Originally posted by Karnak
I never rufsed to answer. I simply don't have time to dig through my books.
I thought you were supposed to some kind of authority on the Mossie. It is funny that you decline to comment on which Mossies were faster than the Me 410 because you don’t have time to research it … but you are adamant that the Me 410 had “middling to poor performance” based on
even less research. Can you say “bias”?
Originally posted by Karnak
Also note that you didn't challenge me to name Mossie IVI aces…
I most certainly did … multiple times:
Originally posted by Viking
Then why don’t you mention a couple of them.
Originally posted by Viking
Instead of insulting my intelligence with your pathetic evading why don’t you just give me a few names of Mossie FB.VI aces?
Originally posted by Viking
I still see no Mossie FB.VI aces.
Originally posted by Viking
Where are the FB.VI aces? I couldn't find any.
Attention span problem or reading comprehension?
Originally posted by Karnak
As to performance graphs, there are no performance graphs in existance of a a Mosquito Mk VI Series II without flame dampers that performs at normal levels. The one the RAE tested is acknowleged by them to be far below normal performance for the type and even after maitainance work by De Haviland on that example and retesting it is commented to still be below normal performance for the type.
And you base this conjecture on what? Can you document that the RAE “acknowledges” that the test aircraft underperformed? And how would they even KNOW that if they didn’t test another Mosquito? I call BS.
Originally posted by Karnak
What I do have are the comments, some made directly to be by Mossie pilots, about the speeds it would do. Per De Haviland's note about some airspeed indicators reading about 20mph to high I have discounted all of the 370mph on the deck claims I have heard and added them to the bulk of the claims which are about 350mph on the deck.
Yes and some 262 pilots claim they broke the sound barrier. Hell, IIRC even a P-47 pilot claimed he broke the sound barrier in a dive. HiTech is not going to model the FM after pilot anecdotes on speed, they are about as reliable as fishing stories.
Originally posted by Karnak
As to the aces, I don't have my books here. But look at the default skin of the Mossie in Aces High. It is a 418 Squadron Mossie with, as I recall, 18 kills marked on it. I have here a photo ofanother 418 Squadron Mossie VI with its pilot and navigator, S/L Russ Bannock and F/O Bobbie Bruce, the Mosquito "Hairless Joe" has 16 kill markers on it.
If you think that only 418 Squadron had Mossie VI aces, well, I don't know what to say.
Russ Bannock shot down 19 V-1’s and 11 German night-fighters. 418sq was a night-intruder squadron that lurked near German airfields and vulched the German night fighters on take-off and landing. I have already acknowledged that there were Mossie night-fighter aces, and now you have found a night-fighter squadron that actually used FB.VI’s in an unconventional way. However they are hardly representative of the FB.VI usage are they? Don’t think so. They could have done the same job with Bostons … and they DID! From 1941 to 1943 they flew Bostons at night and attacked German airfields. Any daytime aces you’d care to mention?
Originally posted by Karnak
Here is 418's final tally with the "useless" Mosquito:
So during THREE YEARS of wartime operation the squadron managed to shoot down 103 aircraft. Not impressive, especially if that number includes the 83 V-1’s (the British did count them as victories for some reason). The FOUR top Zerstörer aces have more kills than the entire 418sq. Both the first and second leading German night-fighter aces have higher personal scores. Hell, Marseilles alone killed more planes in less than a year. Even the best British ace Joseph Berry alone shot down more than half of that entire squadron’s tally.
Not impressed.
Originally posted by Karnak
Yup, no effect on the war at all.
Yeah, certainly none that I can see. They were harassers, nuisance raiders.
Originally posted by Karnak
I find it funny that you think the British were so enthusistic about an aircraft that was useless and had no effect on the war that they built 7,700 of them and always ordered more than production could meet. That the Americans wanted badly as well to replace their F-5 (P-38) recon aircraft with F-8 recon aircraft (Mosquitoes) but couldn't get enough of them. That Curtis seriously considered licensing the design and building it in the US, an almost unheard of thing.
“Wanted badly”, “seriously considered”, woulda coulda shoulda. 6710 Mossies were built during the war. That only equals the production of Bf 110’s and less than the total of Zerstörers produced.
The Mossie was a great plane and all, but not as great as you’d like to think.