Aircraft Fetish - The DH98 DeHavilland Mosquito
I will run a brief extract from my series on aircraft that have achieved Fetish Gold Standard for extreme... well, almost everything. These are the aircraft you love to love or love to hate. Unless you're just not into aircraft.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Haynes-de-Havilland-Mosquito-1940-Onwards-All-Marks-by-Jonathan-Falconer-/360738866010?hash=item53fdb6435a:g:oQMAAOSwDuJW1N2O
Haynes DeHavilland Mosquito Maintenance Manual
http://www.mossie.org/Mosquito.html
Mosquito fan website, frequented by former pilots and engineers
Project to rebuild RL249 to flight-ready status
The flight of KA114, currently the only flying Mosquito
KA114 in formation flight
Another formation flight
The last original-construction Mosquito, one month before it crashed due to a new carburetor being faulty, killing an engine during an acrobatic display. Both pilot and copilot were killed. All restoration projects use airframe from multiple Mosquitos plus some new parts. They're 100% authentic and well within the Old Number One ruling on what constitutes original, but it's not quite the same as a factory rollout.
I regard the Mosquito as one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built. I wish all the reconstruction and renovation teams well. I wish a pox on all the museums and collectors that have allowed the objects they should be conserving (especially the museums) to deteriorate uncontrollably to not much more than a thin veneer over rust and rot.
I have never studied for a pilot's license. What's the point, when - of the five great British warbirds (the Mosquito, the Lancaster, the Wellington, the Spitfire and the Hurricane) - all are extinct or close to it? Even the places that sell working replicas don't sell authentic replicas. They're really lookalikes but to call them re-enactment-grade is to do a grave disservice to re-enactment groups of all eras.
I am willing to be corrected in my cynical world-view, however. If someone can point me to a place that sells 100% authentic, full-scale aircraft of any of those five designs, I will certainly offer a full and unconditional apology. I will also start saving up.
In the meantime, the videos and technical information will need to do.