14

Mosquito B. Mark XX.
1943
Downsview, Ontario, Canada

15

Test Flight area.
1943
Downsview, Ontario, Canada

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Mosquito B. XXs ready to fly.
1943
Downsview, Ontario, Canada

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Mosquitos smelled different.
1943
Downsview, Ontario, Canada

18

Uncle Sam was crucial to the success of the Canadian Mosquito program from the start. Not only was the entire production financed by Lend Lease, Washington also ensured that de Havilland Canada obtained priority shipments of Packard Merlin engines, Hamilton Standard propellers, instruments and other vital equipment. Part of the reason was that the USAAF had an immediate requirement for a small number of aircraft with the high speed and long range of the Mosquito for photo reconnaissance missions. There was nothing quite like the Mosquito available from U.S. industry at the time.

Six B. VIIs and 34 B. XXs were therefore diverted from early production and sent south. In USAAF service they were all called the F-8-DH, even though different models, engines and equipment might be involved. The early Packard Merlin 31s and 33s were not very reliable however, and there were many accidents due to engine failure on take off, including some fatal ones.

Wright Field developed the camera equipment installations for the F-8, and the work was completed at the Bell Aircraft Modification Center in Niagara Falls, New York.