1/72 DH. Mosquito PR Mk.XVI ‘Long-Range Reconnaissance’

The De Havilland Mosquito, nicknamed the "Wooden Miracle", was a British multi-role twin-engine aircraft that was one of the best aircraft of World War II. Its development was complicated, as the British Air Ministry originally called for medium or heavy bombers with defensive turrets. However, Geoffrey de Havilland pushed for an aerodynamically clean wood bomber with two powerful engines. It was not until late 1939 that the project gained support and the Air Ministry issued the B.1/40 specification for a very fast unarmed twin-engined bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, to which were added the F.21/40 specification for a fighter variant. The first prototype, W4052, flew on 25 November 1940 and was about 40 km/h faster than the Spitfire Mk.II. The construction of the aircraft was all-wood, sandwich construction, with fuselage and wing parts made by laminating plywood and balsa.

The PR Mk.XVI was equipped with a pressurized cabin and more powerful Merlin engines with two-stage superchargers (Merlin 72/73, later Merlin 76/77), which provided considerably more power at higher altitudes. This version had a wingspan of 16.52 m, a length of 13.57 m, a top speed of 668 km/h, a ground climb of 14.7 m/s, an outreach of 11,740 m and a range of 3,945 km. The performance of the PR Mk.XVI was so high that enemy fighters could hardly threaten it, which caused "Mosquitomania" in the Luftwaffe and the requirement to develop a similar aircraft from non-defective materials. The reconnaissance Mosquita PR Mk.XVI operated from the British Isles and Italy over the whole of Europe, and was also deployed against Japan, with the British Mosquita operating from India and the RAAF deploying the Mosquita PR Mk.XVI to reconnaissance from bases in northern Australia.

DH kit. Special Hobby's 1/72nd scale Mosquito PR Mk.XVI "Long-Range Reconnaissance" kit features injection molded plastic parts. It also includes parts to choose from for various build variants, such as the landing gear legs and wheel discs in PRU Blue for the E and F variants. The decal sheets feature markings for several historic aircraft:

• Mosquito PR Mk.XVI, NS502/M, No.544 Sqn, RAF Benson, summer 1944. This machine was also flown by Czechoslovak crews F/L Jiri Kučera (ace with five kills) and navigator F/L Oldřich Filip, or W/O Ferdinand Kepka and F/O Karel Vokoun.

• Mosquito PR Mk.XVI, NS644/G, No.60 Sqn SAAF, San Severo, Italy, winter 1944/45. These aircraft had white and red identification stripes on the vertical tailplane to avoid confusion with German Me 410s.

• Mosquito PR Mk.XVI, NS787/M, No.684 Sqn, RAF Dum Dum, India, late 1944. This machine bore SEAC markings with dark blue identification stripes and was sprayed in aluminium paint, while the auxiliary tanks were in PRU Blue.

• Mosquito PR Mk.XVI, NS739/F, named Pamelia with "pin up girl" nose art, 25th Bomb Group, USAAF, Watton, UK, 1944/45. This group's Mosquito had its tail surfaces painted red as an identifying feature for the bombers and its own fighters.

• Mosquito PR Mk.XVI, A52-600, No. 87 Sqn. RAAF, Morotai, August 1945. This machine flew 21 dangerous reconnaissance missions and its wreckage is still preserved and partially restored by the RAAF Museum Point Cook.

• Mosquito PR Mk.XVI, A52-609, No. 87 Sqn. RAAF, Coomalie Creek Base, Australia, 15 August 1945. This aircraft took off on the 87 Squadron RAAF's last combat mission during WWII and was called back after the surrender of Japan.

Please note: This kit does not contain paint or glue.

• Period.

• Nationality: 🇬🇧 British, 🇿🇦 South African, 🇺🇸 American, 🇦🇺 Australian

• Type: Aircraft (Reconnaissance)