It's easily my favorite none american plane ever.

Can you imagine working in a cabinet shop during the war then one day your boss bust through the door and yells stop making cabinets we are building planes now

"trolling the Germans" describes more of WWII than we'd care to admit

My grandfather was a RCAF Navigator who flew in a Mosquito as a *_Pathfinder_* in WWII. He always told my mom "I *never* dropped bombs, _only flares."_ As the Navigator, one of the tasks my grandpa had would be to calculate when to drop the flares so they'd land on the target to signal the bombers where to aim, but the enemy would try and confuse the bombers by lighting up matching colored flares miles away on the ground. My grandpa and the pilot had to STAY IN THE AREA flying around while being shot at, and DROP MORE FLARES of _different colors_ to reestablish the target location for the bombing run. He'd be 100 years old (joined up at 16 and lied about his age) but he passed in 2010.

Best description of the Mosquito ever: "The best piece of furniture Brits have ever devised"

My favorite troll on the Germans during ww2 was when the RAF saw the Germans building a fake airbase and planes out of wood during a recon mission and instead of bombing it that day/night they waited for them to be done the construction, which is when they sent in a plane to drop one wooden bomb. Please never change, Britain.

So no one wants to talk about how it's technically the first stealth aircraft before the concept of radar cancelling technology existed?

So, what you're saying is: Let's build a f22 out of wood.

As a brit; people always go on about the spitfire, it's good to see love for the mosquito

The Mosquito is a perfect example of what LazerPig would call Wallace and Grommeting your way out of the problem, and Clarkson's idea that every problem the British ever faced could be fixed by some blokes in a shed. I love it.

"Acoustic SR-71" is probably the most accurate description of the mosquito possible

This is brilliant, thank you. A cousin of mine was a Wing Cdr in the RAF; he briefly commanded 21 Squadron before sadly being killed in his Mosquito, along with his crewman, just 2 months before the end of WW2 in Europe. RIP cousin, Wing Cdr Victor Rundle Oats, also, Flt Sgt Gubbings. Not forgotten.

I love how subsequent pics of Lord mini-paws have smaller and more tiny mitts. The last one made me burst out. Lol

I knew a man that flew one on WW2, his stories were amazing. He said that bullets just went right through doing very little damage. He would fly in first and drop flares on targets for other bombers to use as a reference point to drop their pay loads. He was shot down 3 times, each time successfully crash landing the plane in friendly territory. He also went on to circumnavigate the globe with his wife in a sail boat where he actually met Jacque Cousteau. They became friends and he had pictures of them on adventures with each other. He had a degree in engineering and we both built a Hot Rod in his garage when I was 17. He was a humble and brilliant man. He died with no family, just me and my mom next to him in a hospital in San Antonio, TX. Through our friendship this man who was an atheist came to know Jesus and was at peace in his final breath which was, "Let's see where this breeze takes me" which is on the Stern of my sailboat today!

“Wooden plane”: that thing was the closest thing to composite design available in WW2. Just got its carbon fiber the natural way. This has more in common with a 777 than a balsa plane.

British government did the same thing to Frank Whittle when they told him his jet engine design was stupid, so he sold to America instead, great job Britain 👍

I have to say ive studied war for 50+ ( UK /Scottish ) years and you are an outstanding story teller , essentially nailed all the fine detail and a lot of the nuances , your fast pace and full on narration adds a welcome bit of punch and backbone , Plaudits to you sir , well deserved like and sub.

My late grandfather flew mosquitoes over Borneo for the RAAF, his favourite way of describing the aircraft was "slipperier than an eel in spit".

The DH-98 Mosquito is the Jake McNasty of the air. Completely unorthodox and embarrasses everything that opposes it.

As a descendant of an RAF Pathfinder...whose aircraft was the wonderous Mossy....I grew up hearing stories that you may not have, my friend. One of the funniest is the RAF's version of "Crying Wolf" Pathfinder carried incendiary bombs to start fires...and then marker flares to signal the main swarms which fire was the Designate. The main Bombers would fly over said fire on a particular course and start bombing....and with perpendicular paths over consecutive nights the center of the Target got lambasted...but here is where the trolling came in... The Pathfinders would come over a city on tbeur way to a target...and get a fire started....occassionally dropping flare. Ofcourse...the German Gun crews were roasted out to man theur guns, searchlights, etc....and would be out for hours...and little or no bombing would happen. Thus sort of thing would go on for a week as the Pathfinders had time and spares....and just like the old story...the Germans...irate at being tricked so often...would stop rushing out their crews man their defenses....and then the actual bombing would commence. Pretty soon...the standing orders were all crews were to man defrnses...regardless if it was a perceived raid or not. Big time morale killer for the German gun crews.

You know it's good when the Comet gets brushed aside. The origin of so many great WW2 planes. The Spitfire, Whirlwind and Mosquito all derived from developments of the bright red racer.

The Fat Electrician is the funniest history teacher of all time.

You didn't mention the "Tsetse" variant of the Mozzie! Naval warfare version, armed with a 57mm cannon autocannon, used to shoot holes in U-boats. It's like giving the navy an A10

Canada had a part in building the Mosquito,as part of the British Commonwealth, it had Most of the Wood to build this Fast plane.

Many master wood crafters came together to defend their country. The result was the Mosquito Bomber.

I forgot who said it but there's this quote which sums up hoe effective it was. "The worst thing about the mosquito is that we never built enough of them"

This thing really *bugged* people how well it worked. The Mosquito really just sucked the enemy morale dry

My Grandmother made tail planes for mossies during WWII. She was working at Walter Lawrence's furniture factory, in Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire England.

Hi, I live in New Zealand and am an avid follower of the Mosquito. I have the great luck to, because of my interest in vintage motorcycles have friends working for Avspecs, a firm who are now in the position to build Mosquitos due to a local who has managed to obtain all the drawings needed to perform that feat. DeHavilland Mosquito NZ2308 has just been completed and flew for the first time on my 75 th birthday 18th March 2024. This is the second of the only 3 operational Mozzies in the world and was rebuilt by this company. A little considered fact is that none of the original aircraft can fly any more due to the woodwork delaminating with age and old glues. They were not expected to last very long in combat anyway but 2 pot mixes were not available then also. I have the goodluck to have been able to go into the hanger several times as the aircraft was being built and live on the coast in line with the Ardmore air strip getting to see it assembled and to see it fly its early flights. It will soon be dismantled and sent to its american owners and will probably appear at OshKosh or some similar amazing airshow in the near future. It is decked out in the colours of the New Zealand airforce and we are proud of the contribution of these great engineers in NZ to have them contribute in a small part to the history of flight. I loved this explanation and your intensity. Great job. Terry

Also the ol' Mozzie was near impossible to shoot down if you caught it. it's made of Wood. bullets go in one side and out the other. there are accounts of Luftwaffe pilots complaining they emptied their entire munitions load into a Mosquito and it just kept on flying, and all they accomplished was annoying some RAF crew Chief who had to put bits of dowling into the holes later that day.

What do you get when you combine a British madman, an engine too powerful for its own good, and the finest carpenters his Majesty can provide? You get the most deadly mosquito since malaria.

As an old Brit, the Mossie is one of my all-time favourite aircraft . I've lost count of all the videos I've seen on it but without doubt, yours is definitely one of the best and most entertaining I've watched. Colour me, subscribed👍

As someone who grew up in northern Minnesota, I can attest that these planes were *brilliantly* named for how the British used them.

I felt that "rant" in my soul. Just remember even injured horses are "put down..." Cheers man.

Love the Mosquitos, they could do just about everything. My favorite variant was the FB MK. XVIII which mounted a 57mm Molins anti-tank gun with an auto loader. It was nicknamed the Tsetse, and it hunted U-boats. The round was solid rather than explosive. This meant that punched right through the hull of surfaced U-boats and bounced around inside with unhealthcare being applied.

Pinewood Derby Plane. Excellent analysis!

My grandfather was a Mosquito pilot during the war. He was colorblind so he couldn't pass physical for American pilots and joined the Canadian RAF. Ended up in England flying Mosquitos. I have all of his service records and requested replacements for his medals and ribbons, have his certificate of thanks from King George and his logbook. Going to do a shadow box with all of his stuff. Not many photos of wartime service but I might be able to reconstruct some of his missions from his flight logs. I do have a lot of photos from flight school, they were training in biplanes, believe it or not! I never met him, he was killed in a crash post-war about 10 years before I was born.

19:05 "the more I study history, the more positive I am all politicians are morons" - FatElectrician 2023, wise words

The really sad part is most of them have deteriorated badly over the years. As a pilot and lover of old airplanes, that's really painful.

18:46 I knew exactly what plane was about to appear on screen the second he stared into the camera 😂

17:40 the german moskito was also abandoned because the glue factory that made the glue to bond the aircraft was destroyed by the raf. they had no other alternate sites.

Shout out to grandma for being a bloody legend in making history

"Acoustic SR-71" is probably the most accurate description of the mosquito possible. "trolling the Germans" describes more of WWII than we'd care to admit.

Something else to keep in mind about the wood-composite construction of the Mossie: unlike aluminum, you can sand it and warp it into smooth, complex 3D curves. That means getting a plane so buttery smooth that the air lets it pass completely unopposed, on the condition it stop by again tomorrow and maybe grab a movie

As a US Army Veteran and cheese lover..... I thank you for your very entertaining and pleasantly informative videos. You rock!

"Its basically an acoustic SR71" is going to be my new favorite way of describing the Mosquito

You had me rolling with “acoustic SR-71” 🤣🤣🤣

I wasn't expecting this but...I really enjoyed the video. Great work! The Mossie was a brilliant plane and still cruelly over-looked. It could carry nearly as much payload as a B17 but could outrun most fighters. With the Hispano cannons fitted in the nose the Mossie was the modern day Warthog and a total baddass for ground attack and used to tear up Panzer columns and German troop trains for fun. Thanks for keeping its memory alive.

Dude, your story telling combined with the production quality of this content legitimately makes this more compelling than anything the History channel has turned out in recent years...

Just the sheer sense of "I told you so" De Havilland must have had when the British procurement office came back to him. Also did he basically just make the world first stealth fighter/bomber?

As a career Commercial Journeyman Carpenter, I ESPECIALLY appreciated this video lesson. I love, no LOVE all your videos. Your delivery, appropriate profanity & cynical sarcasm combined with new world definitions makes your videos as funny as they are interesting and educational. If I would have had teachers like this in school I would have graduated class valedictorian. Thank you, keep up the GREAT work.

Outstanding, best presentation on the history, development and importance of the Mosquito Ive ever seen. So many diverse rolls, Pathfinders for the Lancaster Squadrons in 44, and search and destroy missions against German shipping and U Boats using cannons, a great grandfather to the Warthog.

I feel like this was left out of history class on purpose. For years, I wondered how the raf beat the germans, but I had no idea it was because of wooden aircraft.

The rant at the end of the video with the ever-increasing absurdity of the "horse to water" analogy was both hilarious and maddeningly accurate.

They were just early to the party in working carbon fiber. They used natural resin too. 😁 And yeah, the first low observability plane ever. Rudimentary radar plus wood construction.. *chef's kiss*

So many great lines, but "sent out swarms of Mosquitos" really made me chuckle

So glad you mentioned Wilfred Freeman. He was my great uncle and the main reason the Mosquito was produced. Fascinating story and worth more research.

“Because they can’t walk and chew bubble gum for office” I fell out of my chair when I heard that 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I have been working for 3 weeks to install wood shelving in my bathroom. I am not qualified. All thar college isnt good for the "real" long game. Kudos to the brilliance. If i was an early engineer, we would stay the Stone Age.

Ok. Dude. I saw one video, and now I can't stop! I've been binge watching your vids for two days. As soon as I see one I haven't watched, I start smiling cuz I know it's Gona be good lol. Your content is great, but your commentary is awesome! PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING!!

Fun fact, the DH Vampire JET FIGHTER still used wood for parts of it's fuselage. My dad trained at the DH technical college, he describes a lot of what they did as "interesting".

Voting for the mosquito on your poll yesterday and seeing it was the lowest percentage makes me so happy to see this video right now😂

Great job. You linked all the important facts / events together in a well paced video. Thanks.

Sitting here crocheting, and listening to your stories while I’m on barracks duty is the best! It makes it not suck.

I love the Mossie. It's the plane the RAF didn't want but Geoffrey de Havilland knew they would need it. Loved by it's pilots and feared by it's enemies.

Wouldn't that make the Mosquito the first stealth air craft?

This was a great video - plenty of information, lots of humour and great presentation. Enjoyed every minute.

In 2019, I moved to the "country estate" where the DH-98 was designed and where the first prototype was flown from, joining and regularly visiting the De Havilland museum where they have original prototypes and examples of other aircraft on view. Fabulous video.

The mossie was an amazing aircraft. Gave the Germans a big headache. On the subject of twin-engined speed freaks, it would be cool to see your take on the P-38 Lightning... especially in Operation Vengeance

Something remarkable about the Mosquito not mentioned in this great episode was it's loss per sortie ratio, 0.5% seems to be the generally accepted figure, incredible numbers for any WW2 air craft let alone one that flew such high risk missions, it truly was an amazing machine

My favorite variant was the Tsetse - a Mosquito for anti-shipping and anti-submarine duties equipped with a 57mm anti-tank gun that had an autoloader. An anti-sub patrol would have a Tsetse, a few mosquitos equipped with rockets, a few with bombs, and a few with depth charges. If they caught a sub at the surface, the 57mm would be used to punch a hole in the pressure hull of the sub to keep it from submerging, allowing the rockets and bombs to sink the sub. If the sub was able to crash dive, you have the depth charges.

Luv this vid! At 67 and lifelong airplane nut built all the WW2 warbird models, the more I learned about this awesome Brit engineering it’s right up there with my USA faves.

I did my apprenticeship at a dehavilland factory that opened in 1937, so this is very cool to see! Also, favourite quote on ww2 - an old dude at a vet bar being told how dogfights are faster and harder than back in his day (this is 2008ish). Casually drained his pint and replied 'sure, kid, but youre not airborne over your parents house.''

#1 quote I can take away from this, "It's basically the acoustic SR-71". That is freaking golden!

You tell this story so well. I love it. Mossie was a great aircraft of its time.

This is the best history lesson! Love the mosquito, my wife's Grandfather worked on them during the war so its a special aircraft in this house! Also love the cameo by the A10 😁

Always a good day when we get story time with TFE. "paper plane with a v8" Of course a speed freak would build that.

Your description of politicians at the end is so on point it should be on billboards everywhere.

"Acoustic SR-71" is a great explanation for this plane

This man is the only content creator who I will watch repeatedly and thoroughly enjoy it every time

Had a feeling you were going to have this as your favorite. The equivalent of a 3 pointer if a pilot managed to shoot one down.

The main part of the Mosquito that pinged on radar were the nails and parts of the propeller assembly. Not a whole lot to go off of, especially back then. Also there are accounts that the pilots were so comfortable flying the Mosquitos low, some of them would returned to the air fields with foliage and leaves on their undercarriage.

I love how he tells well known stories but makes it exciting and interesting while sharing the obscure facts that make you wonder why you never heard them before. Whew...Long sentence. Great video, brother.

Your tutorial about the Mosquito was very interesting to me as this was one of the planes my dad navigated in WWII. It was among his favorites. He was a member of the RCAF and would be lent to the RAF for missions when needed.

Famous quote from a air general: “the mosquito had only one flaw, there wasn’t enough of them.” Me, living in Southern America: *YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT*

I needed this today, my father died last Thursday. Love your videos, never change your format or style. Words of wisdom to live by: 1. It's not a dad bod, it's a father figure. 2. Never trust a fart.

I've been obsessed with the plane ever since reading Tintin when I was a kid. Herge loved his military hardware and stuck the Mosquito in wherever he could with fantastic illustrations of the plane kicking ass.

Ah, I love your humor and storytelling. I'm all in on aviation.... watching airplane videos on lunch break as an air traffic controller, waiting for my weekend to get here so I can go flying with the wife. I must say, your descriptions and aircraft info is very accurate. Keep up the great work!

A few months back I had the honor of drinks and a meal with a 102 year old WWII Mossie pilot at the RAF club in London. A gentleman and aviator extraordinaire. Great stories and fabulous company all around.

Love the fade away and the frustration rant at the end lmfao!!! Back to watching interrogations now

That England to Australia air race would make a good video ... with the protagonist being KLM airlines entering a Douglas DC-2 airliner ... and almost beating DeHaviland's custom built racers. KLM made it a scheduled passenger flight and at one point in the race the DC-2 had to turn around and pick up a passenger who missed the plane. DeHaviland actually had to cross the Outback AT NIGHT, to beat the American built airliner.

I think you need an "Acoustic SR-71" mosquito shirt as merch. That description is just too perfect.

My next door neighbour was a mosquito pilot in WW2,when I met moved in he was 80 something,he used to go to the working man's club every Friday and get absolutely piss drunk,to the point I'd have to undo his door for him,he never talked about the war,just"I was in the RAF,flew mosquitos"....that's all you'd get out of him.

The mosquito was way ahead of its time, the first composite aircraft put into production, arguably the best plane of the war, certainly the most versatile, easier to make and repair in service, they used these for pretty much every kind of mission, spitfires are great, mosquito's are the twin engined spitfires, awesome!

My Father worked at De Havilands in Hatfield Helped build the Mosquito and was always his favourite plane - thank you for showing this my Father would have loved this

Brilliant video thanks, my dad was a wartime fighter pilot -,Spitfires n Typhoons mainly

“The more I study history the more absolutely positive I become that all politicians are morons…” -QuackBang, 2023 A quote to live by, and I’m glad that someone found better words than I did to summarize my thoughts.

You also forgot, they were very survivable. Unlike metal that can twist and tear, the Mosquito was made out of wood and would only splinter on impact with bullets. Ones been known to keep flying after taking so much damage that would of knocked any metal plane out of the sky. I remember reading years ago somewhere that they been known to drain the enemys ammo and still keep flying

The research you put into these videos is amazing.

This is the first video I've watched on this channel - won't be the last - I really enjoyed this - the Mossie is one of my favourite RAF aircraft. Great presentation too! We don't have any airworthy ones in the UK - we used to have one until it crashed in front of thousands at an airshow due to the pilot doing a manoeuvre that starved an engine of fuel. Guy Gibson VC - the leader of the Dambusters lost his life in a Mosquito. He was returning from a raid on Rheydt when his aircraft crashed in Steenbergen, on the Dutch coast. He and his navigator, Jim Warwick were buried nearby. The cause of the crash isn't fully understood. One eyewitness said he saw a light on in the cockpit before the crash whilst a gunner from one of the bombers that Gibson target-marked for claimed a Ju88 'kill' on that night but records showed there were none anywhere near the area. Could it have been 'friendly fire' - they're both twin engined fighter- bombers.