Modelaid Quarterly International 01

By October 1938 de Havilland's had decided that although it was intended to raise the combat speed of its bomber into the 400mph category, the Mosquito was to be constructed in wood. The company was used to this material and had the necessary equipment. There were, in fact, other reasons for this choice but the main one was that the metal industry was already working to capacity and, in time, would be taxed even more. This would mean a delay in construction and testing. It was not until the outbreak of war in 1939 that interest in a totally unarmed bomber began to harden and in early 1940 an Air Ministry specification, B. 1/40, was issued asking for basic requirements of a 1,000 lb bomb load and a range of 1,500 miles. In March 1940 an official order for fifty aircraft reached de Havilland.

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