Editing De Havilland Mosquito (section)

===Project Mosquito===
[[File:DE HAVILLAND 1943 Advertisement s.jpg|thumb|upright|1943 advertisement for de Havilland taken from ''[[Flight International|Flight & Aircraft Engineer]]'' magazine highlights the speed of the B Mk.IV.]]
With design of the DH.98 started, mock-ups were built, the most detailed at Salisbury Hall, where ''E-0234'' was later constructed. Initially, the concept was for the crew to be enclosed in the fuselage behind a [[stepless cockpit|transparent nose]] (similar to the [[Bristol Blenheim]] or [[Heinkel He 111]]H), but this was quickly altered to a more solid nose with a conventional canopy.<ref>Thirsk 2006, p. 18.</ref>

Work was cancelled again after the [[Dunkirk evacuation|evacuation of the British Army from France]], when [[Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook|Lord Beaverbrook]], as [[Minister of Aircraft Production]], concentrating production on aircraft types for the defence of the UK decided no production capacity remained for aircraft like the DH.98, which was not expected to be in service until early 1942. Beaverbrook told Air Vice-Marshal Freeman that work on the project should stop, but he did not issue a specific instruction, and Freeman ignored the request.<ref>Sharp and Bowyer 1995, pp. 35, 38.</ref> In June 1940, however, Lord Beaverbrook and the Air Staff ordered that production should concentrate on five existing types, namely the [[Supermarine Spitfire]], [[Hawker Hurricane]] fighter, [[Vickers Wellington]], [[Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley]], and [[Bristol Blenheim]] bombers.<ref name="Bowman 2005, p. 12." /> Work on the DH.98 prototype stopped. Apparently, the project shut down when the design team were denied materials for the prototype.<ref name="Jackson 2003, p. 7.">Jackson 2003, p. 7.</ref>

The Mosquito was only reinstated as a priority in July 1940, after de Havilland's general manager, L.C.L. Murray, promised Lord Beaverbrook 50 Mosquitoes by December 1941. This was only after Beaverbrook was satisfied that Mosquito production would not hinder de Havilland's primary work of producing [[Tiger Moth]] and [[Airspeed Oxford]] trainers, repairing [[Hawker Hurricanes|Hurricanes]], and manufacturing Merlin engines under licence.<ref name="Jackson 2003, p. 7."/> In promising Beaverbrook such a number by the end of 1941, de Havilland was taking a gamble, because they were unlikely to be built in such a limited time. As it transpired, only 20 aircraft were built in 1941, but the other 30 were delivered by mid-March 1942.<ref>Sharp and Bowyer 1971, pp. 35–36, 82.</ref> During the [[Battle of Britain]], interruptions to production due to air raid warnings caused nearly a third of de Havilland's factory time to be lost.<ref>Sharp and Bowyer 1971, p. 38.</ref> Nevertheless, work on the prototype went ahead quickly at Salisbury Hall since ''E-0234'' was completed by November 1940.<ref>Thirsk 2006, p. 19.</ref>

In the aftermath of the Battle of Britain, the original order was changed to 20 bomber variants and 30 fighters. Whether the fighter version should have dual or single controls, or should carry a turret, was still uncertain, so three prototypes were built: ''W4052'', ''W4053'', and ''W4073''. The second and third, both turret armed, were later disarmed, to become the prototypes for the T.III trainer.<ref>Thirsk 2006, p. 178.</ref> This caused some delays, since half-built wing components had to be strengthened for the required higher combat loading.  The nose sections also had to be changed from a design with a clear [[Poly(methyl methacrylate)|perspex]] bomb-aimer's position, to one with a solid nose housing four .303 machine guns and their ammunition.<ref name="Batchelor and Lowe 2008, p. 6."/>