First Flight in 70 years - Mosquito NZ2308

Рет қаралды 67,759

2 ай бұрын

DeHavilland Mosquito NZ2308 was built in Australia and served with RNZAF 75 Squadron after the Second World War. After 70 years of idle decay it has been restored by Mosquito Aircraft Restoration in Drury and AvSpecs in Ardmore, New Zealand.
Here's some footage of the first taxi test and first flight test on March 18th, 2024.
Apologies for the sound quality - it was very windy and I was too far away to capture much engine sound. a little bit at 3:00 and one take-off at the end. My camera battery went flat just before the Mosquito came into view on landing.

Пікірлер: 186

@QuicknStraight Ай бұрын

Great to see another of these beautiful aircraft returned to active flying status.

@ABrit-bt6ce Ай бұрын

From none a few years ago there are now more up there than there are Lancasters (2 soon to be 3) I think they total 5 now.

@chizzt Ай бұрын

One of the most beautiful machines, of any type, ever made by man.

@fredtedstedman Ай бұрын

got to agree with you there !

@davidelliott5843 Ай бұрын

One of the most impressive in technology as well. The original stealth fighter.

@tsd550 Ай бұрын

Superb achievement! Thanks for taking the time to record this event and to upload it for others to see. No apologies needed about the sound quality, after all, you could have just not bothered, then people here would have seen nothing. Edit: I forgot to mention. Thanks for not adding music over this video and leaving us to hear the sounds that you heard. Background music ruins so many videos.

@alasdairblack393 Ай бұрын

Congratulations to all involved in this restoration to airworthiness. With great respect from 🇨🇦 Canada to our commonwealth cousins 🇳🇿 New Zealand.

@mikew2468 Ай бұрын

My late father flew with the RAF from 1943 to 1973 through the transition to jets and finished by instructing on Gnats and Hunters. He maintained that his favourite aircraft of the many types he flew were the Mosquito and Hornet. Great to see another one in the air.

@jiggsborah7041 Ай бұрын

18th march is my father's birthday. He is 87 years old and was a lad of 17 when this aircraft last flew. Amazing.

@gryph01 Ай бұрын

Beautiful bird! And nice to see her fly again! Greetings from 🇨🇦

@danieldonaldson8634 Ай бұрын

Nothing is better than the sound of twin Merlins.

@neilaspinall5005 Ай бұрын

4 maybe ?

@ashcustomworks Ай бұрын

For sure. The sound of KA114 climbing out of Ardmore at full throttle in 2012 is one of the coolest aircraft sounds I've heard.

@neilaspinall5005 Ай бұрын

@@ashcustomworksfrom my limited experience, I was thinking about the Lancaster at the museum in northern England which does not fly but gives taxying demos on full throttle. The grins on the face of youngsters watching and listening to the 4 Merlin's is priceless.

@cdnmetelhead4013 Ай бұрын

@@neilaspinall5005Or the one at The Warplane Heritage in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. You can pay for a ride on her. Not a cheap thrill though.

@fearofthedark666 Ай бұрын

Someone's either never heard a Lancaster or several spitfires.

@asdfghjklkjhvbvcvjhvlyhb9957 Ай бұрын

Fastastic to see another flying Mossie

@lesdonaldson520 Ай бұрын

What a fantastic sight seeing a Mossie take to the air . Congratulations to all involved

@tullochgorum6323 Ай бұрын

What a great project! I was brought up on tales of Biggles and Algie in their Mozzie, and have always had a soft-spot for this brilliant warbird. Congratulations to everyone involved in the restoration - this must have been a proud moment.

@tokairic3925 Ай бұрын

I loved the Biggles books when I was a lad, but he must have been 150 years old when the books stopped coming. WW1 pilot, mid war worldwide adventurer, Interpol agent, WW2 pilot (not sure if Interpol was post WW2). Brilliant adventure stories stretching the bounds of credibility.

@bahoonies Ай бұрын

@tokairic3925 And still you and I read every single Biggles book we could lay our hands on. I was 12 when I read my first Biggles book and it was love at first sight.

@ShirleyZhang-bt4dj Ай бұрын

A huge thankyou from all the men who flew these beautiful machines past and present.They would be so proud.

@B0M0A0K Ай бұрын

Amazing, am so grateful to those of you who are able to find and restore this wonderful machine. My all time WW2 favorite.

@ianhogarth4214 Ай бұрын

As a kid in the early 1950s lived at RNZAF Woodbourne and there was about 20 or 30 of these beauties parked there at the back of the airfield ready for disposal. The temptation was too much so a friend and I went over to explore the array of mossies and I confess to dry flying a goodly number. Absolutely a real highlight of a young lads life. They were there for about a year before being sold. Some were configured fighters some reconicance and some bombers I presumed. It's great to see a little bit of my History flying again you have done an amazing job. I will follow their progress.

@ashcustomworks Ай бұрын

There's a good chance this was one of those aircraft you encountered.

@raybenstead2548 Ай бұрын

Did the same thing at Marshalls Airport in Cambridge England where they had two right by the fence near the main road but we got caught and told to bugger off but it was a dream come true for a ten year old.

@jeffreycrawley1216 Ай бұрын

Such an elegant looking aircraft. There's a TV series running at the moment (March 2024) in the UK about restoring military aircraft to flying conditions. As an aside in the one covering the only flying Hawker Tempest somebody said something to the effect of "at the end of WW2 you could buy a damage Mosquito, £50 each for the Merlin engines and a load of firewood thrown in" - oh dear!

@fredtedstedman Ай бұрын

just georgeous well done NZ !

@tonyamicarelli1931 Ай бұрын

67 year young airplane nut here in Nevada,as a kid/teen built all the WW2 models(a lot of Airfix72) of all the combatants. The more I rediscovered the Mossie and it’s incredible story of design and jaw dropping 1st flight way back when, well let’s just say I have my share of DH98 t-shirts now! Great job on getting the real thing where it belongs, in the air!!

@mickb474 Ай бұрын

Brilliant aircraft, great to see such an icon flying again!

@rmcinuk Ай бұрын

Brilliant,! How my later father would have loved seeing the Mosquito population growing. Well done to all concerned. :-)

@mazdaman1286 Ай бұрын

Exactly what I was going to put. My late father always said low level at 400mph was exhilarating and terrifying all at once and an opportunity not to be missed.

@peterstorch1252 Ай бұрын

@@mazdaman1286Great stuff, hey! ❤❤🎉🎉😊😊

@adelealecock8915 Ай бұрын

😊great to see. Now all we need is one with The Battle of Britain memorial flight..

@lancecougar Ай бұрын

Wow! Incredible work.

@johnsheldon4880 Ай бұрын

As a kid, i watched Squadron 633, I fell in love with the great aircraft. My only other aircraft at the top of my like list is the F4U Corsair. I'm a bit bias as i did eight years in the Marine Corps. I still love the Mossie.

@nigeldewallens1115 Ай бұрын

That was just fantastic to see a Mosquito flying after 70 Years! I wish to say well done to all involved in that wonderful effort! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👌

@paulprice1994 Ай бұрын

Having done my Apprenticeship at Hawker de Havillad (1978), Bankstown airport NSW where the aircraft was built. Its great to see it fly again.

@jwelman1 Ай бұрын

I saw it fly over Hamilton and couldn't believe my eyes. But I was sure it was a Mosquito... what a sight to see!

@SimonJM Ай бұрын

A thing of grace and beauty - the restorers did a great job!

@Airsally Ай бұрын

Awesome project and great to see it fly . Thanks for the time to record and post for us.

@arnhemseptember2009 Ай бұрын

That was great! Thank you from Holland!

@fntsmk Ай бұрын

Love the Mossie with D-Day invasion stripes! Well done lads!

@Slaktrax Ай бұрын

Take-off roll starts @7:27 Lovely to see yet another beautiful Mossie airworthy. 🙂

@lawLess-fs1qx Ай бұрын

Beautiful wooden wonder.

@andyb2515 Ай бұрын

Beautiful, and we have one coming to the UK in 2026 - Hopefully

@user-js4zx1lr2u Ай бұрын

What an absolutely beautiful aircraft. So happy to see her flying again. I wish there were more of them still alive.

@peterchadderton8122 Ай бұрын

It was great to see a NZ Mossie take off and fly again hope it will be seen all over the country

@timorvet1 Ай бұрын

Originally an Australia built example.

@dennyliegerot4021 Ай бұрын

What a great looking aircraft...well done guys!

@ianevans2854 Ай бұрын

A huge credit to all the team at Avspecs Ltd, you guys have truly out done yourselves 😎👌🙌 with NZ2308 ZK-PWL she's an absolute beaut 😍

@andyfarmer759 Ай бұрын

So thrilled another one is flying again. Their history should never be forgotton.

@workingdogcentre Ай бұрын

What a beautiful sight. Congratulations to you all.

@fredMplanenut Ай бұрын

Thank you for what you captured. A terrific aircraft, and so awkward to capture everything in flight on film.

@DebOxy Ай бұрын

What an achievement, well done to all involved. We know exactly what it takes to get old birds back in the air. Deb from HARS 🇦🇺

@lukewise1227 Ай бұрын

Hopefully one day HARS will get its hands on the Beaufighter and Mosquito bits sitting in the now defunct Camden Air Museum and we will see them both in the air over New South Wales.

@bobbrowne3027 Ай бұрын

I know peeps think on the Spitfire as the iconic warplane of WW11 but all planes played their part , in fact the Hurricane was a bigger work horse at the time. Out of them all the Mosquito has always been and remains as my favourite. The shape , sound and the daring raids they took on is a remarkable testament to a great design . Brilliant to see this restoration come to fruition.

@MarsFKA Ай бұрын

I have "Low Attack" by Wing CDR John Wooldridge, which tells the story of 105 and 139 Squadrons flying unarmed Mosquitos at tree-top height into occupied Europe on daylight bombing raids. A notable part of the stories in the book is the impressive speed of the aircraft at low level and how it, mostly, enabled them to get out of trouble when being chased by German fighters - if a Focke Wulf 190, going one way, saw a Mosquito going the other way, by the time the 190 turned the Mosquito was too far ahead for the fighter to catch up. Aircraft were indeed lost to fighters, but more to other causes, such as flak, collisions, bad weather and flying into obstructions like high-tension power lines.

@rascalap2968 Ай бұрын

A thing of beauty is a joy forever…

@gagasmancave8859 Ай бұрын

The first multi role combat aircraft and a beauty well done to all who helped build her

@konewone361 Ай бұрын

looking forward to seeing this magnificent machine flying at Wanaka over easter.

@Marigold_Tearooms Ай бұрын

Thankyou for posting! Great to see

@robleary3353 Ай бұрын

Brilliant! Fantastic to see such a graceful aircraft back in the sky😅 Great job!. Nuff said. 🙂

@tokyobutakun 22 күн бұрын

A wonderful restoration. Bloody Good Show!

@EdwardThomas-mn5vd Ай бұрын

Fantastic Mossie ,bravo to all concerned.

@jerry36852 Ай бұрын

Absolutely fabulous to see a mosquito fly again, superb job with restoration. The last time I saw one was in 1970s at Duxford museum during air show.

@normanneil8242 Ай бұрын

Going back to going up in the war I can remember seeing themozy most as us kids used to call them

@Mark-uq6mv Ай бұрын

Loved everything about the wooden wonder growing up, Only wish was the audio recording was better to appreciate that twin engine roar, thanks for the video

@johnrenton3463 Ай бұрын

Excellent news! Thank you for uploading this epic flight 🙂

@johncrispin2118 Ай бұрын

Well done kiwis another Mossie in the skies , still none though in the UK, the country, of its birth no less , to our everlasting shame … The sheer variety of work these machines could do In wartime was unique , masters of the air ? These were for certain .

@robertlees7528 Ай бұрын

Lost ours at Barton. Saw it fly at Southport airshow. Superb

@number1genoa Ай бұрын

There is a 5th airframe in build now, not sure when the final assembly will begin at Avspecs but I understand it's UK bound.

@number1genoa Ай бұрын

Fun fact, the only rebuild project for its hotrod cousin the DH Hornet is also in Auckland at Pioneer Aero , just need to find a keen gazillionaire to fund it.

@geoffhemmings6546 Ай бұрын

Just beautiful. Well done. Remember flybys of so many old faithfuls which played their part and in the BoB memorial days .....

@Kevin-mx1vi Ай бұрын

Welcome back, old girl. We've missed you.

@mikeupton5406 Ай бұрын

Thank You for sharing this video! BEAUTIFUL!! Mosquito.

@jimgough8603 Ай бұрын

Absolutely bloody brilliant 😍😍😍😍

@user-bd3qm2dc8j Ай бұрын

Looked great flying in the circuit today

@nigel900 Ай бұрын

Beautiful. 🫡🇺🇸🇬🇧👍🏻

@waynebenedict5785 Ай бұрын

Great to see such a awesome plane back in the air!

@benwilson6145 Ай бұрын

When I was still a schoolboy a friend told me his father a factory manager had been a Mosquito pilot in ww2. Years later I asked him why he gave up flying. He said that after flying the mosquito every plane was a disappointment.

@nigelswindles1129 Ай бұрын

Well done you clever Kiwi's , hope to see it flying over where I am

@midgemagoo Ай бұрын

Very many thanks for your answers

@stephenoliver1437 Ай бұрын

Lovely feat miracle great to view and see flying again

@richardwells4370 Ай бұрын

Brilliant well done , what an achievement

@colsanjaybajpai5747 Ай бұрын

What a graceful aircraft

@peterhipsey2701 Ай бұрын

Stunning

@davidelliott5843 Ай бұрын

The world needs an updated Mosquito with turboprops

@user-qt1kb2lp6f Ай бұрын

Outstanding

@sbaliensarereal Ай бұрын

Absolutely Beautiful

@benrobertson7855 Ай бұрын

Thanks,when i was a kid and working on a tug way back in 1988, the guy in one our half round was breaking them up with the gear from kz3 and7 boats test gear ,to build one ,as a wooden boat kid I was hooked ,hence here all these years later. Kind regards.

@typhoon2827 Ай бұрын

I'd love to understand what you have written.

@fearofthedark666 Ай бұрын

@@typhoon2827yep complete word salad.

@allgood6760 Ай бұрын

Well done!.. nice one mate👍✈️🇳🇿

@mehere8-32 Ай бұрын

Beautiful.

@pilotmiami1 Ай бұрын

Bravo. Perfect. Go ahead

@ModelflyingNZ Ай бұрын

Shame about the wind - great to see it though

@raypurchase801 Ай бұрын

PHENOMENAL !

@stuartwren5526 Ай бұрын

Remember seeing flight of four at Biggin Hill air display in early 60:s just after 633 Squadron filmed. It was their last flight as all were being pensioned off due to airworthy issues. I wonder if any survived? 🇬🇧

@davidgood1965 Ай бұрын

Saw it at Wanaka! Lovely...

@truthhurts9241 Ай бұрын

She lives!

@ianperry9914 Ай бұрын

Top marks for everyone involded . thankyou . UK

@peterrollinson-lorimer Ай бұрын

Beauty!

@Hypermarlin Ай бұрын

Awesome!

@ianrichardson93 Ай бұрын

Looks fast when just standing still.

@patrickmorrissey8754 Ай бұрын

Long live the Mozzy!

@Spudtwo0 Ай бұрын

Looks like a no flap take off

@marklammas2465 Ай бұрын

Could do with one of these in Scotland. We get midges in clouds, but I've yet to see a Mozzie in flight...

@georgejohnson1498 Ай бұрын

I love these WW II era"warbirds" but I watch in trepidation when they are airborne. It can barely watch and am quite terrified in case something goes wrong. If a mishap occurs it can be so fast and the risk for the crew is potentially a very quick death. Escape is not so easy as more recent aircraft with ejectors and so on. Great video, and thank you. As a younger person I always wished I could fly in a Mosquito [as a passenger of course], but not now. Best wishes from George in the UK.

@billnone305 Ай бұрын

A great aircraft flying again, Too bad the wind noise blocked the engines sound on takeoff.

@telwebb6523 Ай бұрын

The most powerful, fast bomber fighter ever built. During the war years. Confirm this please

@noonehere1793 Ай бұрын

What a machine….👍👍👍👍👍😊

@gcvincent3989 Ай бұрын

Think about the very young men flying these aircraft in WWII.

@telwebb6523 Ай бұрын

Made of plywood. Lol how brave were the people that fly in this machine

@blairrighton6270 Ай бұрын

that's a very sexy plane they have down there in Ardmore

@tonygee3284 Ай бұрын

Very cool

@OneFlyingLap Ай бұрын

This is incredible, another mosquito takes to the skies, but the term restored is used very very loosely. No ordinary mosquito can ever take to the skies. A complete new fuselage and wings, that’s now a restoration, it’s a new plane with original parts restored and added to it. The reason no original can ever fly again is due to the glues used in the making of the ‘ wooden wonder ‘. Anyway, incredible to see another mosquito take to the air. All the best 💪👍

@ashcustomworks Ай бұрын

Indeed, it's a bit of a Grandad's Axe situation. As vintage aircraft go, however, there is most likely more of the original NZ2308 in this aircraft than for example, there is of the original SR661 flying under that identity today. For the reasons you note, it's just not possible to do any better than that with this kind of construction.

@OneFlyingLap Ай бұрын

@@ashcustomworks yes agreed, there is a lot more in this one, like I said, they’ve done another incredible job, they really have. A real spectacle to behold, just for those that are not in ‘the know’ the word restoration and seeing this mosquito take flight can paint a whole different picture

@michaeldibb Ай бұрын

Great video thanks for sharing. You might want to get a wind muff for your microphone. 👍

@Mickman007 Ай бұрын

The Mosquito was and is such an iconic plane but no discredit to the other ww2 planes love them all.

@johndavey72 Ай бұрын

So this must a later model "The Windy Wonder !" 🤣🤣🤣 So wonderful to see yet another "Mossie " back to flight . Is this number 4 or 5 ? Thankyou

@steamon2 Ай бұрын

A friend years ago told me at the end of the war his airfield took in these planes removed the engines and radio gear towed them to some waist part of the airfield and set fire to them what a shame

@ashcustomworks Ай бұрын

Yes. Lots of other types were sawn up and melted down to make saucepans. On the flipside, these locations were later mined for lost metal parts which have been used to restore these aircraft.