de Havilland Mosquito

The de Havilland Mosquito, officially the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito, is a British twin-engine, multi-role combat aircraft built by the de Havilland company primarily from wood, a choice of construction material that spared the scarce aircraft-grade aluminum needed for other British warplanes and earned the aircraft the nicknames Wooden Wonder and Mossie. First flown in November 1940 and entering operational service in November 1941, the Mosquito was, at the time of its introduction, one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world, a speed advantage that let a crew of just two, pilot and navigator seated side by side, fly the aircraft unarmed as a bomber in many of its roles and rely on speed rather than defensive guns to escape enemy fighters. Over the course of the war it was adapted into low- and high-altitude bombers, a night fighter, a day and night intruder, a maritime strike aircraft and a photo-reconnaissance platform, and it carried out a number of celebrated precision raids, including an attack on Amiens prison intended to free resistance prisoners, made possible by its speed and low-level accuracy.