Resurrecting a Legend: How the Mosquito Was Brought Back to Life

In Gaining Altitude: The Mosquito Reborn, viewers are given an unprecedented look at the restoration and rebirth of one of the rarest warplanes in the world, a de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito. Undertaken by Victoria Air Maintenance, the restoration took the better part of five years to complete, a process that was captured on film for this documentary. We spoke with Victoria Air Maintenance (VAM) President Mike Ingram about the historic build.

When Mike Ingram was first approached about restoring a World-War-Two era de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito, one of the rarest and uniquely-constructed airplanes in the world, there was no hesitation in his response.

“We jumped in head first; there were no worries or concerns, even for a second.”

A chance to work on what would become the only flying example of an original Mosquito in the world? Who could resist? Certainly not the team at VAM.

Initially designed as a Second World War bomber, the “Mossie” quickly became known for its surprising manoeuvrability and was subsequently retrofitted to double as a fighter plane. However, unlike most fighter planes at the time, the Mosquito was made entirely out of wood— a feature that would lead to the aircraft’s near-extinction.

Unfortunately, unless thoroughly maintained, the Mosquito’s wooden body was prone to erosion — an end that claimed the vast majority of these “Wooden Wonders” over time. Fate, however, had something else in store for this particular example.

“Luckily it was kept mostly indoors and never got exposed to all that wind and weather,” said Ingram.

That safe-keeping made all the difference when it came time to restore the plane to its former flying glory, a difference that would set it apart even among the 30 or so surviving Mosquitos (out of a production run of 8,000).

And so, with history not on their side, Ingram and his team embarked on a project that would take them the better part of five years, during which the Mosquito would be completely torn apart, refitted, restored and brought back to life like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

But before they were able to begin their half-decade project, Ingram had to see what they were dealing with. While the wooden body of the aircraft had made it through the years relatively unscathed, the more than 60-year-old internals of the plane were a different story.

“The owner of the aircraft first approached us after having volunteers working on it for probably five or six years,” explained Ingram. “Anything the volunteers had done, they hadn’t finished, so everything really had to be disassembled again and started over. Basically we took it down to the last nut and bolt and started from scratch.”

Because none of the initial repairs had been completed, Ingram and his crew had to gut the craft and see what truly needed repairing. What they found was an even bigger job than they had expected.

“When (the owner) proposed the project to us, he told us the airplane was 85 per cent complete and just needed some assembly. It was more like 15 per cent complete and needed everything. On the surface it kind of looked like it was all there but when you started looking closely and putting the systems together, there was a considerable amount of stuff missing,” recalled Ingram.

And so began the process of putting it all back together, something made all the more difficult when it came to trying to secure replacement parts for the 70-year-old aircraft.

“Probably about 30 per cent of the project was spent on parts procurement and fabricating stuff that wasn’t available,” said Ingram. “We did have a complete set of drawings of the airplane, manufacturers’ drawings, so when we needed a part that couldn’t be found, most of the time we had a drawing for it so we took it to a machine shop and fabricated it.”

Once the issue of parts was sorted it was just a simple matter of putting it all together.

“It was pretty cut and dry, we didn’t have any issues with the plane’s design or systems,” said Ingram, adding that Mosquitos are actually quite simple as aircraft go, especially when you compare them to some of the planes in use today.

Luckily, most of the VAM team apprenticed with ex-military personnel from the Second World War, the same people who would have been servicing these types of planes for combat.

And while five years may seem lengthy for some, according to Ingram, the half-decade was actually more on the speedy side when it comes to this type of restoration.

“In England, there’s one of these being worked on that they’ve been doing for 10 or 15 years,” he said. “To me, it’s like eating the elephant, just one bite at a time. You just put your head down and push forward.”

And push through they did. After waiting on parts and refitting some of the old with the new, five years later, the result was one of historical significance: the only original airworthy Mosquito in the world.

While there is another airworthy Mosquito in the United States, that example is comprised of parts from various other aircrafts, and the fuselage and wings were newly constructed.

“Whereas the one we did was all original — it was even the original wood,” said Ingram.

“It’s the rarest airplane I’ve ever worked on.”