Corgi AA32817 De Havilland Mosquito Prototype – W4050, based at the de Havilland Heritage Centre

The Mosquito was built with a plywood monocoque construction. Designed originally as a fast, unarmed light bomber, it actually served with distinction as a fighter-bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and nightfighter. The prototype Mosquito,W5050 was secretly hand-built with company money at Salisbury Hall, a mansion house near the de Havilland factory at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. First flying on November 25, 1940 by Chief Test Pilot Geoffrey de Havilland Jr., it went to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where it was extensively tested. Initial impressions were favourable in performance trials when the machine exceeded even the manufacturer’s expectations, achieving a level speed of 388mph at 22,000 feet during one test flight. Today this prototype is preserved at the de Havilland Heritage Centre, at Salisbury Hall, London Colney, Nr. St. Albans, Hertfordshire.