The story of this A-20 has been widely published in Finland already long time ago (well, over a year ago). The aircraft is an A-20G-20-DO, USAAF serial 42-86826,obviously supplied to Soviet Union as a lend-lease airplane. With the Soviets it got tactical number 24 and was based at Klopitsy Air Base in the Leningrad region. The Havoc was shot down while attacking German cargo ship M/S Moltkefels on 18 September 1944. The ship was on its way to Tallinn to pick up German troops in order to transport them to Riga. The aircraft was hit by AA fire, either from M/S Molkefels, or the mine sweeper which was accompanying it. The A-20 took hits in both engines, and its pilot (Junior Lt. Gusman Miftahudinov) made a succesful forced landing on the sea. Navigator Yuri Aksenov was not injured, and was able to launch their dinghy and help the injured machine gunner/radio operator Gleb Lokalov and the pilot on board. The crew spent seven days on the dinghy, before being rescued by Finnish Coast Guard on 25 September in the archipelago of Aland. Finland had already ceased hostilities with Soviet Union, so the crew did not become POWs, but were returned home. However, all three were killed in action at later stages of the war. The pilot was oldest of the three, he was 21 years of age. Lokalov was born in 1925, so was about 18 or 19 years, Aksenov was 17 or 18, born in 1926. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

I have totally missed this back then. Thanks for the input Finny.

Wood has been used as a composite in motorsport for many years – the trade name ‘Mallite’ was used in a number of moncoque applications in the same way as it was on the DH Mosquito.

Mallite and Dh Mosquito composite is different..those are not compressed in high heat. Howard Hughes did use some compression in the HK-1 birch wood sheets. It was called Duramold; https://www.buildtheenterprise.org/the-spruce-goose-a-modern-composite-aircraft/