[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

The Tunnen started design as a propeller plane. Were any built?

The Tunnan never had a propellor variant and was jet powered fighter right from the start. I think you meant the Lansen, which had both propellor(early) and jet powered variants.

[V.Narayan]

^^^^^^
^^^^^^
See post #71. It is the Saab J21R that served first with a pusher prop and then with a turbo jet.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

^^^^^^
^^^^^^
See post #71. It is the Saab J21R that served first with a pusher prop and then with a turbo jet.

Yes, Sir that is correct.
I am just saying that the Tunnan(J-29) never had a propellor driven variant. It was from the beginning itself a jet powered aircraft. The Tunnan, as many of you must be aware, provided fighter escort to IAF Canberra bombers (and other UN transports) during their deployment to Congo as a part of ONUC (French: Opération des Nations Unies au Congo) - the UN air arm from 1961-63 against Katangan rebels. The Katangan rebels even had a small air force, whose aircraft were flown by Belgian mercenaries.

Swedish J-29s in UN Markings


IAF Canberra B(I) 58s flying in formation with Swedish J-29s and Ethiopian F-86s.


The IAF Canberras had ONU painted on the rear fuselage during their Congo deployment and could only use thier ventral gunpacks( usage of rockets and bombs were prohibited):


As for the J-21, I made the mistake of referring to the J-21 as the Lansen, for which I apologize. It was the Saab J-32 that was called the Lansen.

J-21 Prop:


J-21 jet:

[V.Narayan]

I was referring to the post before yours by@Sutripta.
I wish we had gone for the Tunnan in the 1950s maybe even license assembly. It was, in my opinion the best of the first generation jet fighters

[V.Narayan]

De Havilland Mosquito DH.98

Seventy-nine years ago this week, November 25th to be precise, the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito took flight for the first time. One of the most useful Allied aircraft of World War II, the Mosquito performed as a bomber, fighter, anti-shipping and photo-reconnaissance platform. The key to the success of the “Wooden Wonder” was its light wood construction and the power of its twin Merlin engines, which gave it the speed to out-fly almost every other aircraft type of the war. Nicknamed the “Mossie” by its crews, the Mosquito could fly virtually unchallenged and deliver devastatingly precise attacks with bombing radar. Originally conceived as an unarmed fast bomber, the Mosquito's use evolved during the war into many roles, including low- to medium-altitude daytime tactical bomber, high-altitude night bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike, and photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

Production of all Mosquitoes totaled 7,781 and the DH.98 served with over a dozen nations. A Mosquito became the first twin-engine aircraft, ever, to land on a ship on March 25, 1944, aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable.

It was the first truly multi-role warbird presaging today’s MMRCA. It can be seen as today’s equivalent of the Su-30MKI :-) It was the first aircraft to be realistically considered a precision bomber, the first where an attack aircraft can match or outfly an interceptor. It was way ahead of its time in concept and versatility. The Douglas Invader A-26B was comparable but simply not in the same league of speed and maneuverability.

In my view the Mosquito simply was the most versatile aircraft of WW-II.

Wingspan: 54 feet

Length: 44 feet

MTOW: 25,000 lbs (~11.3 tonnes)

Powerplant: 2 x Rolls Royce Merlins developing 1710 shp

Top speed: 415 mph (~361 knots) at 28,000 feet

Range: 1300 miles (not sure with what configuration)

Altitude: 37,000 feet for photo-recce versions

Wing loading: 40 lbs/sq foot

Weapons: 4000 lbs (1800 kgs) bomb load; 4 x 20mm cannons plus 4 x .303 Browning machine guns


Now to go and acquire a scale model of this wooden wonder.

Photo Source: B&W, Royal Canadian Air Force; Colour, Warbirds Magazine

[Sutripta]

^^^
How agile was the Mosquito? Could it mix it up with other fighters in a dogfight?

Regards
Sutripta

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

^^^
How agile was the Mosquito? Could it mix it up with other fighters in a dogfight?
Sutripta

Great question and very apt for that era. The Mosquito could on most occasions out run and out accelerate the Bf109 but could not do so versus the FW190. It had the ability to effectively defend itself against a would be attacker but would be advised not to unnecessarily 'mix' it with single engined fighters. Its assets for defense would be acceleration and speed and where possible higher altitude. In trials if a Mosquito pilot spotted a Spitfire Mk XII on its tail more than 800 yards away it could outrun the Spitfire. I use the XII as an example as in some ways it was the mid-point of the long evolution of the Spitfire.

[Sutripta]

^^^
The wings - any (metallic) bracing inside? How were the wings attached to the fuselage?

Regards
Sutripta

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

^^^
The wings - any (metallic) bracing inside? How were the wings attached to the fuselage?

Regards
Sutripta

Trust you to ask those probing questions for which most of us have no answer. It is rumoured that the last design engineer who worked on the Mosquito in the 1939 died before the internet age and left us all devoid of deep insights into the engineering aspects of the airframe. But the article below from the RAAF Museum, Australia has described in some detail how the wooden wonder was organized internally. Net net -- the aircraft did not contain metal in its structure; main spars of the wing were built of a single piece of wood to render integral strength with no joints; the then new technology of gluing sheets of wood or wood & fibreglass together were used to build the wing skin which as some will know carries enormous aerodynamic loads; only a few engine cowling parts and flaps; ailerons were made of metal; more in the article. The article re-confirms my impression that they made the wing whole and fitted it to the fuselage with joints held together by brass screws coated with glue. See photo

https://www.airforce.gov.au/sites/de...tion/dh_98.htm

[Sutripta]

Everyone knows the Morgan has a wooden chassis. Right.
Was wanting to know the nitty gritties about the Mosquito.
If the wing were really supported on/ by a wooden fuselage, was expecting a spar running through the fuselage and supporting each wing.

Being British, there should be some society or the other dedicated to it. Should be the best source of information.
What about demo/ display models in museums?

Regards
Sutripta

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Everyone knows the Morgan has a wooden chassis.

Morgan what?

If the wing were really supported on/ by a wooden fuselage, was expecting a spar running through the fuselage and supporting each wing.

The wing spars as I said are made of a single piece of wood ie they run right through the airframe with out a break, wingtip to wingtip.

Being British, there should be some society or the other dedicated to it. Should be the best source of information.
What about demo/ display models in museums?

Please share when you find them.

[Sutripta]

Morgan? It's a car forum afterall!

So the spar is a single piece 54 ft in length.

Regards
Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Being British, there should be some society or the other dedicated to it. Should be the best source of information.
What about demo/ display models in museums?

In the UK every second village has a major running some sort of preservation project of something from the war. There are some 30 Mosquito’s left worldwide.
Wikipedia has the list and shows, which one are where, on display or airworthy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...land_Mosquitos


There is also dedicated museum, which has the only surviving prototype on display:

http://www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk/a...ito-prototype/

A restoration project underway in New Zealand. Once completed it will go to my all time favourite aviation museum Duxford, UK . Which already has one on display.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ish-skies.html

An interesting video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoFMB9KpEhg

Obviously, there is a long list of books available on the Mosquito.

And there is a Haynes manual!. I have several of these and I find them very good and informative.

https://haynes.com/en-gb/de-havilland-mosquito-manual

Jeroen

[mpksuhas]

Came across this cotton sachet while clearing old (really old stuff). Along with old postal stamps, bubble gum wrappers was -

East West airlines

[V.Narayan]

A delightful 15 minute video interview of Capt Eric 'Winkle' Brown , Royal Navy , of his first deck landing of a Mosquito. Well made clip. Capt Eric Brown, who passed away at the ripe age of 97, in 2016, is in my opinion the most versatile test pilot the world has ever known. He flew 487 different types of aircrafts, completed the first ever carrier deck landing of twin engined aircraft, the first deck landing of a jet powered aircraft and holds the record of the highest number of landings and takeoffs from a carrier deck.

https://youtu.be/d9Hjne0OA4w