De Havilland DH.103 Hornet

The de Havilland DH.103 Hornet was a twin-engined piston fighter that carried the wooden construction methods of the Mosquito into a single-seat design. De Havilland began it as a private venture during the Second World War for long-range fighter operations against Japan in the Pacific, but the war ended before it reached squadrons. The prototype first flew on 28 July 1944, only thirteen months after development was sanctioned, and reached a recorded speed of about 485 mph. The Hornet went on to equip RAF Fighter Command day fighter units on the British mainland and fought in the Far East as a strike fighter during the Malayan Emergency, where 45 Squadron flew 4,500 sorties from Singapore in five years. A naval carrier version followed. The last operational sortie was flown on 21 May 1955, all Hornets were withdrawn from service by mid-1956, and no complete example survives.