Mossquito Mk. XI

[StokesAk]

I heard somewhere that the Mosquito could outrun almost everything that the germans could throw at them.

I was wondering if this statement was true.

The mossie goes about 300 when it is in level flight with rockets and bombs, this seems very slow to me.

So if it could outrun most german fighters what fighters would that be refering to?

What years did this mossquito variant see most service and what fighters did it go toe to toe with?

[RTHolmes]

300? even with rockets its faster than that at all alts



rockets cost 10mph at most iirc.


its rep as fast comes from its performance at cruise settings not full power.

[DEECONX]

Here is a website I found that may have some answers. I just briefly skimmed it, so it may just be stuff you already know, lol. http://www.aviation-history.com/dehavilland/mosquito.html

EDIT:: Something else I found that may be helpfull. http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/

[Scherf]

What RTH said.

The VI was in service mid-43 to end of war, encountered standard German fighters of the time, though I'm not sure any VIs encountered 262s or 163s.

[StokesAk]

Alright, thanks I though that they meant on the deck as oppose to 20,000 feet.

[Karnak]

Alright, thanks I though that they meant on the deck as oppose to 20,000 feet.

It depends on the Mosquito and the time.  Late war the Germans had many aircraft that could out run the Mosquito at any altitude.  The Fw190D-9, Ta152, Bf109G-10, Bf109K-4, Me262 and Me163 will all out run a Mosquito.  Intercepting a bomber Mosquito is much harder than just outrunning it.  A Bf109K-4 does not have a 450mph ground speed while it climbs and once it is at the Mosquito's altitude it is now a long ways behind, too far to overtake.  Intercepts have to be set up, and even then there isn't a lot of margin of error.

As to our Mosquito, it is a low altitude Mosquito and there is very little, if anything, in the German inventory in mid-1943 that can catch it in its element.  Clean it does ~355mph on the deck, have fun running that down with an Fw190A-5 or Bf109G-6.

[Scherf]

As Karnak says, it depends on the Mosquito type, altitude, place (262s by night over Berlin, not elsewhere) etc. I reckon that towards the end of the war, one might have found, over a 24-hour period, the following Mosquito variants over Europe:

F.II (last kill in November '44!)
B.IV
FB.VI
B.IX
(PR.IX? Not sure when their last sortie was)
NF.XII
NF.XIII
PR.XVI
B.XVI
NF.XVII
FB.XVIII (rare-bird flying anti-tank gun on coastal strikes, think it was withdrawn Dec 44 or Jan 45)
NF.XIX
B.XX
B.25
NF.30
PR.32 (another fairly rare bird)

Some were faster than others... I also think a lot of Mossies were "fast enough" to get in and get away at their operational heights, as opposed to the short, low-alt, straight-line, radar-dot tail-chases we occasionally get in AH.

[Scherf]

double

[bozon]

As a high alt bomber, remember that it was flying AT NIGHT. Night fighters are a little slower than similar model day fighters and generally night fighters use other, slower planes/variants. Their main job was to hunt Lancasters and the likes, so going ~400 mph to be able to close on a mosquito bomber in a chase was not top priority.

The VI was the fastest plane on the deck in late 43 and following that by smaller and smaller margin until the top day LW fighters eventually became faster. Still, even in 1945 they were not faster by a wide margin to make an easy short interception. Also in this case remember that the vast majority of Moss operations were done at night. During day time they were normally either on Ranger, relaying on surprise or escorted by fighters.

As Karnak mentioned, the real speed asset was the extremely high speed cruise. This made interception a very tricky business for the LW as even small errors in vectoring would result in a long chase at best, or passing far enough not to make eye contact. At night, the interceptors would have to be vectored in with even higher accuracy in order not to miss the mosquitoes. Very few planes could fly to Berlin and back averaging over 300 mph. Not even fighter escorts.

[SmokinLoon]

Im still not convinced that AH's current Mossi Frankenstein incarnation is as accurate as can be.  I hardly expected HTC to pick a new hybrid that was SLOWER than their old Mossi hybrid.  Yes, the new flight model is pleasing, but the speed are a bit... actually quite disappointing. 

   

[BulletVI]

Well i did here on a tv program i think it was the Top Ten of all time Bomber's they featured the Mossi in 5 th or 6th place. And they said it could out run almost every aircraft at Zero feet till the Me 262 came along but i highly doubt it as any aircraft can gain the necessary speed to catch it from a dive from altitude.

But maybe not when its empty and on the return journey.

Eh who know's only pilot's from WW2 can confirm this one

[Karnak]

Im still not convinced that AH's current Mossi Frankenstein incarnation is as accurate as can be.  I hardly expected HTC to pick a new hybrid that was SLOWER than their old Mossi hybrid.  Yes, the new flight model is pleasing, but the speed are a bit... actually quite disappointing. 

   

357mph is not slower than 338mph.

[Scherf]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure what "Frankenstein" is supposed to mean.Weights are right, engines are right, speeds are right, armament is right.

It has to fight to fight stangs and hawgs (damn your black soul, shiv), but that's an occupational hazard in AH.

[BulletVI]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure what "Frankenstein" is supposed to mean.Weights are right, engines are right, speeds are right, armament is right.

It has to fight to fight stangs and hawgs (damn your black soul, shiv), but that's an occupational hazard in AH.

yeh but inside the mossi doesnt have the right control coloum. The mossi's Control coloum was similar to the P38's I believe.
But that hardly constitute's a Frankinstien Monster.   

[bozon]

Eh who know's only pilot's from WW2 can confirm this one

There are plenty of accounts of mossies outrunning 109s and 190s. The problem is that in the cases it did not out runs them, it may be hard to find someone to tell the tale...

I remember reading of one case of a mossie that got into a daytime 1on1 fight with a 190 - I assume he was unable to escape him and did not simply decide to have a go at the 190, so this is a counter example. Need to check Sharp & Bowyer again, details a bit blurred in my head. After a furious 0 alt dogfight during which the mossie banged one prop against some terrain object, the mossie made it home to tell the tale and claimed the 190 as a kill.