De Havilland Mosquito Manual: 1940 onwards (all marks) - An insight into developing, flying, servicing and restoring Britain's 'Wooden Wonder' fighter-bomber (Owners' Workshop Manual) Hardcover – November 1, 2013

Shipped quickly and exactly as advertised!

Most know of the de Havilland Mosquito as the “Wooden Wonder” due to its making of plywood but that is not the why of its wonder. Simply put it was the SR-71 “Blackbird” of its day since it was almost immune to being shot down as it flew higher and faster the opposing aircraft during World War II. Mosquitos flew several reconnaissance missions nearly daily, both high as well as low, gathering photographs or other information. But de Havilland’s almost never happened design performed other missions almost equally as well whether those missions were bomber, pathfinder, fighter-bomber or intruder.Falconer and Rivas have produced this book which pierces the myth and derivative hyperbole surrounding what is perhaps World War II’s premier aircraft — an aircraft which saw a low combat loss rate but did not have as many examples survive long after the war, unlike its metal-made brethren.The authors note that the Mosquito’s design began with the catching of a pike (the fish) by no other than Winston Churchill. The pike was mounted on the wall of a loo as a distraction for men who found themselves in a pondering position. One such was de Havilland designer and thought the model a fast aircraft after the lines of the sleek and quick fish. The designers then went against current thinking in two significant departures: the purposeful omission of defensive armament (and its parasitic drag as well as weight penalties) and being built if wood (actually six differing woods). The British Air Ministry was less than impressed though calculations showed the aircraft would indeed be much faster than fighters of the day.De Havilland persevered, as we know, but how and why was the Mosquito so successful? The authors have written this definitive book explaining just that — from the Canadian Spruce made wing spars, to the nearly 30,000 brass screws in the wing assembly, to the fuselage made in separate halves (easing installation of instruments, hydraulics and cables), to the rigid adherence to streamlining with the pilot sitting just ahead and to the left of the second position (the bombardier or radar operator depending upon the aircraft version) in order to save a few inches of fuselage width (remember Churchill’s pike!).The detail of research is impressive — such as the engine nacelle extensions solving the original tailplane buffeting difficulty as well as fighter versions have a flat windscreen as compared to a split windscreen on all other versions. There is so much more with special sections devoted to descriptions and manufactured of all the major assemblies.So much is learned from the authors’ insights. Previously mentioned was the wooden construction which is so well known but what is less known, unless reading this book, is that men and women in seemingly nonmilitary manufacturing industries were employed in making this machine designed for war. Coachmakers as well as furniture makers became vital in Britain’s war effort making them a force multiplier instead of redundant.Falconer and Rivas go into detail regarding the variety of companies as well as skills used. The Mosquito’s history is also well illustrated including specific missions to underscore the points requiring underscore. The high altitude missions to incredibly precise low level strike missions are well described. Indeed, reading of the extremely low level missions arriving on time and on target delivering their ordinance would have today’s attack pilots with smart bombs admiring their work.The authors do not write with bias as they describe the Mosquito’s drawbacks in as much detail as what is lauded. The photos range from the technically bland (though important) to the incredible (showing feats of extreme airmanship) and the technical perspective drawings by Mike Badrocke show what photos can never show.This book covers the Mosquito technically and historically — compellingly defending the argument that the de Havilland Mosquito was the most successful multi-role aircraft of World War II and flown by fantastically brave airmen on extraordinarily trying missions of extreme altitude or rooftop strikes.

If you intend to use this manual to rebuild your full scale Mosquito or to set the valve timing on its twelve cylinder Rolls Royce Merlin engines, pass this one by. It's not a "workshop manual". Admittedly, I wasn't expecting much when I bought this but, since I have just about every piece of paper having the words "DeHavilland Mosquito", I had to add this to my library. I was pleasantly surprised here. This would be a great "first" Mosquito book and it covers - in decent if not thorough detail - the workings of the aircraft, its history, how it was constructed and there are some nice color photos sprinkled in of restored aircraft. There are a number of B&W photos that I have not seen before along with diagrams and schematics and some interesting anecdotal sidebars. This is a respectable effort by Haynes and, all things considered, can you really have too many books on the Mosquito? I think not.

Fabulous book, with several pics of the Mossie during its phases of construction and others which I haven’t seen before. Very much like building a model. This is absolutely a MUST have book for Aviation/WW2 buffs. Just wish it had more!

I expected more -- a lot more -- in the way of engineering details and less about the history of the Mossie. I already own books on the history of the aircraft, which is why I purchased this "Shop Manual." The title is misleading -- this is no shop manual. While it certainly makes for interesting reading cover to cover, I was disappointed by the paucity of detailed technical information. To wit, I was interested, in particular, about the construction of the spars and the engine and undercarriage mounting structures. Alas, all you see are a few photos and thin descriptions, which have left me disappointed. I did not purchase a "shop manual" to learn about the history of the aircraft and its legendary crews. That's what history books are for.

This is a great book for anyone who collects information about the Mosquito. Lots of interesting new information and pictures.

Incredible detail , coupled with a lot of incredible PICTURES of this Wooden Aircraft . A lot of what I had not seen before !

A good book. If I ever have the 3 million dollars it would take to build or restore one of those beauties I'll be ready!

Yet another brilliantly concise publication from Haynes, lots of "new to me" photo's, and a rather inspiring look into Ardmore Aero's revival of the Mosquito as a viable aeroplane. As grandson of groundcrew of DeHavilland's wooden wonder, this backs up tales of exploits, the great thing being a section on groundcrew and servicing u der war time conditions. A fascinating read if, like me, you close to every other publication on the DH98, or, if you've been vaguely interested, and want to start looking deeper, the bibliography is extensive. A well researched book, I did notice a couple of errors in a very small number of photo captions, but overall, a very good book. Delivered next day, so no problems there. Excellent.

The enthusiasm of the author shines in this book. It's appropriately detailed on the wooden construction methods used and the lenghts that were gone to in making it come to life. I liked some of the operational vignettes, especially how hard it was to handle on the ground and at low speed. Pictures are excellant too.I've docked a star not because there is anything inherently wrong with the book, but there are slightly better similar Haynes books which flow a little easier or have a bit more technical detail.

i have a dozen of these manuals from years gone by dealing with my cars / vans / jeeps / motorcycles ... they are all dog-eared and oil-stained - i guess this one will stay clean . This is a fantastic read , a stunning collection of information and diagrams with incredible photographs too . Haynes have done something amazing here as i now have six new manuals of theirs looking at different subjects ... all are fantastic and i hope to get the Moon manual for christmas ... superb books and some are so cheap it would be simply rude not to get them ... check out the range and prepare to be enthralled as i have been

These Haynes manuals really are spot on. They combine history and mechanical information in an interesting and relevant way. They dont go back over old ground that has been covered previously in other Haynes books. For instance, this is the fourth of these manuals that I've bought where the engine used is the Rolls-Royce Merlin. Yet they are still providing new information that hasnt been printed in prior manuals. Maybe its because the Mosquito is my favourite all time aircraft, but I really enjoyed this book and look forward to dipping into again soon.

A very interesting hard back well produced book full of detail and information and brings the subject right up to date with the recent restoration undertaken in New Zealand. The text is clear and well laid out with clearly indicated subject headings within each chapter and the text is interspersed with many photographs old and new in both black and white and colour. All photos have captions and in many instances give more specific details that add to the text information.The Bibliography and sources section is comprehensive and both Appendix 1 and 2 especially 1 which gives details on the many variants are of value.The packaging was sturdy and the book arived ahead of the due date without damage.