[MarkRS]

Sorry to disagree, but Mosquitos were not ordinary aircraft. They were the highest of high tech at the time. They were made from wood on purpose because it made them lighter. And they were pushing the limits on safety factors. Spruce was used where better bending strength was needed, the rest was Balsa and plywood. Spruce is also one of the lighter woods, 450 kg/m3. Its improved strength over Balsa retains the same 40% strength to weight advantage over Aluminium. These aircraft were built using the same principles as modern composite aircraft today. Assuming the same aerodynamics, weight is highly relevant to top speed and acceleration. The Mosquito could fly away from a Spitfire carrying the same payload as a B17.