The Vision
Patron, Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Sir John Allison, KCB, CBE, FRAeS, RAF.
The People’s Mosquito has a simple vision: to see the return to the UK skies of the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito. The project is a non-profit and benevolent one that reflects the public movement seen during the Second World War when many aircraft were funded by the people: companies, towns, villages and organisations. We plan to replicate that model by asking the people of the United Kingdom to help us restore to airworthy condition this magnificent flying memorial that captures the spirit, the pride, the design brilliance and above all the courage of our nation.
From the outset, it was our firm intention and one of our primary objectives to work towards charitable status for The People’s Mosquito. We have now achieved this. On 17th July 2012 we became an Incorporated Charity – technically a Company limited by Guarantee – so we are now officially The People’s Mosquito Ltd. As such we will maintain and operate the restored aircraft, funded by public donation, sponsorship and income from sale of branded merchandise, with the intention of providing many hours of flying displays every year for the people of the United Kingdom.
When we set out on this journey our first task was to gauge your reaction. Would you ‘the People’ be interested in making this happen? Indeed, in these straitened times would there be any public appetite for such an audacious endeavour? We asked you to tell us what you thought. Well, over the past year you have told us. We are very grateful for the great response we have had from so many bold, lion-hearted and public-spirited people who have shown their support for the project by contacting us via Twitter @peoplesmosquito or on Facebook or Google+, or by leaving a comment on the site. And support is not only coming from the UK – we now have many organisations and individuals around the world who are doing all they can to spread the word far afield.
We are doing this very differently, with a heavy reliance on online social networking, and this has brought The People’s Mosquito team and its supporters together. And, in a traditionally British way, we will together attempt to achieve something from nothing. Now we have an airframe our plan is firmly set to start turning that into a flying Mosquito. We are resolved now to start realising our vision. With every passing day we gather momentum, and with your help a Mosquito will fly again.
