De Havilland Mosquito
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
ForzaWhitesGen2 said:
..bit harsh that? 
Cannot be too many people in the world with the Type Ratings that Kermit has on his licence...... Finding a competent and exprienced pilot for some of Weeks' toys isn't that easy.... not to mention the insurance element.....
He's put vast amounts of his own money in keeping many historic aircraft airworthy.... from a ford trimotor to his lovely Sunderland.....
am betting some of the insurance premiums are extremely hour limiting on what are in some cases almost the only airworthy example on the planet!
I think he's a bit of a "collector" so he has acquired more aircraft than he can realistically keep airworthy. Cannot be too many people in the world with the Type Ratings that Kermit has on his licence...... Finding a competent and exprienced pilot for some of Weeks' toys isn't that easy.... not to mention the insurance element.....He's put vast amounts of his own money in keeping many historic aircraft airworthy.... from a ford trimotor to his lovely Sunderland.....
am betting some of the insurance premiums are extremely hour limiting on what are in some cases almost the only airworthy example on the planet!
aeropilot said:
He's been astute enough though to collect much more than just aircraft over the years. His aero engine collection alone is astonishing, including lots of crated NOS items, and some very rare gems.
And engines.I think his main legacy will have been as a custodian of potentially workable engines and flyable aircraft -which may be good enough. Time will tell.
Mr_B said:
Going a bit off topic here, but Weeks also has a couple of Napier Saber's and a Tempest V. He could at least get a Sabre running.
That was his plan. Some nearly 20 years ago, a couple of his Sabre's were at Ricardo's for inspection to establish whether it was possible to make one airworthy from the best bits of the two.The Tempest is still at PPS on long term rebuild there..... but, when Kermit was interviewed about the project a few years back, he was indicating that although the airframe would be flight capable when finished, the ongoing issues with the Sabre powerplant meant that it might not now ever fly.
I think it's still watch this space, but I suspect the chances of a Sabre powered Tempest V taking to the skies are much less than was hoped.
Add in factors like there is only a hand full of engines that are complete, a Sabre probably hasn't run or been worked on from the early fifties, so no demand for spares or engine knowledge. Would be nice to see one at least ground running.
But back to the Mosquito, I do like this one fitted with an autocannon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M00f5RxhxLY&fea...
But back to the Mosquito, I do like this one fitted with an autocannon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M00f5RxhxLY&fea...
Hi Slimrick
I know it is sometime since you posted this topic about the De Havilland Mosquito ML 970 but I can confirm that my father Flight Lieutenant ( at the time) Robert Phillips did fly this aircraft at Gravely with 571 Squadron in 1944. I was very interested to see you had found a video of it, is the video on a public site anywhere? If so I would love to view it. In fact Dad only appeared to fly it on the one occasion, his 57th operation to Mannheim - Ludwigshaven on the night of the 1st-2nd May 1944 when his crew member was Flying Officer Mapes. They were carrying one 4000lb cookie. From the description he says "Visual bombing by light of flares on IG Forbenindustrie in Ludwigshaven. Believed very successful. Flares and T.Is ( Target indicators) went down on time, nipped in and bombed. Bombing concentrated, 3 fires started. Not much opposition - many search lights but haze seemed to fox them". Time taken 3.20mins
I can only assume he flew this aircraft on this occasion as the one they had been flying ML968 was "indisposed" at the time!
I dont know if it is of interest to you or your friend but I have a picture of the members of 571 Squadron in June 1944 seated in front of two Mosquitos. I would upload it but I think the file size might be a bit large for a website.
Cheers
Jackie
I know it is sometime since you posted this topic about the De Havilland Mosquito ML 970 but I can confirm that my father Flight Lieutenant ( at the time) Robert Phillips did fly this aircraft at Gravely with 571 Squadron in 1944. I was very interested to see you had found a video of it, is the video on a public site anywhere? If so I would love to view it. In fact Dad only appeared to fly it on the one occasion, his 57th operation to Mannheim - Ludwigshaven on the night of the 1st-2nd May 1944 when his crew member was Flying Officer Mapes. They were carrying one 4000lb cookie. From the description he says "Visual bombing by light of flares on IG Forbenindustrie in Ludwigshaven. Believed very successful. Flares and T.Is ( Target indicators) went down on time, nipped in and bombed. Bombing concentrated, 3 fires started. Not much opposition - many search lights but haze seemed to fox them". Time taken 3.20mins
I can only assume he flew this aircraft on this occasion as the one they had been flying ML968 was "indisposed" at the time!
I dont know if it is of interest to you or your friend but I have a picture of the members of 571 Squadron in June 1944 seated in front of two Mosquitos. I would upload it but I think the file size might be a bit large for a website.
Cheers
Jackie
aeropilot said:
That was his plan. Some nearly 20 years ago, a couple of his Sabre's were at Ricardo's for inspection to establish whether it was possible to make one airworthy from the best bits of the two.
Pipe dream I know, but how difficult would it be to build a new Sabre engine rather than rely on left over bits?Dr Jekyll said:
aeropilot said:
That was his plan. Some nearly 20 years ago, a couple of his Sabre's were at Ricardo's for inspection to establish whether it was possible to make one airworthy from the best bits of the two.
Pipe dream I know, but how difficult would it be to build a new Sabre engine rather than rely on left over bits?Mossie Doc. (45 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLdVIKyx7RE
The programme about the Mosquito this evening reminds me of a story my late uncle told. He volunteered for aircrew as soon as he was old enough towards the end of the war but ended up as a Leading Aircraftsman, one of the ground crew responsible for engines in a Mosquito Squadron. An excitable Polish pilot reported that the two engines of his plane were showing markedly different oil pressures. Bill replied the different oil pressures were fine; one engine was a Rolls Royce and the other a Packard and they behaved differently but there was nothing to worry about. Okay, said the pilot, if you say they're fine, you come with me. Bill was strapped in and went up to show he wasn't afraid of standing by his opinion. The pilot threw the plane all over the sky trying to induce a failure in the engine with the lower oil pressure.
It was Bill's introduction to flying. He had never flown before and was never keen to be airborne again.
It was Bill's introduction to flying. He had never flown before and was never keen to be airborne again.
The mass produced American Merlins were made to perform similarly to their hand made Rolls Royce counterparts. How they managed it was, apparently, was of little consequence as long as they worked.
My uncle was a great story teller who worked after the war in the film industry. His stories were legendary but were all rooted in fact. Unfortunately I can't ask him for more information as he died a few years ago.
My uncle was a great story teller who worked after the war in the film industry. His stories were legendary but were all rooted in fact. Unfortunately I can't ask him for more information as he died a few years ago.
I was just wondering. It's something I hadn't read about before.
There was a fair amount of incompatibilty between British and American Merlins. Nuts, threads, tolerances etc we all different so required different tools. So, having to work on both would have been a bit of a pain as far as having all the right amount of kit and spares available was concerned.
There was a fair amount of incompatibilty between British and American Merlins. Nuts, threads, tolerances etc we all different so required different tools. So, having to work on both would have been a bit of a pain as far as having all the right amount of kit and spares available was concerned.
Eric Mc said:
Would they have such dissimilar engines on a Mosquito?
They would have to change a few things to be able to do it, as the RR engines used a different form of connection for the coolant and oil lines (Avimo) whereas the Packards used a push-fit connection. But there was a war on, and in the field, you'd make do and mend and bodge to suit I was just querying whether they would have had the stuff available even to bodge.
I know with Spitfires they tended to make sure that a Squadron (say) with Packard Merlin powered MkXVIs didn't also have to cope with Rolls Royce Merlin MkIXs (essentially the same aircraft except for the engine).
I know with Spitfires they tended to make sure that a Squadron (say) with Packard Merlin powered MkXVIs didn't also have to cope with Rolls Royce Merlin MkIXs (essentially the same aircraft except for the engine).
He was a very pragmatic engineer - in fact he was too modest to call himself an engineer and would have considered himself a fitter. One of his stories was the aggravation associated with undoing one particular nut on Dakota engines; most of them were fine but one was a nightmare.
In the period immediately after the war, as men saw their time out and companies fulfilled their orders for the government, he and his crew of blokes were given the job of dismantling, greasing, reassembling and crating a large number of Griffon (I think) engines for storage. Knowing him, he would have thrown himself at this job. When they were done, the crated engines were loaded on to lorries and driven away. When he asked where they were going, he was told they were to be dumped down the main shaft of a disused mine. This - what you have to hope was a change of plan rather than simply inventing work for servicemen to do - really soured his relationship with the armed forces and governments in general.
His pragmatic approach to engineering problems was well suited to the film industry. A film director called David "Wendy" Watkins (nicknamed for his outbursts) asked him to come up with a single light source that could be used to simulate moonlight that wouldn't create multiple shadows. Bill made a bank of "brutes" that operated together on a cherry-picker as moonlight and, with fast acting Venetian blinds, as lightning. It was successful, soon acquired the name the Wendy Light and, I believe, is still used today.
Bill Chitty his name was. He gaffered about twenty films for Shepperton Studios but for some reason doesn't have an IMDB entry. I should really do something about that.
In the period immediately after the war, as men saw their time out and companies fulfilled their orders for the government, he and his crew of blokes were given the job of dismantling, greasing, reassembling and crating a large number of Griffon (I think) engines for storage. Knowing him, he would have thrown himself at this job. When they were done, the crated engines were loaded on to lorries and driven away. When he asked where they were going, he was told they were to be dumped down the main shaft of a disused mine. This - what you have to hope was a change of plan rather than simply inventing work for servicemen to do - really soured his relationship with the armed forces and governments in general.
His pragmatic approach to engineering problems was well suited to the film industry. A film director called David "Wendy" Watkins (nicknamed for his outbursts) asked him to come up with a single light source that could be used to simulate moonlight that wouldn't create multiple shadows. Bill made a bank of "brutes" that operated together on a cherry-picker as moonlight and, with fast acting Venetian blinds, as lightning. It was successful, soon acquired the name the Wendy Light and, I believe, is still used today.
Bill Chitty his name was. He gaffered about twenty films for Shepperton Studios but for some reason doesn't have an IMDB entry. I should really do something about that.
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