11. The Wooden Wonder
The twin-engine De Havilland Mosquito, nicknamed “The Wooden Wonder” because it was constructed almost entirely of wood, was one of the most versatile and successful airplanes of WWII. It almost never gets off the drawing board. Its basic concept of a bomber without defensive weapons, relying instead on speed and agility to avoid and escape danger rather than fight it off, went against conventional wisdom at a time when bombers bristling with machine guns to fend off fighters was the norm. The Mosquito was the anti-Fortress, and it took significant cajoling to win the Air Ministry’s grudging approval. A chief argument was that wood was one of the few abundant resources in wartime Britain, so a mostly wooden plane would not significantly impact the production of other aircraft the Ministry deemed a higher priority, because it would not compete with them for precious stocks of metals and alloys.
The Mosquito was the first test flown in November 1940, and prototypes demonstrated that they could outrun Britain’s premier fighter airplane of the war, the Spitfire. It entered production the following year, and proved a smashing success. Mosquitoes began service as photo reconnaissance airplanes, in which task they were served well by a speed and agility that allowed them to evade or outrun German interceptors. Having demonstrated that they could survive over hostile skies, Mosquitoes were soon employed in direct combat in a variety of roles.
