Mosquito Launch Spectacular - Ardmore Airport, New Zealand

Return of the Wooden Wonder

One of the few successful WWII combat aircraft constructed almost entirely from wood, the de Havilland Mosquito earned the nickname "Wooden Wonder". With the bombing of England's heavy industry by the Germans, the Mosquito's wooden construction meant that the aircraft parts could be constructed without needing heavy equipment and be spread over various disperse locations, such as furniture companies. Initially developed in some secrecy, the existence of the Mosquito was announced on the BBC Home Service radio after the controversial Oslo Mosquito Raid of 25 September 1942, an attack on Gestapo HQ in Norway that left 80 civilians dead and one Mosquito destroyed.

The Mosquito was extremely light for a fighter-bomber, could sustain battle damage, and have repairs carried out at forward operating bases. The aircraft was fast, manoeuvrable and could deliver a punishing blow, commonly armed with four 20mm Hispano cannons, four .303 Browning machine guns and a payload of up to 2000 pounds of ordnance. The Mosquito was a major contributor to the Allies' victory in Europe with multiple variants carrying out numerous roles, including that of night fighter. The Mosquito's last official war mission in Europe was on 21 May 1945.

With the last flyable Mosquito destroyed in a fatal accident at an airshow in the UK in 1996 the return to flight of Mosquito KA114 was a major event for the warbird scene.

Restoration of the Mosquito

Built at the de Havilland factory in Toronto, Canada, this Mosquito FB.26 flew first flew in early 1945, too late to see active service, and was delivered straight into reserve storage. It then spent three months with the Royal Canadian Air Force's 7 OTU (Operational Training Unit) in Nova Scotia before entering storage after WWII in Alberta. KA114 was fortunate to avoid being scrapped. Purchased by a Canadian farmer in 1948, it stayed on a farm in Alberta, where it deteriorated until 1978 when it was transferred to the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transport. Unfortunately the aircraft suffered more damage, literally falling into two pieces while being loaded onto a trailer for the trip to the museum in Vancouver.

Although using wood in the airframe had been brilliant idea during wartime, these aircraft were not built for longevity, with deterioration of the wood and break down of the glues and fabric taking its toll on the remaining airframes. Re-producing the wooden airframe would be the most uniquely challenging aspect of restoring a Mosquito.

Inspired by Glyn Powell's attempt on restoring a Mosquito T.43 with fresh wood using modern glues and fabric, Warren Denholm, managing director of AvSpecs, and Jerry Yagen, the founder of the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, saw a great opportunity to take up the challenge of returning a Mosquito to the skies. Glyn knew of the incomplete KA114 airframe in Canada, Jerry Yagen purchased KA114 in 2004 and had it shipped over to AvSpecs in New Zealand. Unfortunately its wings needed to be trimmed with a chainsaw to fit it into the container.

Although the woodwork was in terrible condition, most of the metal parts could be used again or be used as patterns to produce new ones. This was easier than starting from scratch considering the plans are extremely hard to come by. The project was slow to get going initially due to the wood that was required to build an airworthy machine being very hard to source. After a worldwide search a suitable supplier was eventually found and the project picked up pace.

It took Glyn just under three years to build the wooden airframe and once completed it was transported to AvSpecs' facility at Ardmore. The team there had been restoring hydraulic and electric systems, and constructing parts from scratch. The Mosquito has a complex hydraulic system, making all the new piping was a huge challenge and time-consuming project. Many new parts were needed, as the aircraft had no engines or undercarriage, along with many other items that were extremely difficult to locate. Two Merlin 25 engines were found in Australia, and sent to California to be restored. Rebuilding the cowlings was particularly challenging, with hundreds of hours spent building the complete set for both engines. Much of the cockpit parts came directly from KA114; the throttle quadrant, control column, radio trays. A brand new pilot seat was found on an auction website.

Over the next years the AvSpecs team worked tirelessly through each of the aircrafts systems, and by the beginning of 2012 things had progressed impressively. Warren's friend Peter Fahey came up with the idea of having an airshow at Ardmore to celebrate the Mosquito's return to the sky before it would be shipped to join Jerry Yagen's collection in Virginia Beach, and eventually the date of 29th September was set.

The team started working longer hours and sometimes seven days a week to ensure they would have the aircraft completed and flying on time. On August 8, 2012, the aircraft was towed across Ardmore Airfield for the painting to begin, a colour scheme of RNZAF 487 Squadron was selected. RNZAF 487 Sqn flew Mosquito FB.VI's in the European theatre under RAF command, and played a big part in the daring raid on Amiens Prison (see Operation Jericho).

Once the aeroplane was towed back to the hangar the team finished off a huge amount of smaller jobs. These included the fitting of the machine guns and the cannons with original ammo boxes. The propellers were fitted, after having been overhauled by Safe Air near Blenheim. This had been yet another challenge as KA114 only had one original Mosquito propeller blade, the other five being cut down Lancaster propeller blades. A company named Replicore delivered new radiators, having spent hundreds of hours to research and make these as none had been produced since Mosquito production ended.

On September 19, 2012, a major milestone was passed with the first engine start. On September 23 both engines were run and the aircraft made its first taxi run. The following days were very busy for the team installing and checking the radios and freshly painted doors while completing the cowlings. Meanwhile, the CAA spent two full days to do all of the inspections. Following sign off and the issue of a Certificate of Airworthiness the only thing left to do was fly it!

Flight Testing Mosquito KA114

Warren Denholm enlisted two legendary New Zealand test pilots, Dave Phillips and Keith Skilling, for the flight tests. Between them they have an extensive amount of flying experience.
Dave Phillips flew RNZAF A-4K Skyhawks before becoming a senior captain with Cathay Pacific. Missing the fast jet experience, Dave bought a Hawker Hunter and is well known for his spectacular displays at New Zealand airshows. He has become legendary for his display in the Tiger Moth, which is a fantastic demonstration of energy management and aircraft handling. Dave also test flew Bill and Robyn Reid's Anson Mk.I (see below).
Keith Skilling flew Bristol and Hercules transports with the RNZAF, and has also test flown many of the classic aircraft that have been restored by AvSpecs over the years. He is best known for his time spent with the Breitling Fighters display team flying the Corsair, which he still regularly flies.

On September 27, 2012, the Mosquito took off from Ardmore Airport under the command of Dave, with Warren as the other crew member, accompanied by a T-28 Trojan chase plane flown by Rob Silich with photographer Gavin Conroy on-board. The Mosquito roared into the sky accompanied by cheers and clapping from the large crowd of onlookers. Rob flew the Trojan directly under the Mosquito to check the doors had closed properly as well as checking for any fluid leaks, but all was well. The aircraft was flown at different speeds and different configurations and all systems were checked. The aircraft landed at Auckland International airport 45 minutes later and apart from an issue with the airspeed indicator the flight was a total success. Whilst at Auckland airport there was a crew changeover and Keith Skilling got his turn in the cockpit, flying it for 30 minutes before returning to Auckland International. Dave Phillips and Warren then flew it back to Ardmore. The test flight had brought a couple of small issues to attention, these were easily rectified. The next day saw another successful day of flying and now Mosquito KA114 was ready for its public launch on September 29.

Full article has been published in KiwiFlyer magazine, issue 25.