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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1161.PDF
MAY 6TH, 1943 FLIGHT 469 INNER SKIN The slotted trailing-edge flaps are crank-operated by an hydraulic jack (above) housed in the tail fairing of the engine nacelle. On the left is the " dehydrator " for the optically flat window. Details of Mosquito fuselage construc- tion. The upper sketch shows the edge joint between the fuselage halves, while the lower illustrates how a typical inside bulkhead is attached to one buried between the two skins. The top surface of the wing is spaced plywood skins connected by spanwise stringers. The tank doors, shown above, have balsa wood between skins, while the rest of the wing has single plywood covering on the under surface. into the surface of the wing. The nose of the fuselage is fairly short and almost in line with the airscrew spinners. Perhaps the feature which, more than any other, has helped to make the Mosquito so clean is the use of wing radiators housed in the leading edge between the engine nacelles and the fuselage. This placing of the radiators avoids the unsightly and drag-producing excrescences usually seen below the engine nacelles of a twin-engined aircraft fitted with liquid-cooled engines. The only excrescences 011 the engine nacelles are the foryi'ard-facing air intakes under- neath and the flame traps on the exhaust. The wheels retract fully into the engine nacelles, and at the stern only a portion of the tail wheel projects. when the wheel is retracted. Smooth Airflow The fuselage itself is equally clean. The only excrescence here is the small roof over the cockpit. Had the machine been designed with gun turrets the beautiful clean lines would, of course, have been entirely spoilt, and the machine- was designed for speed rather than for defensive gun power. Presumably rearward firing guns could be mounted, but The glycol radiators and oil coolers are housed in the leading edge, between fuselage and engine nacelle. Airflow is con- trolled by a flap at the back (see p. 471). Cabin and guns are heated by air from the radiators. they would certainly spoil the appearance of the machine and would undoubtedly reduce the speed very considerably. In the structural design of the Mosquito, full use has been made of the experience obtained by the De Havilland Co in the design and construction of the Comet which won the England-Australia race and of the Albatross air-liner, although the latter was a four-engined type. New methods of applying wooden construction to modern aerodynamic forms were evolved in the case of these two aircraft, and much of that experience has been applied in the construc- tion of the Mosquito. The fuselage of the machine is a wooden shell, the inner and outer skins of which are plywood, and sandwiched in A Mosquito out looking for trouble. In spite of the engine nacelles the crew obtain a good view in essential directions.
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