Aircraft grade Sitka spruce for the DeHavilland Mosquito aka the ‘Mossie’ or the ‘wooden wonder’.
The DeHavilland Mosquito is the stuff of legends. Designed and built under wartime conditions in record time, the ‘Mossie’ was revolutionary for its day. Although built entirely out of wood, it was the fastest operational aircraft in the world until the advent of the German jet and rocket propelled fighters almost two and a half years later.
The Mosquito was used in a wide variety of roles, from photo recconaissance to night fighter and from pathfinder to anti-shipping aircraft. Perhaps its greatest fame came from its pinpoint-attacks on valuable targets like the Gestapo headquarters in Stockholm and the wall of Amiens prison which was breached allowing hundreds of French underground fighters to escape shortly before they were to be executed.
The Mosquito was unique. Not only because of its speed and versatility, but also in the fact that it made no use of strategic resources in material and personnel. Parts were produced in a cottage industry by woodworkers all over Britain. The fuselage was built on moulds in two halves using Birch laminate, Sitka spruce and Balsa in a light yet incredibly strong sandwich construction. The halves would be fitted with all hardware, wiring and piping installed before being glued together. This way, a fuselage could be built and fitted in record time.
The wing is made of spruce and birch ply in classic DeHavilland style. Although of light construction it could carry an enormous load. Initially comparable to that of the B-17 bomber, but with almost twice the speed and just 1/5th of the crew required.
For years, there was no airworthy Mosquito anywhere in the world. Thanks to the visionary work of New Zealander Glyn Powell who spent many years to reverse-engineer and recreate the original moulds for the fuselage. Several wooden structures have now been finished, two of which have been brought to flying condition by Avspecs of Ardmore N.Z. [www.warbirdrestoration.co.nz]
Touchwood is proud to have supplied all spruce in ‘ready to use’ form for the second airworthy “Mossie” that was built in New Zealand, the project shown in the pictures below.
The people’s Mosquito
The people’s Mosquito [https://www.peoplesmosquito.org.uk] is a national effort to re-introduce a British build DeHavilland Mosquito to the skies of Great Britain. Touchwood provides the Sitka Spruce for this unique project. Currently, the moulds of the Mosquito are being finished in England by famed warbird restorers Retrotec [https://www.retrotec-ltd.co.uk]. With completion of the moulds, the fuselage construction will commence, starting with the installation of the spruce bulkheads.
