deHavilland Mosquito KB161 - Canadian Hist. Aircraft Assc.

Rhino-9-3 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:39 pm

Hey everyone, here are some photos of the progress on KB161 here in Windsor, ON as requested. :wink:

Fueslage, completed prop assembly, unused engine and one of the main wheels.

The two Merlin 225's we have for the project we stored fresh off the assembly line after the war, never used. They were aquired by the project from a farmer who had them stored in his barn.

Both wingtips:

The wing which was finally removed from its jig and turned horizontal this past winter. The crew is curretently attaching the top skins. As well, a couple of the guys are slowly making all of the leading edge ribs.

Tail section coming along nice, the machining guys are making everything new based on an original tail section we have on loan.

If any of the crew is around tomorrow I'll stop by the shop and get some photos of everything else they have on the go. The main focus right now is the landing gear, which is also being machined new based on the originals.

It's a slow process but things are finally starting to come along at a decent pace! Hopefully more big updates on this project soon!

:drink3:

hang the expense · **Posted:** Thu Jul 11, 2013 12:28 am

That's about the coolest thing I have seen in awhile.Great work to all the gang.Please tell us its a flier.

DH82EH · **Posted:** Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:05 am

Thanks Ryan.
Hope I wasn't being as pesky, as one of those annoying biting flies, that whines around your head, while you are trying to sleep in a tent

Hang,
This is the prototype fuselage that came off Glynn Powells mold in N.Z. It was never intended to be a flyer. By the look of the calibre of work going on here,it would be appropriate if it was. Zero time Merlins, brand new wing and some clearly gifted craftsmanship. Soooo close!

That's a beautiful looking building they are in! Spacious clean shop. Wow!

Why don't these guys have more exposure on the internet? The latest info on www.mossie.org is from 2005! A lot has happened since then! Mosquitoes are cool (the deHavilland type :wink:

)

Looks great! It'll go great beside FM212!

Andy Scott

Rhino-9-3 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:28 am

We're actually finally working on a new website for the CH2A which will have continuous updates on the Mossie and Lanc restorations, it'll hopefully be ready to go soon.

As for it flying, we're actually looking into that, TC is going to come down at some point and do an assement on it to possibly give it an experimental rating. Fingers crossed!

If that doesn't happen however, it'll at least be taxiable.

Big Daddy · **Posted:** Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:39 am

Great pics, Ryan! This thread is long overdue.

We need to corner Marv and get the whole story behind the Mossie because it is a good one i hear.

Don

peter · **Posted:** Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:42 am

You might want to check on it but something tells me that that fuselage was never built to airworthy specs...

JFS61 · **Joined:** Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:44 pm **Posts:** 305

Actually kinda looks cool unpainted.

mike furline · **Joined:** Wed May 05, 2004 3:45 pm **Posts:** 2627

IIRC about 20 years ago I was talking with one of the V-12 engine rebuilders and asked about the "what if's of finding a zero time engine". He said a zero time engine would cost about $30K-$50K to be gone thru and made flyable. Ouch!

Rhino-9-3 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:35 pm

Peter, I've heard the same thing, apparently they're still going through with an asessment on it.

Don, I agree, we'll have to try to chat with him at some point!

mike furline wrote:

IIRC about 20 years ago I was talking with one of the V-12 engine rebuilders and asked about the "what if's of finding a zero time engine". He said a zero time engine would cost about $30K-$50K to be gone thru and made flyable. Ouch!

That's quite cheap! To bad the prices have gone way up from there!

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Fri Jul 12, 2013 6:45 am

Great to see these photos, thanks for posting. I only asked about this project the other day on the WONZ Forum.

seagull61785 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:54 pm

If there's any doubts about the airworthiness of this fuselage has anybody asked Glynn (Powell) yet for his opinion?

After all - he built it didn't he?

His response may well assist.

Barry

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:09 pm

Glyn Powell (correct spelling) has always made it clear that this is a non-airworthy fuselage as far as I know. That is what he told me and it's been said in many publications. It was apparently built with the intention of checking the trueness of his moulds and I don't believe airworthy grade timber was used throughout, as he knew it was for a static project. This is the impression I have always been given anyway.

peter · **Posted:** Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:50 pm

Thanks Dave... now we know for sure

Rhino-9-3 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 06, 2014 9:37 pm

Some more pictures of the progress on KB161. I recently started a new job as a apprentice engineer with an airline in Norther Quebec which uses a 3 week rotation schedule, even after being away for 3 weeks it's pretty impressive how quickly this project has started to move along. We'll hopefully be seeing the wing mounted with the fuselage by the end of the year.

Leading edge now all in place, the guys sure had a fun time getting all of the false ribs just right

Starting the spar for the horizontal stab.

More to come! :drink3:

DH82EH · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:20 am

Thanks for the update Ryan.
Good to hear from you.

Looking good.

Andy

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