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Originally Posted by Bill Walker
By September 1943 the Mosquito was in full production at de Havilland Canada in Downsview (now part of Toronto).
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That's right. The British "Aeroplane" magazine, Vol. LXV No. 1682, August 20th 1943, published an interesting article under the title of "Mosquitoes from Canada". They informed that the first two Canadian-built Mosquito Mk IVs landed in UK on August 9th, 1943. One of them was flown by the US civilian crew (captained by George Hersam); the second one was flown by the RCAF crew with F/O J. G. Uren at the controls.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Walker
I wonder if this is where the US plywood was going?
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Could be. In fact the Mosquitoes mentioned by you had in them much more non-British materials and components than the US wooden materials only. Huge majority of those Mosquitoes elements was the North American continent-made. In fact they were the British-designed but North American-made aircraft of the US and Canadian elements. Perhaps that was the reason why those planes were so good because the Americans have always had the best chemicals for aviation veneers and plywoods (it was their big investment in aviation industry in interwar period). The British veneers and plywoods have never been so good and the Horsa case study in the CBI is good example, when that glider almost disappeared under the termites attack whereas the US CG-4A remained fully airworthy without any damages in its airframe.
The same "Aeroplane" issue, as above mentioned, informed as follows: "
Mark I Mosquitoes built in Canada are already in service with the USAAF and RCAF on the American continent. Like those which have now been delivered to Great Britain , they are entirely Canadian-built except for certain fittings like hydraulic jacks which were sent over from this side of the Atlantic."