Mosquitos

Canadian Mosquitos 1943 – 45

Celebrating the Mosquitos in Toronto and Canadian Aviation Heritage

Mosquito Intro

Mosquito Specifications

Mosquito Design & Construction Features

Prototype Mosquito KB300
The first Canadian Mosquito with the Avro Anson line beyond.

Mosquitos on production line at Downsview WWII
Finishing up the installation of the two Rolls-Royce Merlin - Packard XXI engines on the WWII production line at Downsview.

Otaco landing gear on Mosquito
In this view the two wing slots show where the engine radiators are located. Also note the rugged main landing gear which was built for Cdn Mosquitos by Otaco Ltd. in Orillia Ontario.

Otaco Ad WWII

Mosquito B BK25 feathering propellers
A Canadian Mosquito B BK25 on January 25 1943 is demonstrating the full feathering propellers. and excellent single-engine performance.

Mosquito Fin
The Mosquito Fin (Vertical Stabilizer) and horizontal stabilizer are constructed of wood, while the rudder and elevator have aluminum framing with fabric covering.

Mosquito underwing fuel tanks
Mosquito equipped with underwing Slipper Ferry Fuel Tanks

Mosquito Bomber test flight
Mosquito Bomber Run-Up of the Packard-Merlin engines at Downsview before first test flight

Restored Mosquito Rolls-Royce engine
Rolls-Royce engine testing on a postwar restored Mosquito - Note exhaust pipes in rows 5 & 6 have a combined exit point.

Mosquito high G-Load
The Mosquito wing was designed to withstand high G-Loads while engaging in combat maneuvers, weapons firing or bombing.
Photo - Classic Aircraft Photography

Mosquito wing leading edge
The Mosquito wing was built with leading edge and trailing edge plywood box spars. Plywood ribs gave the wing its airfoil shaping.
Graphic by Raymond Ore

Mosquito wing tip
A Mosquito wing tip - Notice that the airfoil cross-section is of a high speed design.

Mosquito wing constructed
The wing was constructed as a full span one piece structure. It was glued and screwed together using some 30,000 small brass wood screws.

Mosquito wing skinning
The Wing Covering (Skinning) consisted of two top skins and one bottom skins of birch plywood. Internal strips and stringers increased wing strength. After wing skinning, fabric was applied and then painted to give a smooth surface free of drag inducing nail or rivet heads.

<a href="https://torontoaviationheritage.ca/wp-content/uploads/Mosquito-crashes-in-Canada.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mosquito Crashes in Canada - click for a list</a>

Mosquito Crashes in Canada - click for a list
A closeup taken at the crash site of the battered plane. (Bert Webb/NB Museum, Gift of Steven Webb 2022)

The DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO- Canadian Production

The deHavilland Mosquito (DH.98) Fighter-Bomber of WWII fame was truly the world’s first major multi-role combat aircraft. Canadian production under licence was carried out by deHavilland Canada at their Downsview (Ontario) plant. During WWII, 1013 Mosquitos were built with another 100 built postwar. Nationalist China received 205 Mosquitos during 1947-48.

Massey-Harris

Massey-Harris was a very famous Canadian farm tractor and farm implement maker with a large factory at King and Strachan in Toronto. During WWII Massey-Harris constructed the DH Mosquito wings at its Weston Plant ( Hwy 401 & Weston Road) then trucked them to the nearby DH Downsview plant for final assembly.

May 1943 ad for Dominion Plywoods
Shown is an ad from the May 1943 issue of Commercial Aviation that notes Dominion Plywoods of Southampton (Ontario) supplied the Birch Plywood for the Mosquito wings.

Massey-Harris Tractor 1930s
Massey-Harris Model 30 Tractor 1930s

Massey-Harris Signage