Aviation History brought to life at De Havilland Museum. Report by Lesley Willies
Which iconic, classic British design is nicknamed the Wooden Wonder? Well, it’s not the wooden-framed Morgan but in fact the legendary Mosquito aircraft which incredibly is made almost entirely of wood; one of many fascinating facts members of Anglemog discovered on a recent visit to the de Havilland Aircraft Museum.
The history of the legendary WWII multi-role combat aircraft was told to 33 members of Anglemog who had ventured across the border from Essex to Hertfordshire for a tour of the museum. Featuring the only surviving WWII Mosquito prototype the museum, in London Colney, also houses other historic aircraft and artefacts celebrating the heritage of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland one of Britain’s most innovative
aviation pioneers.
The site of the museum is steeped in history as it is where the de Havilland team designed and constructed (in great secrecy) the first Mosquito prototype. Surprisingly, given its iconic status as one of the fastest, most versatile aircraft of WWII, it nearly didn’t come to fruition as the Air Ministry was sceptical of an unarmed, wooden plane. Fortunately, Geoffrey de Havilland ignored the Air Ministry, persevered with his project and the rest, as they say, is history.
This and many other tales of aviation derring-do were recounted to Anglemog members by some of the museum’s incredibly knowledgeable volunteer guides.
Other aircraft housed at the museum include the Comet, Dragon Rapide, Chipmunk and Vampire aircraft and members were also able to see a number of restoration projects being undertaken by the museum’s volunteers.
To round off an incredibly interesting and informative visit Anglemog members enjoyed a buffet lunch on the museum’s mezzanine floor overlooking the main hangar and its many exhibits.
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