Unofficial plane list.

[Almighty Blighty]

Originally Posted by David603

Not that I want to detract from its WWII record, and its huge versatility and success in the fighter-bomber, bomber, night fighter and shipping strike roles, but against a faster single engined fighter the Mosquito just can't cut it.

...and pathfinder, strike, target tug, recon, bomber recon, fighter (mainly the de-hav hornet,) mine laying, ground attack and inteceptor... all in all over 50 variants. Don't forget this little two man wooden plane could carry 2/3rds the bomb load of the b-17 heavy bomber (4000lbs) And in the fighter variant it is surprisingly manouverable because of its light weight plus it has 4X20mm cannon, so even your little FW 190 has a thing or two to answer for when it comes up agains the 400mph fighter variants. (The hornet could do 407mph)

[mondo]

Originally Posted by Almighty Blighty

(The hornet could do 407mph)

The Hornet had much more pokey engines (and handed so no torque)and much less weight but it could exceed 480mph. It didn't see service though.

[David603]

The Fw190A8 has 4 20mm cannon and a pair of 13mm MGs, which equates very well with a fighter Mosquito armed with 4 20mm and 4 .303 MGs, and is about 10mph faster and climbs better. It also rolls much better and its instantaneous turn is better, although sustained turn rate is about equal. The older A5 which is in Birds of Prey is more nimble than the A8, just as fast, climbs better, and still has a reasonable armament of 2 20mm cannon (2 more optional) and 2 7.9mm MGs. Therefore I wouldn't call the Mosquito a serious rival to a Fw190 as a fighter, but the ability to double as a reasonable fighter is impressive in a strike plane.

[mondo]

Originally Posted by David603

Therefore I wouldn't call the Mosquito a serious rival to a Fw190 as a fighter, but the ability to double as a reasonable fighter is impressive in a strike plane.

I agree and I think we need to remember the context that the Mossie was used in.

As a bomber either high or low level it was extremely fast, its cruise was faster than most other twins were capable of at combat power.

Once spotted information had to be relayed back to a fighter station, the fighter had to get of the ground and be vectored to the target. With most bombers flying at 180-200mph that was easy, with a Mosquito cruising at 320mph it could be 50 miles away from the point it was spotted and therefor getting a fighter to that plane was very hard. Especially since they would change course often to avoid being vectored into.

Even for a 190A4/A5/6 which were the fastest common Luftwaffe fighters the Mosquito would face it (by the time of the A8 it was religated to defence of the reich from high level bombers) would be extremely hard for them to make up that 50 mile gap as well as find those planes, especially of they are below or avoiding radar (the British knew of the locations of the German radar stations in Europe).

It wasn't perfect though and they did get shot down. Although there safety record is one of the best of the war.