This "Primitive" Wooden Bomber Did What Metal Aircraft Couldn't Dream Of скачать в хорошем качестве

This "Primitive" Wooden Bomber Did What Metal Aircraft Couldn't Dream Of

In 1938, the Air Ministry laughed Geoffrey de Havilland out of the room when he proposed building a bomber from wood. They wanted metal fortresses bristling with guns. He wanted speed and nothing else. By 1941, his "wooden wonder" was humiliating the Luftwaffe's finest fighters, outrunning everything Germany could throw at it. The de Havilland Mosquito shouldn't have worked. Built from plywood and balsa wood using furniture-maker techniques, it violated every principle of modern bomber design. No defensive guns. No armour plating. Just two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and a structure so light it flew faster than fighters whilst carrying bombs deep into the Reich. German intelligence called it "the most dangerous aircraft" in RAF service. Their pilots couldn't catch it. Their engineers couldn't copy it. Even their jets struggled against an aircraft dismissed as obsolete before it flew. From the Amiens prison raid to precision strikes on Berlin in broad daylight, the Mosquito proved speed mattered more than firepower. This is the story of how a wooden bomber built by piano makers and cabinet craftsmen outperformed every metal aircraft in the sky—and changed air warfare forever. Key Topics Covered: Geoffrey de Havilland's rejected 1938 proposal Britain's desperate aluminium shortage crisis Revolutionary sandwich construction engineering First operational sorties over occupied France Why German fighters couldn't intercept it The legendary Amiens prison raid (Operation Jericho) Germany's failed attempts to copy the design Complete operational record and legacy #ww2 #battleofbritain #britishsoldier #britishhistory #wwii SOURCES Primary Archive Sources: The National Archives, Kew - AIR 14/1238: Operational records of No. 105 Squadron and Mosquito bomber operations The National Archives - AIR 20/2856: Development and production of the de Havilland Mosquito Imperial War Museum - Documents collection: Personal accounts from Mosquito crews RAF Museum, Hendon - Aircraft record cards and technical specifications Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Freiburg - RL 2 II/41-50: Luftwaffe intelligence assessments of RAF aircraft Technical References: 6. Sharp, C. Martin & Bowyer, Michael J.F. "Mosquito" (Faber & Faber, 1967) 7. Birtles, Philip. "De Havilland Mosquito" (Crowood Press, 1998) 8. McKee, Alexander. "The Mosquito Log" (Souvenir Press, 1988) 9. Bowman, Martin. "De Havilland Mosquito: The Original Multi-Role Combat Aircraft" (Pen & Sword Aviation, 2005) 10. Royal Aeronautical Society - Technical papers on wooden aircraft construction (1940-1945) Operational Histories: 11. Bowyer, Michael J.F. "2 Group RAF: A Complete History" (Faber & Faber, 1974) 12. Middlebrook, Martin & Everitt, Chris. "The Bomber Command War Diaries" (Viking, 1985) 13. Air Ministry. "The Rise and Fall of the German Air Force 1933-1945" (Public Record Office, 1948) 14. Embry, Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil. "Mission Completed" (Methuen, 1957) - includes detailed Amiens raid account Combat Records: 15. Shores, Christopher & Williams, Clive. "Aces High" (Grub Street, 1994) - Mosquito night fighter victories 16. Price, Alfred. "The Last Year of the Luftwaffe: May 1944 to May 1945" (Arms & Armour Press, 1991) 17. Freeman, Roger A. "The Mighty Eighth War Diary" (Jane's, 1981) - includes comparative loss rate data German Perspective: 18. Galland, Adolf. "The First and the Last" (Methuen, 1955) - German fighter pilot accounts 19. Price, Alfred. "Instruments of Darkness: The History of Electronic Warfare" (Macdonald and Jane's, 1977) 20. Green, William. "Warplanes of the Third Reich" (Macdonald, 1970) - German wooden aircraft programmes Engineering & Production: 21. Jackson, A.J. "De Havilland Aircraft since 1909" (Putnam, 1987) 22. War Office. "Notes on German Preparations for Invasion of the United Kingdom" (HMSO, 1940) 23. Ministry of Aircraft Production records - Production statistics and material allocation data