Peoples Mosquito

[Chuck]

http://www.peoplesmosquito.org.uk/2017/ ... -sum-game/

Hope they can make it happen, a flight in one of them is a bucket list item.

[Ralph]

A friend sadly now no longer in touch used to fly Mosquito's
he said that once they got the bigger paddle bladed propellers
they could fly so high and fast nothing could catch them, though
you had to watch them for swinging on landing and even those
magnificent Merlin's could not get them to single engine safety speed
with the gear down.
So if a engine failed on takeoff it was a court-martial offence to do anything
but force land straight ahead .
He also said that if it had the full compliment of 4 20 mm and 4 303's in the
nose firing them all at once would through you against the straps and he had the
feeling that if it had carried enough ammunition it would have fallen out of the sky.
Fabulous air plane sadly I was at Barton when the BA Systems owned one crashed.

[GeeRam]

http://www.peoplesmosquito.org.uk/2017/ ... -sum-game/

Hope they can make it happen

Which group?

The Peoples Mosquito, or the newly announced 'rival' project from the Mosquito Pathfinder Trust, which is why TPM issued that press release about competition benefits neither group....??

[Chuck]

IMO ghod luck to BOTH GROUPS, keep these planes flying. better spend money on that than some daft interpretational dance group from planet Zob!

Ralph: Thanks for that. Saw one flyng at Leuchars many years ago - "warm fuzzies" abounded that day..

[GeeRam]

IMO ghod luck to BOTH GROUPS, keep these planes flying. better spend money on that than some daft interpretational dance group from planet Zob!

Well yes, but, sadly I think they are facing an uphill battle, as while it was a bit of a dig at the new 'rival' group, its true that both are competing for the same money, and the chances of both groups raising the funds to get 2 x Mossie's in the UK are pretty slim.
It's going to require each group to raise about £5m over the next 3-4 years (or less) to achieve it, and in all probability, its going to be a tall order to raise that for one, let alone 2....

The new group need to raise an initial £750,000 by the end of this year to buy the base project and pay the initial commissioning fee to AVSPEC to start it. That's a tough ask. It is a better starting point with a large part of all the metal component that comprise a Mossie which is more than The People's Mosquito project who have a data plate dug out of a hole in the ground and not much else.

[TomH]

Isn't there already a UK based Mosquito that is flying? Saw one fly over the house about a month ago.

[GeeRam]

Isn't there already a UK based Mosquito that is flying? Saw one fly over the house about a month ago.

No, not since the the BAe T.3 RR299 was destroyed in the fatal crash at Barton in 1996.

From then until the first post rebuild flight of FB.VI KA114 in NZ in 2012, there were no airworthy Mosquitos.

There are 'technically' 3 airworthy Mossie's, and all are in North America, FB.VI KA114 belonging to Jerry Yagen in Virginia, the ex-IWM T.3 TV959 belonging to the Flying Heritage Collection in Seattle (funded by ex-Microsoft founder Paul Allen) and B.35 VR796 belong to Canadian Bob Jens based in Vancouver. The Bob Jens example only flew a few times in 2014 after its long 20 year rebuild, and hasn't flown since then, and its very likely to not ever fly again.

Don't know what you saw flying, but it definately wasn't a Mosquito (maybe the Blenheim?)

[TomH]

I wonder what I saw then? Was just a fleeting glimpse really as it was disappearing when I got to the window but it sounded very merlin like, was twin engined and very sleek. Definitely didn't have a civillian look to it. Plus it was very low, like the planes are when they are flying to/from Duxford. Could have been the Blenheim I suppose, it was not long after a another thread here mentioning Mosquitos so I might have put 2 + 2 together I suppose.

Have seen the Blenheim before though and thought that's a Blenheim that is.

[GeeRam]

I wonder what I saw then? Was just a fleeting glimpse really as it was disappearing when I got to the window but it sounded very merlin like, was twin engined and very sleek. Definitely didn't have a civillian look to it. Plus it was very low, like the planes are when they are flying to/from Duxford.

As I mentioned, only twin engine a/c I can think it could have been is this, the Duxford based Blenheim IF, but its Bristol Mercury radials are quite quiet and not Merlin like in sound at all?

[TomH]

As I mentioned, only twin engine a/c I can think it could have been is this, the Duxford based Blenheim IF, but its Bristol Mercury radials are quite quiet and not Merlin like in sound at all?

Alright, rub it in. But I had got Barry Manilow turned up quite loud at the time.