The DH.98 Mosquito in a nutshell

National origin:-   United Kingdom

Role:- Light bomber, Fighter-bomber, Night fighter, Maritime strike aircraft, Photo-reconnaissance aircraft

Manufacturer:- de Havilland

Designer:- Mosquito design team included the chief designer and team leader, R. E. Bishop, Richard M. Clarkson, assistant chief engineer and Mosquito aerodynamicist, C. T. Wilkins, assistant chief designer and the fuselage specialist, W. A. Tamblin, senior designer and the wing specialist, and Fred Plumb who managed constructing the prototype.

First flight:- 25 November 1940[1]

Introduction:- 15 November 1941[2] Retired:- 1963

Primary users:-   Royal Air Force,   Royal Canadian Air Force,   Royal Australian Air Force,   United States Army Air Forces

Produced:- 1940–1950

Number built:- 7,781[3]

Summary

Officials in the British Air Ministry vehemently resisted building it, but from the day production finally began in 1941 until the war ended, the Royal Air Force never had enough Mosquitoes to perform the amazing variety of missions that air tacticians devised for this outstanding airplane. It excelled at day and night bombing from high or very low altitudes, long-range reconnaissance, air-to-air combat in daylight and darkness, and finding and striking distant targets at sea. No less than forty-two distinct versions of the D. H. 98 entered service. At extreme speeds, Mosquitoes carried heavy loads great distances because of two key design features: a lightweight, streamlined, wooden airframe propelled by powerful, reliable engines. The "Wooden Wonder" was constructed from Alaskan spruce, English ash, Canadian birch and fir, and Ecuadorian balsa glued and screwed together in new, innovative ways, and motivated by the world's finest reciprocating, liquid-cooled power plants, a pair of Rolls Royce Merlins. There has never been a more successful, combat-proven warplane made of wood.