When we first set out on this series, our aim was not only to reproduce the best wartime photographs available, but also to have the most knowledgeable authors on the subject to write about them. I think we’ve been very successful in both aims so far and for Number 17 I’m delighted to welcome another new author to the team who certainly fits that brief. Mosquito expert Ian Thirsk was of course Head of Collections and Research at the RAFM and has also been a volunteer member of the DH Museum’s Mosquito restoration team for over forty years!
Ian’s first task was to try to work out how to separate the vast amount of material into logical volumes. The obvious way was to group them by role, but even this needed to be further divided to allow us to use most of the material that we had. As such, this first volume covers Mosquito bombers fitted with single stage Merlin engines. (From a visual point of view, that means those without the extra intake immediately under the spinner).
We have to say that we learned a lot about the Mosquito whilst putting this volume together and we are sure you will too. We have a significant amount of close-up detail shots in this one, which should be of great use to modellers, especially those making the larger scale versions of this classic aircraft.