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Polo Mosquito "AKE AKE KIA KAHA"
100% cotton polo - grey - embroidery, weaving.
Design, knitting, embroidery, assembly, box... entirely made by us.
Polo Mosquito
$138.26
Polo Mosquito "AKE AKE KIA KAHA"
100% cotton polo - grey - embroidery, weaving.
Design, knitting, embroidery, assembly, box... entirely made by us.
-nz
Delivery and return
Size Guide The De Havilland Mosquito occupies a special place in the history of New Zealand military aviation.
In 1946, the New Zealand government announced its intention to purchase Mosquitos to replace the Lockheed PV-1 Venturas and Corsairs. In all, some 80 twin-engine fighter-bombers were purchased and operated by the RNZAF's 75th SQDN. They were finally withdrawn from service in the mid-1950s, when the squadron converted to de Havilland Vampires.
The “wooden marvel” or “Mossie”, as it was affectionately known, was one of the most successful and versatile fighter aircraft of WW2, used as a light bomber, fighter-bomber, night fighter, maritime attack aircraft and photographic reconnaissance plane.
By the end of the war, the Mosquito was the fastest aircraft on both sides. It could drop the same bomb load on distant targets as the USAF's much larger and more heavily armored four-engine B-17. A total of 7,781 Mosquitos were built. Only five remain today.
Former NRZAF Mosquito NZ2308 has just been fully restored by Warren Denholm and his team at Avspecs in Ardmore for its American owners. The owners have generously agreed to let him fly to Wanaka if possible.
After being sold by the government in the mid-50s, the aircraft passed through several owners, from a Nelson arborist to MOTAT, and then to a syndicate based at Ardmore airfield. One of the members of this syndicate, the late Glyn Powell, built the fuselage molds from scratch. These same molds were used for the four Mosquito restorations undertaken by the Avspecs team. Glyn died in 2019 before he could complete the project, which was eventually taken over by its current US-based owners, who called on Avspecs to fly the aircraft almost 70 years after it last appeared in New Zealand skies.