"The essence of leadership . . . was, and is, that every leader from flight commander to group commander should know and fly his airplanes."
- Air Vice-Marshal J. E. 'Johnnie' Johnson, RAF

The "Mossie," as it was known affectionately by its British crews, was both simple in construction and design. It was a twin engine, single boom aircraft that placed the pilot and navigator in a side-by-side sitting configuration. The Mosquito was one of the most cost effective aircraft ever built because it was constructed out of wood. Balsa was used for the plywood skin, Sitka spruce from Alaska and British Columbia for the wing spars, and Douglas Fir stringers and birch and ash for the longitudinal pieces. These were all held together with glue and wood screws. The result was an airplane that was easy to maintain, tolerant of battle damage, and simple to patch. It was faster than the Spitfire, flew higher than almost any other aircraft, and carried tremendous firepower over great distances. The bomber version operated with relative impunity over Germany til the end of the war, because the Luftwaffe never had a nightfighter fast enough to intercept it. Interestingly, the nightfighter versions of the Mosquito remained in production until 1947, two years after the war in Europe had ended.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RCAF De Havilland Mosquito B Mk. VI intruder aircraft that was nicknamed "Moonbeam McSwine" and piloted by James Forrest "Lou" Luma, who was attached to No.418 Intruder Squadron, then deployed to Debden, England, on January 22nd, 1944. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 9-inches
Length: 6-3/4-inches

Release Date: April 2022

Historical Account: "Intruder Alert" - Encouraged to join the Royal Canadian Air Force following a chance meeting with a serving RCAF pilot, American James Forrest "Lou" Luma successfully negotiated his pilot training and was posted to fly the de Havilland Mosquito in England, even though he didn't even know what one looked like at that point. Arriving in England in the summer of 1943, he was assigned to No.418 squadron to fly night intruder missions and was given the luxury of just a single flight observing a flight instructor (from the navigator's seat), before making his first Mosquito solo. Re-assigned to the USAAF in July 1943, Luma was allowed to remain flying with the RCAF as they didn't want to break up his successful partnership with friend and navigator since training, Colin Finlayson, a man with whom he would go on to fly thirty operational missions. The Mosquito fighter the pair normally flew was quite unusual in that it sported nose artwork, something which was the exception rather than the norm on Royal Air Force fighters.

Known as "Moonbeam McSwine", the nose art featured a pipe smoking, gun toting Hillbilly girl of the same name, a character from the 'Li'l Abner' comic strip which was popular at the time. The pair scored their first victory when shooting down a Messerschmitt Me 410 nightfighter near Wunstorf on the night of January 21st-22nd, 1944, an aircraft which had shot down a British bomber earlier that same night and had returned to base to re-fuel and re-arm. On taking off for this second sortie, the Luftwaffe pilot forgot to turn off his lights, making the German fighter relatively easy prey for Luma in his prowling Mosquito intruder.