People’s Mosquito Receives Backing from Airbus

We have been following the efforts of the People’s Mosquito for some years now. The group has steadily made headway on their efforts to build an airworthy de Havilland Mosquito for Britain. This is a grass-roots effort, relying heavily upon small individual donations, as their name suggests. However, despite the obvious temporary halt in business activities everywhere int he world presently, we are really pleased to report that the People’s Mosquito has received backing from the European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus. This is a major step forwards for the project, and should help guarantee that a de Havilland Mosquito flies in British skies again for the first time since the tragic loss of T.Mk.III RR299 in July, 1996. The People’s Mosquito made the announcement in the press release below…

Airbus announces support for The People’s Mosquito 

Aviation heritage in the UK received a welcome boost in March 2020 with news that Airbus has announced its support for The People’s Mosquito. Financial backing from the aerospace giant represents a significant step forward in delivering the first de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito to be manufactured in the UK for more than 70 years.

“Naturally, we’re excited and proud to be able to announce the link up with Airbus. The support of such a high-profile industry name provides a significant boost to our efforts to deliver an airworthy Mosquito FB.VI to the 5 million people who attend UK airshows every year,” said John Lilley, Managing Director of The People’s Mosquito.

“Airbus is a strong believer in preserving wider aviation heritage and we are proud to be supporting The People’s Mosquito in this endeavour.  For us the Mosquito is more than a beautiful and iconic aircraft, Airbus has a direct relationship to it as more than 90 were built at our Broughton factory in Flintshire,” said Jeremy Greaves, Vice President Corporate Affairs and Strategy, Airbus UK. “That passion and dedication is reflected today in our skilled workforce whose talents are focused on building wings for the Airbus commercial aircraft fleet.” 

The collaboration celebrates Airbus’ historic connection with the de Havilland Mosquito. Production of the wooden wonder transferred to Hawarden in 1948, which is now Airbus’ Broughton site. The last Mosquito ever built in the UK, NF.Mk.38 VX916, rolled out of the facility in November 1950. Hawker Siddeley Aviation went on to acquire de Havilland in 1960, before it became a founding member of British Aerospace (BAe), subsequently BAE Systems which was a 20% shareholder in Airbus until 2006.

“We believe the Mosquito to be an exemplar of British aeronautical design excellence – an engineering pedigree that Airbus carries forward today,” added John Lilley. “We continue to engage with Airbus, and we look forward to a fruitful and productive relationship as our restoration progresses. These are exciting times and we hope this won’t be the last link up with the UK’s engineering, aerospace and manufacturing sectors in 2020.”

For those wishing to contribute to the People’s Mosquito, please click HERE.