Mosquito FB VI 'close call'

[BlenheimBuff]

Hello all,

Had a very interesting chat with an ex-Mossie pilot last week. He was stationed at RAF Finmere in 1945, and although attached to 418 sqn actually operated independently with two other crews on special op' assignments attacking high value ground targets in France and Norway.

He said his scariest moment didn't have anything to do with actual operations, but happened whilst on a night time Gee training sortie over the North Sea! Apparently his navigator spotted what he thought was an enemy aircraft, prompting the pilot to pull a high G 180 degree turn to face the potential enemy. Next thing he knew the controls were yanked from his hands and the aircraft commenced a steep dive. After fighting unsuccessfully to get control the pilot told his Nav' to bale out, helping him to clip on his parachute in the process. The Nav was just about to open the hatch and jump when the pilot suddenly got control and hauled him back!

When they got back to base the pilot found that the emergency crew dinghy stowed in a compartment just behind the cockpit had deployed. Apparently these dinghys were tethered to the aircraft by a rope, so when this thing sprang out at 20,000 ft it looped over the tailplane and created the dive. It was only when the force of the dive finally ripped the dinghy free of the tether that the pilot regained control and saved himself and the Nav from a very long swim!

He mentioned that he'd heard of another pilot who had suffered similar problems whilst pulling high G at the end of a diving attack on a ground target, so maybe there was a design problem with the release mechanism when subject to these extreme forces. Anyone else heard of this problem with Mossies?

Regards,

Ian