So, that's where all the balsa went circa 1959

[Ty Marcucci]

This is an ad by Solarbo from the July 1959 Aero Modeler. What a waste of balsa. I wonder what they did with it after the tests???

[Paul Smith]

Balsa grows fast, like wheat and Christmas trees, a "renewable resourse" as they say.

DeHaviland wasted a lot building Mosquitos when there was good supply of aluminum, but they eventually quit.   

[Geoff Goodworth]

I may be wrong, but I thought DH Mosquitoes were mostly ply.

Cheers, Geoff

[Paul Smith]

3/8" balsa with thin plywood on both sides.

According to "the book", the plywood was grown in Canada and laminated in Wisconsin.  They didn't mention the thickness, but I woild estimate 1/16" or 1/32".

[Robert McHam]

In a general sense Balsa 'is' wood and plywood is layers of wood glued together and cross grained with each layer. So truthfully it was made with 'plywood' and to the layman this was enough explanation. I think that was how it was described in the newsreel stories which kept stories simple.

I have read that the 'plywood' used in the Mosquito's was balsa skinned with more traditional plywood.

Don't forget all the life rings and rescue rafts that were made of balsa in the time of WWII.

Balsa trees do grow rather quickly (one of the reasons for its low density) and thus it is not quite the same as an oak or other hardwood to replace.
The growth of balsa trees is quite interesting as it is different than most trees. check out
Quote from Wikipedia on the construction of the Mosquito:
Construction
"The bulk of the Mosquito was made of custom plywoods. The fuselage was built by forming up a plywood made of 3/8" sheets of Ecuadorean balsawood sandwiched between sheets of Canadian birch. These were formed inside large concrete moulds, each holding one half of the fuselage, split vertically. While the casein-based glue in the plywood dried, carpenters cut a sawtooth joint into their edges while other workers installed the controls and cabling. When the glue was completely dried, the two halves were glued and screwed together. A covering of doped Madapolam (a fine plain woven cotton) fabric completed the unit."

Robert

[Dennis Moritz]

Sounds like a Ringmaster. Covered with a doped bedsheet.

[Steve Fitton]

Be glad NASA didn't buy up all the world's balsa in the mid 1960s.  One of the proposed iterations of the Saturn 5 third stage ( SIVB) used balsa as the insulating material for the liquid hydrogen tank.  NASA instead developed a foam alternative due to inconsistencies in balsa, as well as the small problem that it looked as though the S IVB manufacturing would use up the entire world's supply of balsa, and then some.

[Neville Legg]

Here in England during the war, aluminium ( what was available was used for fighters and big bombers, like the Spitfire and Lancaster) was in short supply, thats why the Mossie was made of wood! All the furniture makers and woodworking companies were pressed in to Mosquito production. My Dad was in the RAF just after the war and personally broke up Mosquitos!! I've forgiven him!

Cheers    Neville

[Neville Legg]

Some of those Solabo balsa ads in the Aeromodeller in the '50s '60s and '70s were very informative, educational even!!

Cheers    Neville

[Neville Legg]

Ty,
If you are interested, I have a number of Aeromodeller and Model Aircraft doubles. They are from the 50's and 60's. I would like to swap them for the Flying Models from the '60s that I am missing! The deciding factor would be weight/postage? Where abouts in England did you go?

Cheers   Neville