Special guest and only flying WWII Mosquito fighter plane made the Christmas meeting of the Aviation Historical Society at Tauranga Airport yesterday the largest they have ever held.

Up to 1000 people gathered around the aircraft parked on the apron in front of the Classic Flyers hangar in the early evening to hear pilot Keith Skilling dispel some of the mystique the Mosquito has collected during the decades.

The Mosquito in action over Tauranga skies yesterday. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

Crowds gathered to get a look at the Mosquito. Photos: Bruce Barnard.

The Mosquito came down from Auckland for the special appearance, arriving in Tauranga just after 4pm. It is scheduled to leave this morning.

During its appearance re-build team leader Warren Denholm explained how the world's only flying Mosquito came to be restored in New Zealand.

He says it is due to the work of Glyn Powell, who went traipsing around the world collecting Mosquito plans, drawings and diagrams from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom – everywhere the aircraft was in production.

The wooden aircraft is built in moulds, which Glyn began building with the help of experts in the boat building industry.

Photos: Bruce Barnard.

It took five years to build the fuselage mould while the wing assembly took six months. All of the plane's individual wooden airframe parts are built to within 50-thousandths of an inch across the plane, and 10-thousandths of an inch at the drill plates.

It's been an eight year project and because of the modern glues used, the aircraft should last much longer than the WWII aircraft.

Keith Skilling says while the aircraft is an honour to fly, the cockpit is ergonomic torture.

The pilot has to change hands immediately after take-off to lift the undercarriage. The drum brakes are controlled by another hand control with a delay between squeezing the grip and braking.

The shaft that drives the supercharger has a worm drive on the end that acts as an oil pump. When the engines stop the oil drains back out through the carburettors and drips onto the tyres.

It's also why there is always a bit of smoke when the Roll Royce Merlin engines start up.

The Mosquito's final scheduled New Zealand public appearance is at Wings Over Wairarapa at Masterton on January 18-20 before it is disassembled for shipping to the United States where it will feature Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach in the United States.

Classic Flyers CEO Andrew Gormlie inspects the Mosquito.

Classic Flyers member and pilot Keith Skilling enjoy a cold beer.

Inside the Mosquito.

The Mosquito on the runway. Photo: Laurie Sanders

The Mosquito on the grass on the runway.

Photos by Andrew Campbell: