ceiling is 11,000M ; Especially in terms of load capacity, the "Mosquito" greatly exceeded the original design specifications (a test of carrying a 4,000-pound Cookie Bomb was carried out on the DZ594/G, which was four times the designed bomb load; in one test, due to work Due to the negligence of the personnel, 10,000 pounds of ballast was installed on the aircraft, and the aircraft still took off safely). According to the needs of combat missions, there were 43 modifications of the "Mosquito" during the production process, 26 of which participated in combat operations in World War II.
On September 17, 1941, the PR.I type (W4055) successfully conducted photographic reconnaissance of Bordeaux (Bordeaux) and La Pallice in the German-occupied areas of France and successfully escaped the pursuit of enemy aircraft. After the Mosquito aircraft was first unveiled to the world, the name of "high-speed wooden aircraft" spread like wildfire.
On May 31, 1942, he participated in the "Thousand Planes Air Raid" on Cologne, Germany. A small number of "Mosquito" aircraft were interspersed among the large aircraft formations, carrying four 227-kilogram bombs. They either attacked individually or dropped bombs in groups of several aircraft. The "Mosquito" type can be used for high-altitude horizontal bombing during bombing, and can also be used for precision bombing of small point-shaped targets at low altitude. When strategic bombers fly toward enemy positions in large numbers at night, the Mosquito aircraft acts as a guide on more occasions, finding and marking target locations or dropping flares for the large group of aircraft. This requires it to take the lead and fly at the front. In order to give clear verbal instructions and pre-war encouragement to large aircraft pilots, many Mosquito pilots also went through further training to learn to speak in elegant and standard English. According to statistics, the "Mosquito" aircraft serving as guides alone dropped 15,000 tons of bombs on the German invaders.
On September 25, 1942, the "Mosquito" long-distance attack attacked the German Gestapo headquarters building in the center of Oslo in order to burn the materials and files of the Norwegian resistance movement in the building and prevent the resistance movement from being destroyed. destroy. The Mosquito successfully destroyed the building, leaving the adjacent neighborhood undamaged.
In January 1944, the French Resistance Movement informed British intelligence that more than 100 captured British Air Force pilots were being held in a prison in Amiens, France. In order to rescue these pilots, planes must be used to accurately blast several gaps or large holes in the prison's outer wall, and at the same time destroy the German guard's barracks. At 10:55 pm on February 18, 19 Mosquitoes took off from the British airport, escorted by Typhoon aircraft, to implement the 'Ericho' plan. The Mosquito accurately blasted a large gap in the prison wall and destroyed the guard's barracks. The vast majority of pilots escaped safely with the support of the resistance movement.
Other similar examples include the bombing of the Central Registration Office in The Hague and the Shell House in Copenhagen.
The "Mosquito" FB.
When the submarine enters and leaves the port, it must maintain surface navigation in the shallow sea area outside the port. At this time, the submarine is easily attacked by aircraft. In order to ensure the safety of the submarines, the Germans organized a strict escort for the submarines during this stage of navigation. The escort ships used were minesweepers and a firepower boat 'Sperrbrecher' with a steel mesh and cement hull. The "Mosquito" relied on the large-caliber onboard This is where artillery, bombs and big speed attack. For example: On March 27, 1944, 6 FB.VI and 2 FB.XVIII set out to attack the port of La Pallice, U-960 escorted by 4 M-type minesweepers, two 'Sperrbrechers', and the escort fleet. In fierce fighting, U-960 was severely damaged, three minesweepers were damaged, two Mosquitoes were damaged, and one was shot down. According to records, 8 U-boats were sunk by the "Mosquito" type in one ***, namely U-976, U-821, U-998, U-804, U-843, U-1065, and U-25 ,U-2359.
The United Kingdom also uses the performance advantages of the "Mosquito" to perform a number of special tasks: secretly traveling between Stockholm, a neutral country, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, transporting diplomatic bags, couriers, ball bearings urgently needed by the United Kingdom, special personnel, etc. The famous physicist Bohr was sent to England in a Mosquito bomb bay after escaping the Nazis. When flying over the Norwegian and German fortified areas, the aircraft flew as high as possible to avoid being intercepted by enemy aircraft, and then descended to a low altitude over the North Sea.
The most interesting thing is that the "Mosquito" aircraft often took advantage of its fast speed and good at night flying to fly alone behind enemy lines at night, deliberately increasing the number of air raid warnings in the German rear area. On the night of February 23, 1944, "Mosquito" B. Mk. 9 began to mount a single giant bomb weighing 1,800 kilograms to attack important targets. In the past, such super bombs could only be carried by large bombers. In the summer of the same year, the "Mosquito" bombers participated in the air attack on the V-1 missile launch site. To destroy a position, the "Mitchell" (B-25) must drop at least 219 tons of bombs, and the "Intruder" (B-25) must be used to drop at least 219 tons of bombs. -26) needs to drop 182 tons of bombs, and the "Flying Fortress" (B-17) needs to drop 165.4 tons of bombs, but the "Mosquito" bomber only needs to drop 39.8 tons of bombs to be effective! By "mosquito" B. Mk. The "Night Light Bomber Attack Team" composed of 16 carried out hundreds of harassing attacks on Berlin. For 36 consecutive nights after February 20, 1945, such aircraft entered Berlin to drop bombs every day. On May 2, 1945 , some "mosquitoes" of the 8th Regiment B. Mk. 16 aircraft bombed the Kiel area, becoming the last air raid by British bombers in the war. During the entire war, the "Mosquito" bombers in the Royal Air Force Bomber Corps alone flew 39,795 sorties and dropped more than 100,000 bombs. Only 254 of them were shot down, and only one aircraft was lost every 2,000 sorties. This created an enemy The lowest damage record for ground and air strikes, the battle damage rate was only 6.3 per thousand, less than one-third of that of ordinary bombers, setting the best record for the combat survival rate of Royal Air Force bombers.
The "Mosquito" aircraft is the pride of the British, and it is also a legendary aircraft of a generation.
On May 30-31, 1942, four B.IVs of the 105th Squadron participated in the "thousand-plane bombing" of Cologne. After that, the Mosquito participated in almost every night bombing operation. Due to its high speed, it can basically avoid interceptions by German interceptor fighters, and is usually used as the lead aircraft of bomber formations. After flying over the target, use incendiary bombs to explode fire in the target area to indicate the target for the subsequent heavy bomber formation. Germany hated the Mosquito, but there was no aircraft capable of effectively intercepting the Mosquito. It was not until the night combat versions of the He-219 and Me-262 entered service that the situation changed slightly. In order to intercept the "Mosquito" type, Germany also specially imitated the structure of the "Mosquito" type and designed the FM Ta-154 with an all-wood structure to fight against the "Mosquito" type.
The Germans were not good at wooden structures. The structure of the Ta-154 was damaged many times during test flights. In addition, the factory that produced glue was bombed by the Allies, and the Ta-154 was not able to be mass-produced.
The "Mosquito" modifications are classified according to their uses, and there are roughly the following types of aircraft: photo reconnaissance aircraft, bombers, fighter-bombers, night fighters, bombing guidance aircraft, torpedo bombers, submarine hunters, daylight aircraft Patrol aircraft, minelayers, training aircraft, special transport aircraft, etc.
In the past ten years, 38 modifications totaling 7,781 aircraft were produced in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other countries, and incredibly became the fastest flying twin-engine military aircraft in Britain during the war. , and together with the "Lancaster" and "Spitfire" aircraft, it became one of the three pillars of equipment of the Royal Air Force in the war.
Modification List
PR.I Entered service in September 1941, unarmed camera reconnaissance aircraft.
F.II/NF.II NF.II, entered service in May 1942, equipped with 4*20mm 4*7.7mm machine gun/cannon, later equipped with AI MK IV/V "Arrow" radar or The Turbinlight searchlight gradually replaced Bristol Blenheim as the main force of local night fighters, and escorted heavy bombers for night bombing. It shot down more than 600 enemy aircraft and nearly 600 V-1 missiles. Some of them were converted into F.II day fighters after their radars were removed, and were used in the battlefields of Malta, Sicily, and North Africa. Planned to build 466 aircraft.
T.III trainer aircraft.
B.IV bomber without self-defense weapons, carrying 4*500-pound bombs in the bomb bay. Equipped with the 105th Squadron in 1941.11, and participated in the bombing of Cologne for the first time on 1942.5.31. A small number of them can carry 4,000 pounds of bombs after improving the internal bomb bay.
FB.VI entered service in 1943.2. It increased the wing strength based on NF.II. In addition to carrying 1,000 pounds of bombs in the bomb bay of the fuselage, it also carried 2*500 pounds of bombs under the wings, with a total load of The bomb capacity reaches 2000 pounds. If you do not carry bombs, you can carry 50/100-gallon fuel tanks, mines, depth bombs, 8*60 pound rockets, etc. Some aircraft are also equipped with radar devices. The total output of this type reached 2,584 aircraft, which is the largest production volume among the "Mosquito" type. It is the main model for performing bombing and guidance tasks in enemy-occupied areas.
B.VII Type B.IV produced in Canada is only used in Canada.
PR.VIII B.IV was converted into a camera reconnaissance aircraft with a Merlin61 supercharger engine.
MK.IX is equipped with a two-stage supercharged Merlin engine, can carry 4,000 pounds of bombs, and is equipped with several advanced electronic equipment: Rebecca (Rebecca navigation system); Boozer; Oboe; MK VI H2S (terrain bombing radar ).
NF.XII night fighter, similar to NF.II. The AI ??MK VIII Centrimetric radar is installed. Since the antenna of the radar is disk-shaped, the original machine gun on the nose is cancelled.
NF.
The NF. -86P high-altitude attack aircraft.
MK.XVI is divided into two models: PR. Later in the war, it was used to carry 4,000 pounds of bombs and conduct harassing attacks on targets in Germany.
NF.XVII night fighter, equipped with AI MK X or SCR 720 radar, 4*20mm cannon.
FB. . The original design purpose was to be an anti-tank aircraft. Because the 57mm gun could not effectively penetrate the armor of German tanks, it was all handed over to the Coast Guard Command and became a submarine hunting aircraft.
NF.XIX NF.XIII Modification of modified AI .VIII/X or SCR720 radar.
B.XX Canadian-built B.IV.
FB.21---T.29 Several modifications of the Canadian-built Packard V-1650 engine equipped with imitation Merlin, Not all are put into production.
NF.30 night fighter, equipped with AI MK.X radar and electronic jamming equipment.
PR.32 A reconnaissance aircraft with extended wings and equipped with Merlin113/114 engines.
MK.33 Navy carrier-based version, with foldable wings, four-blade propeller, hook, 4*20mm cannon, torpedoes, and American ASH radar.
PR.34 A strategic reconnaissance aircraft equipped with a pressurized cockpit and Merlin113/114 engine.
NF.36 post-war fighter, equipped with Merlin113/114 engine and AI MK X radar.
TF.37 Naval torpedo bomber, similar to the MK 33, but equipped with AI/ASV MK XIII radar.
NF.38 The final export night fighter, equipped with AI MK IX radar.
TT.39 Target Tow Machine.
FB.40 MK VI produced in Australia.
PR.41 PR.IX produced in Australia
T.43 Training aircraft produced in Australia