Wings of Valor: Restoring A De Havilland Mosquito For Future Generations | Gaining Altitude | Spark 

Beautiful. My dad was a Mosquito pilot and I wish he could have seen this. RIP Dad.

It's great to see this restoration. My father was a cabinet maker in North London before the war and, although he volunteered for the armed forces, he was mobilised into the workforce to build Mosquitos at Hatfield. He would have been very pleased to see one flying again.

It's 2023, I'm a guy who is an ENGINE man.. I can hear the sound of my friends vehicles by the tone of their engine.. To this day there is no more beautiful sound than a Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine.. I live near an air museum, near Chino Airport, so I hear them regularly and it always makes me look up to see the aircraft...

I’m in tears as the engines start and the plane is reborn. I cannot thank you guys enough.

Not only astonishing you could restore it so meticulously but to have it fly again is way beyond incredible. Gives me goosebumps to see her take to the air again...

Well here I am a year later watching this again and I can only imagine the joy and accomplishment of what you all achieved. I take my hat off to all those involved.

The de Havilland Mosquito was, in my humble opinion the very best, most succesful, and most outstanding aeroplane of WW 2.

The Mosquito is one of the flight masterpieces in WWII. amazing restoration.

What can you say to all the people involved except THANK YOU for bringing these wonderful machines to life again. Too many iconic aircraft down the years have been consigned to the scrap heap by successive governments an absolute disgrace.

The greatest aircraft of WWII - thank you so much for getting this beauty back into the skies...

no loud continous music drowning out the voices, that alone makes that great documentation special by itself

massive thankyou to everyone involved for keeping this beautiful aeroplane flying in perfect condition.

I cried when I saw one in a museum. I never thought I would ever see one. What a treat.

De Havilland had a penchant for building beautiful airplanes. From the Dragon Rapide to the Mossie, the Comet and even the old DH-4 of WWI had it's own beauty. I've long thought the Mossie to be the best most versatile all round British twin of WWII. My British and Canadian cousins knew how to put together an airplane. Well done lads. Well done indeed.

For all those involved over the many years and the no expense spared to restore this magnificent plane, I and all true aviation enthusiasts thank you, you have brought a piece of art back to life

Well done, guys, for keeping history alive. Awesome job!

The Mosquito is an epic feat of man's ability to not only create but to fly. I was lucky enough to see the one rebuilt here in New Zealand fly for its first public airshow at Hood aerodrome. The sound alone of two merlins strapped to the same airframe made every sensory nerve of my body quiver like jelly and too also see this in person...Moment of a lifetime never to be forgotten🙏

What a great documentary. The Mossy is such a beautiful plane and there is no mistaking the two 12 cylinder Merlin engines for anything else. Congrats to all those involved in the project, thanks to all the veterans who are still with us who flew these lovely machines and RIP to all those crew who never made it home, we owe you a great deal.

3:49... "I don't consider this a REAL JOB. It's a hobby and we get paid!" This guy loves his work. That is also the story of MY life.. Nobody could be so lucky.. I RETIRED when I left school and just continued my hobby as a source of income...Radio & TV engineer, but developing into Radio Comms. my hobby as Radio Ham. BUT I did it twice...As a sax/clarinet player, I had a parallel career (er.. hobby!) taking me all around EU and two gigs in USA, playing jazz and Blues in Memphis and New Orleans. To be frank, I never did an honest day's work in my life! Retirement? Still hobbying with Ham Radio and gigging jazz until Covid 19 said "I'll put a stop to HIS little gallop!" and closed down all the venues. Great video. I used to own and operate a radio set which was used in the the Mosquito and the Lanc. The Marconi 1154/1155 combination. It was in my bedroom at my mother's house..If she'd known just how much voltage I'd got in there, I would have instantly become a homeless teenager! Great Video...Thank you!

This had me gripped for the full length of the programme. Thanks so much for uploading this excellent documentary.

You can see that a lot of love. passion and emotion went into restoring that aircraft.

Thank you very much for putting this video together. All involved have a lot of heart and soul.

To me, this is THE iconic warbird of WWII. Such a radical, brilliant design. And the lowest casualty rate of any plane in Bomber Command despite the demanding roles it was assigned. As someone who was brought up on the Biggles books, it is exciting to see one flying again.

RAF De Havilland Mosquito of Canada & UK >>> One of the Fastest Light Bomber of WWII ... Salute & Thank You So Much for the Team who restored this Beautiful De Havilland Mosquito for All Fans to Enjoy!

Brilliant job, gents. History salutes you. Dad was a B 29 pilot so war birds are in my blood. This docu got me a little misty. Mosquitos don't get the airplay that the heavies do, but if any attack plane can be said to have won the war throughout the entire 1939-45 period, this plywood raptor deserves the brass ring.

Thank God for these dedicated men who keep history alive , congratulations ,makes me feel fantastic ,The Mossie & The Lannie my favourite planes of all time, video like this just makes a man smile ,tear up a little as well !👏👍🖖❤

What a bird. Those lines, that ability and the sound of those merlins. Brilliant, and what a restoration saga for such a historically significant machine. Well done to everyone in the restoration and to the people who made this presentation too. Wonderful. 😁

17:24 God bless you Sir. The faith you have in my generation is soo very gracious, I wish you could know how encouraging it is to even hear you say those words. It's only because you did it when you were 17 that I'm not charged with that same duty today. Thank you for your service

Seeing this video second time again, it does owns a soul, you people have restored the big history. Kudos to the team.

At 51.28 the tears began ! So beautiful.

Your RIGHT! no matter what anybody says or what ever statistics are brought forth , this plane has to be the most overlooked airframe EVER produced!

Very well done Canada, you're doing an excellent job of keeping your aviation heritage alive, wish we had an original Mossie in the UK.

what an absolutely beautiful machine , and bringing joy to the men who flew them is priceless , thank you so much for getting another wooden wonder airborne again , we owe you a debt of gratitude , beautiful just beautiful .... Shaun.

What an amazing amount of perseverance. My hat is off to the workers and whom ever funded the whole thing. Congratulations.

Beautiful aircraft. Well done to all involved to get it back in the air where it belongs. Massive respect to all Mozzie pilots from years ago. My dad was a big aircraft enthusiast. We would often go sit at an airport and just watch planes come and go.

Such a beautiful machine, and so awesome to see the people working on her being emotionally invested. Brilliant.

What an amazing aircraft. To see it fly after all those years and several owners. Fantastic.

The most versatile allied aircraft of ww2 and one of the best planes of the war period

It never ceases to amaze me how long a restoration takes compared to the 11 months from concept to first flight it took at the time .

What a great documentary, no loud pointless music. Plenty of history and to see the people who actually flew the plane in anger was great production. Maybe a little more detail of the work involved getting it back in the air would have been nice? But overall a great way to spend an hour watching one of my favourite planes being brought back to flying condition.

Excellent and very informative production about one the most famous aircraft in WWII ! And congratulations that you gave former pilots and mechancs a possibility to tell us about their very personal experiences.

Such an important and amazing part of history, this documentary brought me to a tears! Thank you for sharing ❤️❤️❤️

A very well done to every member of the team. A wonderfull restoration.

Wow, Just wow! God bless all the folks working for many years to make this beautiful airplane fly again. Very, very impressive.

My neighbor Lionel Henning was a joiner by trade , and worked on the construction of Mossies in Walthamsow at Blackhorse Road during the war. He also told me that they were having a problem with the gluing process, and played apart in resolving it. In the 1990s I took him to Duxford to see a Mossy on static display, and he gave me and the guide there a memorable recollection of how he helped on the parts of construction. Thanks to those people in this video for bringing that part of history alive again.

My late father, who survived two entire tours in Bomber Command and who flew many aircraft types, described the Mosquito as his favourite aircraft. It was astonishingly fast, versatile and could fight its way where no heavy bomber could. He felt that the appalling number of deaths in Bomber Command (which suffered proportionally a higher death toll than any other arm within the British armed forces) could have been substantially reduced by deploying the Mozzy than the slower heavy bomber types.

Terrific video. What a great restoration of a magnificent airplane. Thank you all

These guys are "ordinary" HEROES!!!!!!

For myself, one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made. Fantastic to see - well done you all.

A brilliant video, thank you those who were involved with it's making and a huge thank you for those veterans of WW2 who flew them, and told us their stories., so sad about the F for Freddie crew who were killed at Calgary, but it was caused by pilot bravado and so unnecessarily caused two deaths and the death of F for Freddie. RIP the three of them. My wife and I visited the US last year and stayed in Wisconsin, and visited the EA museum at Oshkosh and saw the Mozzie featured in this video

I very much loved this. My family built these in the Hatfield plant during WWII. It was wonderful to see what they had built flying and hear more of the history. Thank you.

Thank you,exceptional aircraft restoration !

Awesome program!!! What a joy this was to see it fly again!!!

Thank you for showing us a treasure historic beautiful air plane.

As someone who used to help with vintage aircraft restoration, I love watching these sorts of documentaries.

AMAZING , the deadication by all involved over the years to rebuild and fly the Mosquito . DH , has been part of my early years as my farther and mother worked on the Vampire and the sea vixen until the factory at Christchurch closed . Thank you for the video and an amazing aircraft .

Incredible. Love, love, love the Mossie! Well done.

It's been a pure joy to watch this. Thank you.

There is a team in New Zealand who have restored several Mosquitos to flying condition. That includes manufacture of new fuselages. This team would probably benefit from talking to them

i can only guess what pride and satisfaction you felt when she flew, many thanks for your dedication.

Well Done, Great to see that dedication.

Amazing work gentlemen! A living part of history, the Merlin’s sound sweet, the exhilaration I can only imagine. I would like to hear yall took it up to 40,000 and enjoyed the ride!

Ive had the pleasure of being in one. I was in the cadets 1466 squadron 1975 to 1977 . It was in a hanger but a beautiful aircraft. Well done.

Amazing documentary about a often forgotten part of aviation history... Glad this one was completed and flying again and hope it will continue flying as well as will not be the last to be airborne again

Great production, much appreciated.

Job well done. That is the best looking Mosquito I have seen. Since I can remember the De Havilland Mosquito has always been my favourite WW2 aircraft.

Thanks for such a worthy documentary showcasing a remarkable aircraft.

A lovely documentary, and it awakens memories for me, as well, back to the age of 2 1/2. Refugees from eastern parts of Germany, we emigrated in ‘51, first for 3 years to Montréal. Our parents helped make ends meet by sub-letting a room to a de Havilland employee, an ex-POW fellow German. He got use of our bath one evening a week. Decades later, I was doing a Urology expertise; the patient (same guy!) surprised me with our common past, and clammed up. Mom reminded me, laughing, when I asked her why that could be. Weekly shouting matches: “Please, shut the vent window - Stop fogging up the whole apartment!” “I’ve gotta breathe, too, dammit!”

somehow the positive and great vibes the Mosquito emanates are being reflected by this magnificent restoration crew. Every one of those talking to us via the camera seems to be a loveable Mosquito lover.

Awesome documentary. Exceptionally well done.

Fantastic informative documentary great to see the amazing hard work of the restoration guys and the veterans recalling distant memories.

What a fantastic video ! A roller coaster ride of emotion. A beautiful aircraft and a fitting tribute to all involved in its history. Very very well done.

First class job guys. Can't wait to see her flying again.

OMG . Such dedication . Bravo .

Awesome. What an achievement of restoration of an iconic aircraft. Respect.

Fantastic story, thank you very much.

Thoroughly lived that video. I think you guys out in Canada have contributed more than other in restoring and flying so much aviation from the wartime. I also had the honour to climb aboard and take some photos of the FM212 Lancaster at Windsor after spotting it on my to fly out from Windsor airport to Toronto. I had just an hour before checkin and was just driving up to the car park and saw the Lanc on the other side of the airport with no outboard wings or engines but on seeing her, thought I HAVE to get to see that. Long story short, the museum was closed but one of the guys was showing a group of pretty young women around so thought there is NO way I’m going to get to see this baby with less than an hour to go to check. But the gent was really nice and for a 40 Buck donation to the museum he let me climb all over her and took my photo in the pilots seat, also have myself a shot siting in NX611 Just Jane Lancaster and getting a taxi ride too, which is in its way to flying again at East Kirkby. Imagine having VERA, the BBMF and Just Jane all flying go together. I do have a photo with VERA and PA474 flying overhead of East Kirkby with NX611 sitting on the ground below with her engines running. You guys are doing such a magnificent job.

Great work guys. Precious record.

A thrill to see such a well done film. We saw a Mosquito in person a few months ago at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California. It was a great show with many friendly staff, volunteers and guests. Not to mention displays. So glad we were there.

in the summer of 1973 (I was 16) my mate's dad invited me to an air display at Hawker Siddeley Hatfield England. He was employed there as a sheet metal worker in the pressing plant. They had on display a flying Mosquito which I recall had been built at the Hatfield factory during 1944. it was an amazing sight and sound both when parked and during its flying display.

What an outstandingly excellent programme. With Mossies so rare , I will never see another fly in my lifetime . The stand out plane of WW2. I was once stood in my back garden in England when I heard the unmistakable throb of Merlin engines approaching . Looking up , there was the Battle of Britain flight . A Spitfire , a Hurricane , and a Lancaster ( which I think was Lincoln at that time) . The sound of 6 Merlins in harmony sent goosebumps up and down my spine .

The Mosquitoe is in my top 5 all time. Along with the P51 Mustang , Spitfire , A10 thundbolt aka warthog , and F22 Raptor. Great job guys. I salute all who serve and have served. Much love and respect from here in Mobile, Alabama, USA

The historians of the future will thank you for all your diligent work.

An incredible story of persistence and dedication. Such an elegant aircraft and it was wonderful to hear the enthusiasm of both the war veteran pilots and the engineers and enthusiasts who so patiently restored “F for Freddy”. Thank you.

Wow! Great video. Thanks to everyone who had a part in the project.

Wonderful stuff. Thanks for posting.

Thank you for this very cool documentary. I had the pleasure of watching both of the 'restored' Mosquitos in NZ fly in the last few years. Interesting listening to the comments about how the NZ team are helping with it, but not giving them credit for what they have really achieved;- they have recreated the aircraft moulds to form the fuselages from scratch, mostly without any technical drawings at all, and scrounging any Mossie bits worldwide over almost 30 years. I knew a RAF Wing Commander 30 odd years ago when flying gliders (WC Claude Rennie RAF) we used to, at the end of the day, get him drunk to get him to tell us stories of his air time in them. He said, with tears " it was the most beautiful airplane, but a complete bitch on takeoff. Sometimes he'd have to use brakes as well as throttles to keep it on the runway.

The Passion these guys have is fantastic to See. What a privelege/

What can you say but stunning, thanks to all those who made it happen.

Wow .. Just magnificent. Great job to everyone involved.

Who would down vote something like this? Incredible restoration. Awesome to hear the veterans talk about their experiences.

I love seeing these old war hero's brought back to life, thank you for uploading it. Another piece of history saved for all to see and hopefully remember the cost of war.

What a wonderful airplane. A very inspirational project. Thank you so much.

Truly awesome video and many thanks!

A fabulous aeroplane. I saw Kermit Weeks (?) Mosquito at Wycombe Air Park (Personal Plane Services) , before it was flown to the USA, long time ago now. I think the Mossie just has the edge on the Spitfire for grace and beauty. It makes me proud.

It's like any machine, you just know when it looks right and this one sure as hell does. Great work to you all.

It's all smooth lines and curves. Gorgeous kite and a good shout at being WW2's best all rounder

Omg this is amazing. I was once in school to be an A&P mechanic as well as a pilot. I appreciate this so much. I wish to see this fly in person one day.

What a great job and interesting watch. The level of workmanship involved in this project is amazing.

Well done everyone in keeping history alive.