World War Two Aircraft »

De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito - Start Up And Taxi

The Flying Heritage Collection's T Mk.III

The Mosquito was one of the very few operational front-line aircraft used during the Second World War that was built almost entirely of wood. Initially designed to be a light-weight (and thus fast) unarmed bomber the design proved to be so sucessful that it was eventually used in almost all roles: fighter, fighter-bomber, bomber, pathfinder, photo reconnaissance aircraft, and even torpedo bomber.


TV959, a T Mk.III training aircraft with dual controls, was built at de Havilland's Leavesden factory and was delivered to the RAF in 1945. The aircraft was one of the stars of the famous 1964 movie '633 Squadron', and it went on to be displayed in the Imperial War Museum in the UK for many years.  Photo: © Historical Aviation Film Unit

The Flying Heritage Collection's de Havilland Mosquito (TV959) is the world's third airworthy Mosquito to be rebuilt since 2012, and it's the second aircraft of its type to be restored by AvSpecsin Auckland, New Zealand.

In addition to the three airworthy aircraft of the type, there are approximately 30 non-flying Mosquitos around the world. The largest collection of these aircraft is held by the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre in the United Kingdom, which owns three aircraft, including the first prototype, W4050.

As seen here with Mosquito TV959, in addition to all the combat variants the type was also built as the Mosquito T Mk III two-seat, dual control trainer. This version, powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin 21 enginess, was unarmed and had a modified cockpit fitted with dual control arrangements (whereas the other variants had only a single pilot's position, the crew position being occupied by the navigator/bomb aimer/radar operator).

The colour scheme and Registration Number (NZ2337) of the aircraft as seen here is that of an RNZAF Mosquito that was destroyed in a hangar fire at RNZAF Base Ohakea in June 1950 when an inspection lamp fell into a drip tray full of oil. This is a temporary colour scheme while the aircraft was undergoing testing in New Zealand -- a new scheme will be applied later when the aircraft is back in the USA.

Out of a total production run of almost 7800 Mosquitos, 348 of these were T Mk III's which were built for the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm, while de Havilland Australia built eleven T Mk 43 trainers which were similar to the Mk III's.


Share This Story :

More Stories and Video Clips:

  • Two WW2 British Bombers Together For The First Time In Over 50 Years

  • The Corsair Was An Awesome Low Level Ground Attack Fighter

  • P51-D Mustang Whistles and Roars During Low Level Attack Display

  • Crazy Looking 100-Year Old 'Pusher' Aircraft From WW1 Still Flying


There's More Exclusive Content On Historical Machines TV

HMTV is our advert-free streaming video channel which features an awesome array of video and long form documentary material which is not available elsewhere. Sign up for a free trial and enjoy the significant and varied range of material we have on offer...

HMTV Free Trial  

Please consider subscribing to HMTV, or buy us a drink to support our historical (story and film) preservation endeavours.

Comment Form is loading comments...