Goodbye New Zealand; Mosquito T.III TV959 is dismantled.
After a few brief test flights - and the odd air-to-air photo shoot for posterity, the latest de Havilland Mosquito to fly, T.III TV959 (ii) is being dismantled in preparation for its seaward journey to the United States. Placed in the New Zealand Warbirds visitor hangar at Ardmore Airport, Auckland whilst undergoing dismantling, for members of the public, watching a Mosquito being pulled apart - revealing much delicious detail, was an opportunity that doesn't arise very often. When I found out I booked a flight to Auckland and got to the hangar as quickly as I could, and these images are the result. This aircraft is yet another Glyn Powell new build fuselage (hence the ii in brackets representing the aeroplane in its new configuration - its not the original TV959 fuselage, but a reconstruction, although the big one piece wing is original), mated to surviving components of T.III TV959, which has spent much of the past 20 to 30 years in bits in the holdings of the Imperial War Museum. A movie star, TV959 was used as a prop for filming cockpit and ground sequences in the classic 1964 fictional war film 633 Squadron, to which a number of surviving original Mosquitoes owe their current existence. Owned by Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field, Everett, Washington State, TV959 (ii)'s completion to flying condition brings the world's airworthy population of the much vaunted British warplane to three examples, with a fourth set to join these in the air in early 2018. Wearing a temporary 75 Squadron, RNZAF Mosquito FB.VI colour scheme, TV959 (ii) was moved from the Avspecs hangar last week, where it underwent finishing before its first post-restoration flight on 26 September 2016, to make way for the next Mossie fuselage from Glyn's workshop. The future's looking bright for the breed indeed. Click on the image to go to the walkaround page.
