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On 9/21/2012 11:48 PM, Eric Stevens wrote:
> Earlier this year I posted a notice of the forthcoming flight of an
> almost totally new De Havilland Mosquito. My copy of that thread seems
> to have disappeared from my ken but I do remember that Savage Duck
> asked me to keep the group up to date.
>
> The situation is that the Mosquito's first flight is due to take place
> in a week today, in the presence of massed brass bands and an air show
> put on by the local Warbirds. All I can say is that that is a pretty
> bold thing to do. I would want to have the maiden flight before
> inviting the neighbours in, just in case some silly little mechanical
> thing rears its ugly head on the day.
>
> Yesterday I went out to the Ardmore airport just to have a look at the
> state of play. After all, if they are going to fly her in a week they
> must be past the still-screwing-things-on stage.
>
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4486.jpg shows what I found at 2
> pm. Both engines were on but only the left-hand engine had been run.
> The right-hand engine had been run but the LH engine still was missing
> pieces and the air screw was still in its protective wrapping. Nobody
> was paying much attention to this as they were in the course of
> testing the hydraulic systems. The pumps were removed from the engines
> and had been mounted on external electric motors to power them.
> Nevertheless they expected to run the right-hand engine "at 4
> o'clock".
>
> By 5:15 they were bolting things on to the RH engine which by then had
> acquired a nose spinner.
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4497.jpg
>
> By 5:25 pm they had cleared everything from around the Mosquito and
> were ready to roll her out.
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4501.jpg
> (If you look just under the armpit of the RH engine you will see a
> Spitfire 14 which is being rebuilt after a bad crash on take-off)
>
> At 5:30 pm, out she came. See
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4503.jpg and
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4505.jpg
>
> Three minutes later she was chocked in place and ready to start the RH
> engine for the first time.
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4508.jpg By then the sun was
> getting low and the temperature was dropping.
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4513.jpg
>
> At 5:38 pm the RH engine turned over once and before it could complete
> a second turn there was a mighty 'chuff1' and clouds of smoke, and she
> was away. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4514.jpg Unfortunately
> the engine was clearly too lean and after a couple of minutes they
> stopped.
>
> After about 10 minutes of fiddling with the carburetor, they started
> the RH engine again. This time the engine ran very smoothly and they
> ran it through the gamut of the speed range.
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4522.jpg after that, the
> Mosquito sat there for a few minutes looking so pleased with itself
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4535.jpg that they decided to
> run both engines. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31088803/_DSC4537.jpg
>
>
> The restoration project has its own page on Facebook at
> http://www.facebook.com/Avspecs I notice that this has a link to a You
> Tube video of the two-engine run
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujt7E...=youtube_gdata
>
> I doubt if I will get this close for the maiden flight
>

Well done documentation.

My money says your concerns are unfounded and she will fly nicely at the
air show. Enjoy.

--
Peter