De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI, The Wooden Wonder in Israeli service

[yoyolast 1,708]

 

Introduction

The De Havilland Mosquito, also known by various nicknames such as the Mozzie or the Wooden Wonder, was a revolutionary British WW2 era aircraft with an airframe comprised mainly out of wood. Among the places these aircraft found themselves during their post war career was none other than Israel, where the Mosquito became one of the Israeli Air Force's most valuable and numerous assets having one of the longest flight ranges for the Air Force's inventory and being able to be used for a multitude of roles. The Israelis used several variants of the Mosquito, however in this suggestion the main focus would be the FB Mk.VI, the fighter bomber version of the aircraft which served as a strike platform for the Israelis.

 

- A row of Israeli Mosquitos of different variants including the Mk.VI. Note the interesting combination of different pylons on the example in the forefront, having 1 bomb rack and 2 rocket racks on each wing.

 

Acquisition

Unlike the rest of the Israeli Air Force's combat capable piston engine aircraft, the Mosquito FB Mk.VI was not acquired during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, however it is worth reviewing the first three Mosquitos that were delivered to the air force as these did get to see some limited use during that war. The first three Israeli Mosquitos were of the PR.16 variant, an unarmed reconnaissance variant. 1 of these examples was an ex-RAF Mosquito found as an abandoned wreckage in Ekron air base and restored by the Israelis while the other 2 were purchased in the UK by Emanuel Tzur and delivered covertly to Israel. While these examples did not see much use in the war, they showed the potential the airframe had in Israeli hands, giving the air force an incentive to purchase more airframes down the line.

 

In 1951, Israeli officials scouting for arms in Europe came across a large quantity of Mosquitos of several variants in France, all of which were remnants of war in bad technical condition. Lacking other sources for new combat fighters, the Israeli officials approached the French to purchase the aircraft who appeared to be more than happy to sell off the wrecked mozzies. A deal was signed on the 17th of February 1952 in which the Israelis purchased several dozen Mosquitos, of which the vast majority were 40 examples of the FB Mk.VI variant (amounts for other variants: T.3 - 3, PR.16 - 4, NF.30 - 20). The large quantity of aircraft (for the air force's size) was possible thanks to the relatively low price the French demanded.

 

- Israeli Mosquito FB Mk.VIs carrying 500lbs bombs preparing for takeoff.

 

Implementation in the air force

The Mosquitos as a whole were used in 2 squadrons - the 109th (which operated the majority of them and specialized in training, photography and striking) and the 110th (which was a new squadron established to form the basis for a night fighter squadron but also used some FB Mk.VI examples for training). In the air force the FB Mk.VI variant took the role of a strike platform being the most heavily armed variant of the Mosquito in Israeli use. The aircraft were equipped with 4 7.7mm Browning machineguns and 4 20mm Hispano Mk.II cannons. In Israeli service the Mosquitos were fitted to carry 250lbs and 500lbs American bombs and 5 inch rockets.

 

- The underwing 5 inch rocket mounts of an Israeli Mosquito.

 

 - The same pylon setup with the rockets mounted.

 

Due to their service time being in the early-mid 50's, the Mosquitos didn't actually get to go on Strike missions initially and were used from 1953-1955 predominantly as reconnaissance aircraft and trainers. That being said the Israelis did not underestimate the value of the aircraft as strike platforms and kept the units trained for long range strike missions, having the aircraft fly on routs that would take them circling around Cyprus (sometimes reaching all the way to the islands of Greece) then returning to Israel and attacking practice targets in the Negev desert. In late 1955 it became clear to the Israeli command that they must prepare the air force to be able to conduct preemptive strikes on Egypt's airfields in the case of a war, due to Egypt's acquisition of MiG-15s and IL-28s. As a part of this  preparation, despite the air force initially disarming itself from piston engine aircraft and moving on to jet fighters, the Mosquitos were designated to strike air bases located deep within Egypt at a greater distance than most Israeli aircraft could reach. It was decided during that time to bring out of storage Israel's Mustangs, Mosquitos and B-17s and prepare them for combat. During that time Israel also acquired yet another Mosquito variant from the UK, the Sea Mosquito TR.33, in order to bolster it's ranks as well as 7 additional Mosquito FB Mk.VIs.

 

- A row of Israeli Mosquito FB MK.VIs painted with a camouflaged color scheme in preparation for the Suez Crisis.

 

The 1956 Suez Crisis

The preparation of Israel's aged piston engined fighters did not take long to bear fruit. in October of 1956 operation Kadesh (the Israeli portion of the larger conflict known as the Suez Crisis) began and involved all of the air force's combat capable aircraft including the Mosquitos. While they weren't used much in the first couple of days of the war they did take part in numerous missions striking the Egyptian forces along with the Mustangs and B-17s. In all the Mosquitos took on 74 combat sorties during the conflict, including the longest range mission to strike in Sharm El-Sheikh at the southern tip of Sinai.

Shortly after the conflict all of the remaining piston engined aircraft in the Israeli air force were acknowledged as obsolete and subsequently either scrapped or sold with all Mosquitos being removed from the Israeli Air Force inventory by 1958. Unfortunately it seems that like some other aircraft that used to serve in the Israeli air force it was not preserved, and there are smilingly no live remnants of the Israeli examples left today except for some parts such as engines.

 

- A rare picture showing one of the few FB Mk.VI Mosquitos that served in the 110th squadron, bearing the earliest version of it's insignia which was only ever found on Mosquito aircraft in the years 1953-1955.

 

 - The standard mixed loadout of an Israeli FB Mk.VI Mosquito.

 

Specifications

 

Type:  Fighter Bomber

 

Country of origin:  UK

 

Wing Span:  16.5 meters

 

Length:  12.34 meters

 

Height: 4.65 meters

 

Powerplants: 2 Rolls-Royce Merlin 25 engines with a maximum HP of 1,390 each

 

Max speed: 600 km/h

 

Max altitude: 7,900 meters

 

Range: 3,000 km

 

Weight: Empty - 7,243 kg, Fully loaded - 10,500 kg

 

Armaments:  4x7.7mm Browning machineguns + 4x20mm Hispano Mk.II cannons. Secondary loadout options include American 250lbs and 500lbs as well as 5 inch rockets (likely HVAR) in configurations similar to British examples. Unlike the British example we have in the game, photographic proof showing the possible layouts of the pylons on the wings of the aircraft suggest that the Israeli examples could carry a combined loadout of 2x500lbs bombs + 4x5 inch rockets.

 

 

Sources

Spoiler

Air War on the Edge by Bill Norton

The Air Force in Battle - 70 years of air superiority by Danny Shalom (Hebrew)

And They had the Hands of a Man under their Wings by Arie Hillel

The Israeli Air Force official website

Le Fana de l'Aviation N°493 (French)

 

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by yoyolast
slight correction

[leroyonly 4,310]

Open for discussion. 

[Milocat 4,848]

+1 for sure, Israel could really use some more non-jet planes.

[PARDUS IX@live 263]

did israel ever use the mosquito variant that could mount the 4000lb barrel bomb? 

Hope we get a 110th squadron skin ingame. earnable or GE

[Sarkelias 94]

A functional beginning attacker is missing from the Israeli tree, and this would fill the gap just fine.

[mytipcreamin 35]

+1 wish the tree dropped with this plane but at least it can still be added

[CokeSpray 7,272]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.