1945 Mosquito FB MKVI TE881 / NZ2345 (CURRENTLY IN NZ)

Nicknamed the ‘Wooden Wonder’ or ‘Mossie’ the Mosquito was in service with the RAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Army Air Force.

The mosquito was one of the fastest miltary aircraft in the world when it entered service in 1941. Powered by two Rolls Royce Merlin engines the MKVI Bomber variant was built by The Standard Motor Company in Coventry England. The airframe of the Mosquito is unusual for the era being made of wood.

For this reason the restoration of TE881 is not being carried out by the engineers at the Spitfire Company Biggin Hill, who are more used to restoring aluminium airframes, but by the Mosquito experts AVSpecs in New Zealand.

Armed with four browning 303 calibre machine guns in the nose plus four Hispano 20mm canon in the belly, the FB.VI was also fitted with bomb bay doors enabling it to carry 2x 500lb bombs inside and another two externally on wing mounts.

The speed of the Mosquito made it ideal for low altitude special missions such as the famous Operation Jericho where 9 FB.VI Mosquitos bombed the walls of Amiens Prison in German Occupied France, allowing over 250 of the prisoners to escape.

There are just a handful of airworthy Mosquitos in existance, as these are currently based in the USA, Canada and New Zealand, the return of TE881 to the UK will be a significant occasion.