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Re: All metal Mosquito ??
Sorry, despite not being a structural engineer I will back my experience in the industry. Yes, the Mosquito was cutting-edge technology for the day. So were the Russian types. Metal construction is lighter than wooden. (Plywood is not a type of wood, but a treatment of it).
I was an aerodynamicist specialising in aircraft performance - weight is not "highly relevant" to top speed. Top speed is dominated by the zero-lift proportion of the total drag (mainly profile drag, skinfriction drag and excrescences), whereas weight only features in the lift-induced drag which is only 10-15% of the total at most - differences in weight therefore will be at most 5-10% of that, or 1-2% of total drag.
The Mosquito was not faster than the Spitfire, at least not comparing equivalent versions. Its normal payload was 2000lb of bombs. You are thinking of the overload payload of a single 4000lb - these aircraft were draggier and a ton heavier. The maximum payload of a B-17 was 8000lb.
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