The first production examples of the Mosquito were photo-reconnaissance machines. The prototype for the "Mosquito Photo-Reconnaissance Mark I (PR.I)", with the tail code "W4051", performed its first flight on 10 June 1941. The PR.I looked very much like a Mosquito bomber variant, as it retained the glass nose for camera targeting and the bomb bay doors, but it included five camera ports. There was a port for an F24 oblique camera behind and below the wing, and twin ports for an F52 stereo camera pair behind the bomb bay doors. There was a port in the front of each bomb-bay doors, with the bomb-bay accommodating either an F24 stereo camera pair or a single K17 camera.
WW2 - Photo Reconnaissance During the First World War, photo reconnaissance was one of the early uses of the airplane. Before the Second World War the conventional wisdom was to use converted bomber types for airborne photo reconnaissance. These bombers retained their defensive armament, which was vital since they were unable to avoid interception. In 1939 Flying Officer Maurice Longbottom of the RAF was among the first to suggest that airborne reconnaissance may be a task better suited to fast, small aircraft which would use their speed and high service ceiling to avoid detection and interception.
MILITARY AIRCRAFT 
