"Mossie PR variants, Take 2" Topic

Were any of the Mosquito Photo-recon variants armed? If so, which?

Thanks!

Not that I know of – most were based on the bomber variants anyway, but even the Australian PR40+ series, which were converted from fighters, and retained the fighter nose form, had their armament removed. The only *possibility* I can think of is that a couple (literally – it appears to have been two, to supplement the small number of PR Mk.I variants) of NF Mk.IIs were converted to photo recce – I've never seen the details for those, so can't entirely rule out them having retained armament, although I don't think it's likely.

I agree.

I think they stripped pretty much everything out of them to gain a higher operational ceiling height, and more speed.

There were few aircraft that could catch them, save for the Me-262A, during the later war period, until the really hot Me-109 and FW/TA variants became available. There was a He-219A Mossie hunter too (He-291A-6), which had some success, but again, was a very stripped down aircraft, with uprated engines.

I figured as much but couldn't confirm. Just looking at possible scenarios. How much fun is it to chase an unarmed plane – for either side?

As a teenager I worked with an old timer who was a navigator on a Mosquito pathfinder. By his accounts that scenario is deeply frustrating for the German player, and only occasionally tense for the Brit. He said the only time he really felt threatened was when a 262 wanted to have a go, but they'd spotted it far enough off to get out of dodge.

LOL! I could see that. Thanks, Dom!

Could make for a brief scenario, as filler.

One Mossie outmaneuvered a Schwalbe (Me-262), and got away, to tell the tale. The German jet, at speed, couldn't maneuver with the slower Mossie.

If I recall correctly, the latter was able to dive away to some cloudcover, and escape, after surviving a few passes.

On a least two occasions Me 163 Komets got close enough to scare PR Mossies. Of course the advantage for the Mossies was they only had to dodge for a few seconds before the Komet ran out of fuel and speed.

The F-5 PR variant of the P-38 also had a couple of run ins with '163s with similar results.

The Minister at our church in the Seventies was the Nav on a FB Mosquito and told some scary stories. He suffered from bad ankles which he blamed on the excessive vibrations caused by the 20mm recoiling directly below his feet.

Fatman