de Havilland project between the DH 102 Mosquito II and the DH 103 Hornet?

[BarnOwlLover2]

I've seen a couple of references to de Havilland working on a single seat, twin engine fighter powered by Merlin 60 series engines after the DH 102 Mosquito II medium bomber was made redundant by the two-stage Merlin equipped Mosquito. From what little I've been able to read about this, this wasn't the exact same thing as the Hornet, though it may've lead to or evolved into it. It does seem like if it evolved into the Hornet, it was like going from the DH 99 Spider Crab/Vampire to the DH 100 Vampire, where the design was similar in concept, but was altered to suit Air Ministry requests/advice, or improvements in airframe and engine.

Anyone know anything more about this, or was this basically just the genesis of the Hornet? What little I've read about it is that, like the Hornet, it was inspired by being a "baby" Mosquito powered by Merlin 60 series engines, and intended to have a normal take off weight of about 15,000 lbs.

 

[hesham]

I've seen a couple of references to de Havilland working on a single seat, twin engine fighter powered by Merlin 60 series engines after the DH 102 Mosquito II medium bomber was made redundant by the two-stage Merlin equipped Mosquito. From what little I've been able to read about this, this wasn't the exact same thing as the Hornet, though it may've lead to or evolved into it. It does seem like if it evolved into the Hornet, it was like going from the DH 99 Spider Crab/Vampire to the DH 100 Vampire, where the design was similar in concept, but was altered to suit Air Ministry requests/advice, or improvements in airframe and engine.

Anyone know anything more about this, or was this basically just the genesis of the Hornet? What little I've read about it is that, like the Hornet, it was inspired by being a "baby" Mosquito powered by Merlin 60 series engines, and intended to have a normal take off weight of about 15,000 lbs.

What is your source about that ?

 

[BarnOwlLover2]

British escort fighter--what might it have been like?

Even when it had long range fighters, there was no milage in reverting to daylight once they had the technical means to blind bomb with high precision, and night still kept the single engined fighters out of it. 153 daylight raids by Bomber Command in 241 days between 27 Aug 1944 & 24 April...

ww2aircraft.net

The info seems on the surface to point towards what would become the Hornet, but the person who found those records suggests that's not quite the case.

 

[Schneiderman]

The info seems on the surface to point towards what would become the Hornet, but the person who found those records suggests that's not quite the case.

Yes, but he does add 'But that's me just daydreaming'

 

[BarnOwlLover2]

Maybe we should speculate what a circa 1942 incarnation of the Hornet would look like and perform like?

 

[Foo Fighter]

Perhaps the 1942 single seat Mosquito would be a good place to start?

 

[sienar]

The dimensions are;
Span 47'
Length 37'
Area 335sqft

Thus not the same as the Hornet

From "David Birch - The Merlin Powerplant" @ https://www.enginehistory.org/

 

[Schneiderman]

From "David Birch - The Merlin Powerplant" @ https://www.enginehistory.org/

I don't think that article is available on the site

 

[sienar]

I don't think that article is available on the site

You have to be a member. Its at the bottom of this page; https://www.enginehistory.org/Convention/convention.shtml