Mosquito fighter/bomber

[Ed Majden]

The Mosquito fighter/bomber had rather exceptional performance for an
aircraft of that type. Even faster than the early Spitz! It was fast with
relatively long range and was used as a pathfinder, night fighter, recon,
and insurgent bomber. Was it ever considered as an escort fighter for the
daylight American B17's?
How would it have stacked up to a ME109? Stukas were used to break up
formations of B17s. I would think the Mosquito would have been effective at
least against these, as a fighter. Was this ever considered before the long
range Mustang took over this task?

[Keith Willshaw]

"Ed Majden" > wrote in message
news:Xql0c.644866$X%5.57699@pd7tw2no...
> The Mosquito fighter/bomber had rather exceptional performance for an
> aircraft of that type. Even faster than the early Spitz! It was fast with
> relatively long range and was used as a pathfinder, night fighter, recon,
> and insurgent bomber. Was it ever considered as an escort fighter for the
> daylight American B17's?
> How would it have stacked up to a ME109?

Badly, think of what happened to the Me-110's in the
Battle of Britain. The Mosquito was lightly built and couldnt
manoeuvre as well as the Me-109. It was fast to be sure BUT
couldnt cruise at high speed for the range required.

> Stukas were used to break up
> formations of B17s. I would think the Mosquito would have been effective
at
> least against these, as a fighter. Was this ever considered before the
long
> range Mustang took over this task?
>

I sincerely doubt it. Bristol Beaufighters were used as escorts
in the MTO against Italian opposition but were inadequate
against advanced single seat fighters.

Keith

[Ed Majden]

"Keith Willshaw" <\
> Badly, think of what happened to the Me-110's in the
> Battle of Britain. The Mosquito was lightly built and couldnt
> manoeuvre as well as the Me-109. It was fast to be sure BUT
> couldnt cruise at high speed for the range required.

I agree, it would have difficulty against a BF109 or an BF190. As for
range, the Mosquito dropped bombs on Berlin and they acted as path finders
for the RAF night bomber missions. One, I think would have to weigh the
loss of a B17 crew against the effectiveness and loss of a two man Mosquito
crew. I just read the book. Schweinfurt, disaster in the skies, by John
Sweetman. During the early raids the USAAC believed the B17 could protect
itself but they were sadly proved wrong by the high losses. A Mosquito
escort may have saved some of these crews. Until the Mustang came on seen,
Spitfires had an escort range of 175 miles, the P47-230 miles, the
P38 -520 miles and then the Mustang, listed as over 600 miles which took it
past Berlin.
I wonder how much better a P38 was when compared to the Mosquito. I have
heard in some case, with the P38 they weren't sure who was escorting who!
Can't remember where I read that!

[Keith Willshaw]

"Ed Majden" > wrote in message
news:X0o0c.645634$X%5.618654@pd7tw2no...
>
> "Keith Willshaw" <\
> > Badly, think of what happened to the Me-110's in the
> > Battle of Britain. The Mosquito was lightly built and couldnt
> > manoeuvre as well as the Me-109. It was fast to be sure BUT
> > couldnt cruise at high speed for the range required.
>
> I agree, it would have difficulty against a BF109 or an BF190. As for
> range, the Mosquito dropped bombs on Berlin and they acted as path finders
> for the RAF night bomber missions.

Sure but to do so they cruised at an air speed of around 240 mph
at night. The famous day time raids against the prison at
Amiens and the gestapo HQ in Copenhagen required an
escort of RAF single seat fighters

> One, I think would have to weigh the
> loss of a B17 crew against the effectiveness and loss of a two man
Mosquito
> crew. I just read the book. Schweinfurt, disaster in the skies, by John
> Sweetman. During the early raids the USAAC believed the B17 could protect
> itself but they were sadly proved wrong by the high losses. A Mosquito
> escort may have saved some of these crews.

Its unlikely since the Mosquito would have been struggling
to save itself in these circumstances. The most likely outcome
would be the loss of both aircraft.

> Until the Mustang came on seen,
> Spitfires had an escort range of 175 miles, the P47-230 miles, the
> P38 -520 miles and then the Mustang, listed as over 600 miles which took
it
> past Berlin.
> I wonder how much better a P38 was when compared to the Mosquito. I have
> heard in some case, with the P38 they weren't sure who was escorting who!
> Can't remember where I read that!
>

The P-38 was a much more capable day fighter than the Mosquito.
The mossie was an excellent aircraft but it was unsuitable as a
day escort.

Keith

[ANDREW ROBERT BREEN]

In article <Xql0c.644866$X%5.57699@pd7tw2no>,
Ed Majden > wrote:
> The Mosquito fighter/bomber had rather exceptional performance for an
>aircraft of that type. Even faster than the early Spitz! It was fast with
>relatively long range and was used as a pathfinder, night fighter, recon,
>and insurgent bomber. Was it ever considered as an escort fighter for the
>daylight American B17's?

Not as far as I know - for the very good reason that the Mosquito was
not a good day fighter. Manoeverability was poor by the standards of
single-engined fighters (or even the better twin-engined fighters).

>How would it have stacked up to a ME109?

Badly, if it couldn;t use its speed to escape - and in an escort role this
was not an option. A fair few Mosquitoes were lost to 109s - not enough to
require it to be escorted itself, but it certainly wasn't suitable for the
daylight escort role.
It was, however, effective against german night fighters - but there's
a big difference between the Ju-88, Do-217 and Bf-110 and the 109 or 190.

--
Andy Breen ~ Interplanetary Scintillation Research Group
http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/
"Time has stopped, says the Black Lion clock
and eternity has begun" (Dylan Thomas)

[ArtKramr]

>Subject: Mosquito fighter/bomber
>From: "Ed Majden"
>Date: 2/29/04 5:03 AM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <Xql0c.644866$X%5.57699@pd7tw2no>
>
> The Mosquito fighter/bomber had rather exceptional performance for an
>aircraft of that type. Even faster than the early Spitz! It was fast with
>relatively long range and was used as a pathfinder, night fighter, recon,
>and insurgent bomber. Was it ever considered as an escort fighter for the
>daylight American B17's?
>How would it have stacked up to a ME109? Stukas were used to break up
>formations of B17s. I would think the Mosquito would have been effective at
>least against these, as a fighter. Was this ever considered before the long
>range Mustang took over this task?
>
>

It was fast. It had range. It could carry a big load. But not all at once.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
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