The Mosquito was for many the perfect synthesis of power and beauty and arguably the most versatile of all Allied aircraft built during World War II, and this is its incredible story. No one in authority would believe that a small, unarmed aircraft built almost entirely of wood and with a crew of just two could survive against the Luftwaffe by day and the Nachtjagd by night, but it was soon clear that de Havilland's faith in their idea was well founded. The prototype easily out-ran a Spitfire in test and the Mosquito was ordered into mass production. Three times the Mosquito project was deleted from Britain's future military plans, only to fight its way into the air and turn in performance figures that left fellow aircraft behind and its critics dumbfounded. Altogether, 7,781 examples of the "Wooden Wonder" would be built in no less than 43 versions in Britain, Australia, and Canada. Bomber, day fighter, night fighter, pathfinder, attack aircraft, trainer, reconnaissance aircraft—the Mosquito did it all.