Mosquito gets a boost

The 26-year-long restoration of a rare World War 2 fighter-bomber by a group of Christchurch volunteers has received a huge boost.

The Air Force Museum of New Zealand has allowed the restoration team access to the aircraft parts they have in storage.

Dag Guest and his team of four volunteers have been painstakingly rebuilding a de Havilland Mk VI Mosquito at Ferrymead Heritage Park. It is one of only 30 remaining worldwide, four of which are still capable of flying. Progress on the twin-engine fighter-bomber’s restoration had been hampered by a global shortage of parts.

Guest said getting access to the museum’s stored parts will "significantly" speed up the historic aircraft's restoration.

“It’s an absolute game-changer for us. There are many parts that we were missing, which we can use or copy. Within a few seconds of being here I’d seen a flap shroud that will save 60 hours of work for me. It is fantastic.’’

A majority of the Mosquito parts were stored at RNZAF’s Weedons base until 2017 when the station closed.

The ambitious restoration project has combined the fuselage of a Mosquito NZ2328 with the wings of a Mosquito HR339 into a single aircraft for static display.

The HR339 flew 31 combat operations between December 1944 and May 1945.

“It saw action over Germany, and it was severely damaged by flak while attacking a train during operation Clarion, forcing it to belly-land at an emergency airfield” said Guest.

After extensive repairs, HR339 returned to 487 Squadron in April 1945 where it continued its service.

“It's a very historically significant aircraft” said Guest.

Museum collections manager Darren Hammond said parts from a number of de Havilland Mosquito aircraft had been saved and stored since the museum opened.

“We do not have the time or resources to put into a Mosquito build from the parts we have, and Dag is 26 years into his restoration. It makes absolute sense to help with whatever we can, so that collectively we can save this incredibly rare and significant aircraft, which will remain in public ownership in New Zealand as part of this country’s military aviation.’’