What's in the Mossie?

[cav58d]

In the mossie's radio stack there are blue, red and yellow circles.  What do they represent?  Also, in the area between cockpit and nose there are three cans - Green, Yellow ands Red that say Mk 3.  What's that?

Thanks!

[Zimme83]

Do. NOT. Open. Them..

[DaveBB]

Landing flares I believe.  Sometimes enemy aircraft would follow friendly aircraft back to base, and if the friendly aircraft didn't shoot off the right color flare, AA would open up on them.  This started after BF-110s started downing B-17s over their bases in England.

Flares were also used to signal wounded or dead on board.

[oakranger]

Read something that the mossie were used as pathfinders for night time bombing raids.  If memory services me correctly, RAF used a aerial blind bombing targeting systems call "Oboe".  The mossie (not sure what variant it would be) would be equipped with the system and stray a head of the lead bomber.  When the mossie gets the single that they are directly on target, they would triangle their position with the lead bomber and fire a green flare if they are on target, red or yellow if they need to go left or right to line up to the target. 

[oakranger]

Here is a diagram on how it worked.

[Karnak]

Read something that the mossie were used as pathfinders for night time bombing raids.  If memory services me correctly, RAF used a aerial blind bombing targeting systems call "Oboe".  The mossie (not sure what variant it would be) would be equipped with the system and stray a head of the lead bomber.  When the mossie gets the single that they are directly on target, they would triangle their position with the lead bomber and fire a green flare if they are on target, red or yellow if they need to go left or right to line up to the target.

Those flares were huge and were carried in the bomb bay.

The ones in the cockpit are carried so that the crew can fire off the colors of the day if need be to identify themselves as an Allied aircraft.  The color sequence varied day to day.

[bozon]

There were many uses to the signaling flares.
In coastal command they were used by the "outrider" scouts in order to lead the main attacking force to the target. They were also used by planes that got separated from the strike force and required assistance, or were about to ditch.

[oakranger]

Those flares were huge and were carried in the bomb bay.

The ones in the cockpit are carried so that the crew can fire off the colors of the day if need be to identify themselves as an Allied aircraft.  The color sequence varied day to day.

Ok, I did not recall what flares or how they were discharge.

[cav58d]

And in the radio stack?  What's that?

[save]

Green lipstick, glue for the wings, jaffa cake, rum, and for pilots who pretend enemies cannot catch him, and never need to look back 

[bozon]

Green lipstick, glue for the wings, jaffa cake, rum, and for pilots who pretend enemies cannot catch him, and never need to look back 

pfff... looking back...
if the enemy is behind you , you already did something wrong. 

[Nosara]

"Flares were also used to signal wounded or dead on board."
My late Father flew B 24s and on his 30 th mission he was hit in the head by a piece of Flak. He had just put his helmet on. They were over Blechammer. He was out cold. On return to base they fired off the flare for wounded on board, and got to land first. He recovered in Capri Italy, then was sent back to fly out his tour with a new crew as his original had finished their tour.

[oboe]

I really ought to take up the Mosquito more often.   This system's code name is where I got my handle.  I just wanted a short, two-syllable, realistic sounding code word.