Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!oddjob!gargoyle!ihnp4!alberta!auvax!rwa
From: rwa@auvax.UUCP (Ross Alexander)
Newsgroups: sci.misc
Subject: Re: Daylight precision bombing in WW II
Message-ID: <481@auvax.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jan 88 10:11:37 GMT
References: <317@uhmanoa.UUCP> <19253@linus.UUCP> <16999@topaz.rutgers.edu> <1594@brahma.cs.hw.ac.uk>
Organization: Athabasca U., Alberta, Canada
Lines: 17
Summary: it was NOT balsa wood...

In article <1594@brahma.cs.hw.ac.uk>, adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) writes:
> ... I suggest the new stealth bomber be a copy of the WW2
> British Mosquito. These were made largely of balsa wood, to save weight, and
> they were fast - they could match most fighters, and with their bombs gone they
> could dogfight too if they had guns (which some variants did).

All of the above is true _except_ the bit about balsa...  they were
made from Douglas Fir plywood, and they were d*mned good airplanes.
As a matter of fact, about the guns & dogfighting:  they were a
popular night-fighter platform too, in that there was room for all
the rather bulky & primitive radar equipment of the day and yet they
were fast and manouverable enough to give the ME's and Fokker's a
rough time of it (the endurance was good too).

--
Ross Alexander @ Athabasca University,
alberta!auvax!rwa