Hundreds of people gathered at Classic Flyers and lined runway at Tauranga City Airport today to greet the world's only flying De Haviland Mosquito aircraft.

The Mosquito touched down just after 4pm after leaving Auckland around 3.30pm.

The Mosquito on the Tauranga Airport runway.

The Mosquito lands at Tauranga City Airport.

Classic Flyers trustee David Love briefs staff prior to the Mosquito arrival.

It's expected to be the only time the WWII twin engine wooden fighter bomber will visit Tauranga before taking on its new life as a working exhibit at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach in the United States.

The aircraft will be on display this afternoon at Classic Flyers. From 5.30pm the public will also have the opportunity to hear from pilot Keith Skilling and meet the Avspecs team that completed the aircraft's restoration at Ardmore airfield, says Classic Flyers trustee David Love.

'The Aviation Historical Society is holding a special meeting from 5.30pm onwards with entry open to the public for a $5 fee to cover costs,” says David.

'This is the first Mosquito aircraft to fly anywhere in the world for more than 20 years. Along with the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster, the Mosquito is on the top tier of iconic aircraft from the Second World War.

'The aircraft has featured on world-wide television since it first flew again in the last few months.”

Rebuilding the aircraft took seven years. It first flew on September 29 and has left Auckland only once, on November 11 for the Cambridge Remembrance Day celebrations.

The aircraft is owned by Jerry Yagen. The original plan was to dismantle the aircraft immediately after its first flight for shipment to the US.

It is now booked for the Masterton Airshow at Hood Aerodrome from January 18-20.

The Mosquito is also confirmed for the 2013 Hamilton Airshow in Ontario, Canada on June 15/16, and afterwards is to make an appearance over Washington DC.

The Mosquito is the RAF's first multi-role aircraft. It was built largely from plywood, which is one of the reasons why in the days before epoxy resins, they did not survive long after the war.

It is powered by twin Rolls Royce Merlin engines, the same liquid cooled 27 litre V12 that powered the Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, the Avro Lancaster bomber and the P51 Mustang.

The aircraft will stay at Tauranga overnight and return to Ardmore tomorrow.

The wooden airframe was built at Drury Auckland before being taken to Avspecs for fitting out.

The first fuselage off the moulds went to the Mosquito Bomber Group at Windsor, Ontario, who are building a wing for their static Mosquito bomber.

In addition to the fuselage, tailplane fin, wing and flaps for Gerry Yagen plane, the factory is now beginning construction of the airframe for Mosquito, NZ2308.

It's an Australian built T MK43, which is a dual control Mosquito built in Bankstown, and was one of four purchased by the RNZAF in June 1947 and flown across the Tasman Sea in 4 hours.

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