A recent visit to the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre Dangerous Skies exhibition enabled a closer look at the Smith family de Havilland Mosquito FB.VI TE910 that has taken up residence at Omaka. On loan to the Aviation Heritage Centre, the Smith family Mosquito’s background has been covered here before (see article HERE), but one aspect of the aircraft’s history is not known; it’s link to RAF East Fortune in Scotland. Uncovered during the restoration of its propellers was graffiti linking the aircraft to the former RAF station, which is situated in East Lothian in rolling countryside twenty miles east of Edinburgh. Remarkably preserved thanks to the efforts of John Smith of Mapua, Tasman, New Zealand, this veritable time capsule of an aircraft is largely in original condition, with concessions made to enable it to be ground run. To do this, the aircraft’s propellers required overhaul, which was done by Airbus at its on-site propeller overhaul facility at Woodbourne, Marlborough in New Zealand’s South Island.
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