633 squadron mosquitos

i guess they used at least 3 in the film and were doin well 2 survive to the 1960s . have any survived to the present day ????????

 

This should be a 'FAQ' as it crops up so often on this and other Forums !

But it's always fun to check up on so here goes ; -

'633 Squadron ' used no less than eight Mosquitoes plus a fuselage ; all were either TT.35s or T.III trainers and in the main had been bought from the then-disbanding No 3 CAACU at Exeter.

The aircraft and their last known whereabouts were as follows ; -

RS 709 - now at USAAF Museum, Ohio
RS 712 - now with Kermit Weeks, Oshkosh ( ?? sold to Canadian owner 2003 ?? )
RS 718 - deliberately burnt and destroyed during filming
TA 639 - now at RAF Museum, Cosford
TA 642 - destroyed in accident
TA 719 - now at IWM, Duxford
TA 724 - deliberately wrecked during filming
TW 117 - now at Norwegian AF Museum, Bodo

And last but not least, all the cockpit scenes were shot using the fuselage of TJ118, which is now at the MAM, London Colney where it's used for parts donations for other rebuilds.

Plenty of information about all these aircraft can be found in 'Mosquito Survivors' by Stuart Howe ( Aston, 1986 ) and Gary R Brown's article in 'Warbirds Worldwide' no. 29, April 1994.

[ 09. November 2003, 07:17 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

 

thanks for the info again martin .
sorry if im covering old ground m8 but its all new info 2 me and just starting general posts goin really and havin a chat . many thanks

 

No problem at all, hatch. If a thread hasn't been aired for some time it's good to take another look & new contributors will possibly find it interesting, too.

It's only a few things like Malmedy or Dresden which go round and round with really, not much new to add....

 

there was one mosquito destroyed at duxford a few years ago .
would this be TA 642 or TA 719 being rebuilt maybe ?

 

Hatch, I think you're referring to Mosquito T.III, RR299.

This was BAe's own aircraft and tragically crashed at the Barton Airshow on 21st July, 1996 killing both its' crew.

Since then, no Mosquito has flown....in the world

 

was it that long ago???? i remember seeing the news coverage. time flies by......so to speak . did they find a reason for the crash , human error?????? such a shame .
it is nice to see the planes flyin again but at the same time i guess its good that the majority dont fly now and are static , so as things like this cant happen and they cant become even fewer in numbers .......

 

Sadly, the crash was, I believe, the result of an error. The pilot pulled a negative-G manouevre at relatively low height, the engines were momentarily starved of fuel, and there was insufficient height to recover the resulting stall.

Similar to the Firefly tragedy this year. Even the most experienced pilots can 'get it wrong' in these vintage aircraft - just consider how many pilots were lost in the war years due to accidents and unexplained crashes.

 

did anyone in england see it last sat the 6th december as 633 squadron was on the telly???????????? the sound of the merlins............beautiful

 

Yep - I watched it even though I own the video ( )....

The early flying scenes ( especially flying up the valley in Scotland and at Bovingdon Airfield ) are the best. The script really is corny, though !

But the music is great, and you're right, those Merlins really do roar. It's just so really, really sad that not one Mosquito is left flying anywhere

 

gotta be the best music ever that to 633 squadron , i must say i regulary have it on loud in the car..........not one flying is a bit grim to say the least especially seeing the 4 at the beginning taxing ......but i guess we should be thankful they survived to make the film . i would of thought that was the last get together of mossies...........????

 

I too love this film, mostly for the awesome flying sequences in Scotland and over the sea. breaks my heart to see a real Mossie burning though- can you imagine doing that today? And, has been said, the music is absolutely wonderful. Can anyone tell me how much of the footage used in the later film, "Mosquito Squadron," was knicked from 633? Did they use different aircraft?
Regarding the crash of BAe's Mosquito, I seem to remember reading that it was due to incorrect maintenance of the Carburetor in one of the Merlins. Something to do with setting the float up for negative G use, which was known about in WW11, but somehow got missed in modern day maintenance schedules. So, strictly speaking, it wasn't really pilot error- the manouver would have been ok if the carb was set up right. Please correct me if I'm wrong though!!

 

The Mosquito Museuem between Hatfield & St.Albans has one..............but it don't fly................. :-(

 

taken from wikipedia:The aircraft
The film features eight real De Havilland Mosquitos, an aircraft nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder" because of its primary construction material. As the Royal Air Force had recently retired the type in 1963, civilian operators leased mostly former converted bomber examples (TT Mk 35) to the RAF for target-towing. [8]Scouring RAF bases at Exeter, South Devon, Henlow, Shawbury and the Central Flying School at Little Rissington provided not only 10 authentic aircraft, but also vehicles and equipment of the war.[9]
Eight Mosquitos were primarily used, five airworthy and others that could not fly but could be taxied on runways or used as set dressing. The airworthy TT 35 Mosquitos were converted to resemble a fighter-bomber variant (FB Mk VI). The TT 35 models had their clear nosecones and side windows painted over and dummy machine gun barrels fitted. The fourth airworthy Mosquito was a T3 with a solid nose which only required the fitting of dummy gun barrels. It lacked the two-stage Merlins, V-shaped windscreen and bulged bomb bay of the TT 35s. At least one surplus Mosquito was destroyed in a simulated crash scene.[10]

The Mosquitos used in the film were:

• RS709 - flown in the film
• RS712 - flown
• RS715 - cockpit section only
• TA639 - flown
• TA719 - flown
• TJ118 - cockpit section only
• TV959 - at Bovington Airfield, but was not flown
• TW117 - flown

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/633_Squadron

 

i was born in kent & grew up in a small town called west malling which had a famous fighter station during the battle of britain (now a housing estate & golf course) but i was told that because the mosquito was built of wood that a good many of them just simply rotted away after the war which of course now is a crying shame

 

this ones just a few minutes from me,and I've never been here!

De Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre

 

looks like a intresting place ray, not sure about the bright yellow mozy though...and the chipmunk brings back memories of being in the atc as as teenager

 

used to work in hangers at stag lane edgware for bacs eft computer finance for banks. Massive hangers for old de havilland airstrip. refurbished for telecoms use. Had a few plaques littered thru place which being ex raf i suitably ignored as raf folk generally do.

 

The reason it's yellow is that it's the actual prototype, and all prototypes were yellow!

 

my old stomping ground urqh nw9 area...
Stag Lane Airfield