de Havilland Mosquito

The de Havilland Mosquito, also known as the 'Mossie' to its many pilots and crews, or nicknamed the 'Wooden Wonder', since the majority of the fuselage was built out of plywood. The 2-engined Mossie was powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, although experimental designs and prototytpes featured Rolls-Royce Griffons and Napier Sabres. The fighter version's arnament usually consisted of four cannon guns and eight rockets/ eight bombs mounted under the wings on racks, or, as for the bomber version, just 8-12 bombs inside the cargo bay. The reconnaissance versions were unarmed. The fighter and bomber versions had 2 crew members: 1 pilot and 1 navigator/radio operator, as well as the reconnaissance versions.

The Mossie was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland without any requirements. When the design was proposed to the Air Ministry in 1936 they refused the design until 1940, where they decided that a fast multi- role aircraft that was faster than their main fighter, the Spitfire, would help their war progress. Due to severe bombings, only 20 were completed in December 1940 and so they moved to a blast-proof shelter, where construction sped up by 3 weeks. By 1941 the original order for 30 bombers, 30 fighters, 20 reconnaissance planes and, later on, 10 maritime Mossies were completed.

In 1943, when the US joined the war, the USAAF ordered 20 fighters and 10 bombers. By 1945, when the war ended, the USAAF had 30 fighters, 30 bombers and 30 reconnaissance, the Royal Canadian Air Force had 20 fighter- bombers (Developed in 1943), 20 fighters and 30 bombers, the Royal Australian Air Force had 10 fighter-bombers and 20 maritime planes. The RAF finished with a far superior amount, 100 fighters, 100 bombers, 60 fighter-bombers, 40 fast bombers, 100 maritime planes, 200 photo-reconnaissance planes and 100 fast photo-reconnaissance planes. Some 200 fast photo planes, armed with 2 10mm machine guns, were at first converted into trainers then at last, in 1942, were converted to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) as transports.

Messerschmidt BF/ME 110

The Messerschmidt BF 110, also known as the ME 110 (Depending on which factory it was built in) was a 2-engined aircraft. The engines were Daimler-Benz DB 601B but were upgraded to 601P once they were available in quantity. The 110 had a crew of three (1 pilot, 1 navigator/ radio operator and 1 gunner) as well as an armament of 5 MG FF cannon, 4 at the front in the nose cone and 1, which the gunner fired. Later on during World War Two, the later G- versions supplied machine guns instead of cannon guns, and some night fighter versions included belly- mounted gun packs, with 5 machine guns inside.

The 110 was first introduced in 1937, after Hermann Goering's request for a 'Kampfzerstorer' (Battle Destroyer), beating Focke Wulf's FW57 and Henschel's HS124, but later on, by luck, Goering reconsidered his plans and focused on his Zerstorer (Destroyer), which was the request the 110 better fitted in.

The 110 enjoyed some success in the Polish, Norwegian and the French campaigns, as well as the Balkans, North African and Eaetrn Front campaigns. It was retired in 1945, after serving with the German, Hungarian, Italian and Romanian air forces.

Farnborough Air Show1970

De Havilland Mosquito Display

This video is about my most favourite aeroplane, the de Havilland Mosquito

The Lockheed B-24 Liberator

The Lockheed B-24 Liberator originated in the USA and England in 1939. Besides being used as a conventional bomber, it was also used for naval reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare and transport purposes. Its elongated wing was an advanced design of its time with laminated leading edges and high aerodynamic efficiency due to the incidence on the wing. The prototype first flew on December 29, 1939 powered by four Bristol Hercules radials and two Fraser-Nash gun turrets. The Liberator went into service in April 1942. The production Liberators were powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43, rated at 1,200 hp each. The gun turrets were American-built versions of the Boulton-Paul gun turrets and the Frazer-Nash gun turrets. A total production of 18,181 made the B-24 Liberator one of the highest produced bombers in the US aircraft industry. The arnament consisted of eleven 0.50 calibre machine guns (with three gun nose modification), plus provision for up to 8,000 Ibs (3,628 kg) of bombs. the Liberator's maximum speed was 303 mph (487 km/h). The service ceiling was 32,000 ft (9,753 m). the Liberator was retired in 1948.

Westland Lysander Mk. I and Mk.III (SD)

The Westland Lysander was an aircraft built specifically for the Army - Air Co-Operation Command. It was also used as Artillery Spotting, Photo/Reconaisance, Agent - dropping and secret message- collecting. The Lysander Mk. I was powered by one Bristol Mercury series 2. The Lysander Mk. III was powered by one Bristol Perseus series 12. The prototype Lysander was called the Westland LN4. The Westland Lysander was introduced in 1935 and was retired in 1946. The Lysander was designed to replace the Napier Dagger-powered Hawker Hector in 1931. The Westand LN4 (the prototype Lysander) made its maiden flight in 1933 at Westland's Yeovil factory in Somerset, only to be followed by 2 years of modifications. The Air Ministry decided to name it after the Spartan general Lysander. Before the Lysander was officially retired in 1946, the RAF Lysanders were donated to the civilians for transporting supplies around England. Lysanders were later replaced by NAA (North American Aviation) Mustangs that were then retired in 1984. In the end it was realized that Lysanders played a major role in WW2. In 1984, the Army-Air Co-Operation Comand was no longer needed so they closed down all the bases that belonged to the Army-Air Co-Operation Command and that meant the Army-Air Co-Operation Command no longer exists.The Lysander was also nicknamed the 'Flying Carrot'.

(1) The cannon guns were mounted in the wheel 'spats'.

(2) The lights were mounted in the wheel 'spats'.

(3) The wing (at the root) unusually folded inwards.

(4) One Lewis 0.12mm callibre machine gun was used by the Observer.

(5) The sights were fitted on the engine for the Mk.I but was not fitted on the Mk. III.

(6) A ladder was fixed only on the Mk.III.

(7) On the Mk.III, an extra fuel tanks were visible.

(8) On the Mk.III, the whole wheel was visible.

The Cessna Citation X

The Cessna Citation X is a trans- atlantic private business jet. Cessna, which now belongs to Textron Innovations, claimed that the X is the 'world's fastest commercial jet after the Concorde'. Also known as the Citation 750 'X' stands for 'ten' , not 'experimental' . The Citation X is powered by two Allison AE3007C mounted on the rear fuselage. It has wings with ultra sweepback. The Citation X is competing directly with Raytheon's ( now Hawker Beechcraft ) Hawker 1000 and Dassault 's Falcon 2000. The Cessna Citation X costs about 13 million dollars.