Have been doing some work on the PFF Roll of Honor on my site and am surprised at the number of losses which involve engine failures on Mosquitos, particularly on T/O and Landing? This was the same engine as the Lanc? and I do not seem to come across the same problem with them? Anyone (Martin perhaps) have any input on this? Also could someone enlighten me as to the duties of the second seater, was he purely a navigator or did he have other duties? Too many questions. Robin www.156Squadron.com
Good questions.... I'm really not sure as to how the percentage of engine failures apply to Mosqito and Lancaster. The main problem with the Mossie was that single-engined takeoffs or - especially - landings were not for the novice. Takeoff and landing speeds were relatively high and any malfunction in one engine ( eg sudden mag-drop etc ) could lead to a sudden 'swing' due to high torque of the remaining engine and the light weight of the airframe. A relatively high number of crews did come to grief in this manner. Only skilled and competent pilots could handle a one-engined Mosquito landing ( although some, like the legendary nightfighter ace Branse Burbridge, did so on several occasions ). The PFF Navigator was of course in charge of navigation, and also any adjustments to the 1154/55 radio which sat to the left rear of him. He also kept an eye on engine gauges, fired any Verey colours where necessary, and dropped the bomb (s) ! Apart from that, he enjoyed the night view, watched the props going round and round, and let the pilot get on with the hard work ( or so Reg Davey at the Mossie Museum, who was one, would have you believe.... )
Thanks Martin for a comprehensive and amusing response.... Time permitting, I may follow this thru a bit further and do some stats on Mossie losses, in PFF at least. Will let you know the results. Regards Robin www.156Squadron.com
...and don't forget that as time went on, the Navigator became responsible for overseeing more sophisticated bombing-related equipment such as OBOE, etc..... ( Going back to the 'Mossie engine failure' question, these are just my own thoughts but the Merlins are an incredibly tight fit in the Mossie cowlings and, as with the Spitfire, cooling on the ground was marginal. Also, compared to the Lanc, Mossies relied on pure speed to evade enemy action and detection, therefore the engines tended to operate 'flat out' for longer periods... )
I was reading in my Halifax book on Coastal Command Halifax's and it said the Merlins did not like the long hours of low airspeed and low level patrol work Coastal Command did and they prefered the Hercules powered Halifax for that type of work. Perhaps engine icing or waiting too long on the ground for take off fouled the spark plugs.
I can update and amend this thread because I got the real 'gen' today from the horse's mouth.... I made use of my day at the Mosquito Museum by buttonholing our resident veteran, Reg Davey, and asking him the question direct. He smiled at the thought of the navigator not having much to do and was straightaway able to put me straight - the navigator did NOT in fact have to worry about the radio and all monitoring of engine controls and settings was left to the pilot. Reg stressed that PFF Mosquito navigation was a very demanding task, requiring a spot position check every two minutes, the main item needing constant attention being wind speed and direction. On main force bombers, checks were only needed every five minutes or so but the much higher speed of the Mosquito meant that the slightest error or deviation could put the aircraft far off course. Reg told me that PFF Mossies didn't really have an ETA over the target - they simply had a time of arrival with only four minutes' latitude. Reg also said with real pride that PFF Navigators were the best, and PFF Mosquito Navigators were the best of the best. His main concern was 'not to let Bennett down' and that his greatest dread was to fall short of the required standard and be sent back to an 'ordinary' Squadron - something which was unthinkable. He also said that the tiny navigators table and anglepoise lamp with dim bulb in the Mosquito cockpit made the job even more difficult. Also, when over enemy territory, he had also to constantly check the H2S screen to try to identify coastlines, lakes, etc as navigation landmarks. As always with Reg, he then smiled and said : 'It was fun, though....' Reg Davey flew two tours with 218 and 514 Squadrons ( including the Nuremburg Raid and the 'Night of the Big Winds' ) before going on to Mossies with 139 and 627 Squadrons. He's feeling his years, now, and we're very fortunate that he makes such an effort to be at the Museum regularly where he patiently answers all questions before Bomber Command's war passes into the history books.
Well, I have nearly completed my analyses of Pathfinder Mosquitos and will shortly give you a breakdown on cause of loss. In preview I can tell you that a high percentage were crashes on takeoff and landing due to engine failure. Probably more losses due to this cause than enemy action. Another interesting observation though is the high percentage of NZ pilots involved in the various Squadrons? Did NZ have a particular training program for Mossie pilots? Any input on that one Martin? Regards Robin www.156Squadron.com
Good stuff, Robin - I'm looking forward to reading to your result As to the NZ question, I'm honestly not sure - certainly one of the most renowned Mossie fighter-bomber outfits was 487(RNZAF) Squadron. I'll have to go away and think about this one.....
I've just been reading a most interesting memoir which throws a little more light on this subject ; 'Mosquito To Berlin' by 'Bertie' Boulter DFC ( Pen & Sword, 2007 ). Boulter describes his training at RAF Warboys on a Mosquito T.3 and recounts that there could be no recovery procedures from an engine failure on take-off with a full fuel- and bomb-load. Apparently, at full power in such a situation the Mosquito would roll onto its back, even with full rudder and aileron input. Unofficially, the best thing to do was considered to be to cut the remaining engine and attempt a straight-ahead crash-landing. Boulter was aware of no-one having done this successfully. 'This had been tried, but there were seldom any survivors to ask the appropriate questions of...'
