Miss Mossie was certainly a Beauty and a sort of beast ... a cheetah! She could outrun darn near any and everything. To paraphrase Muhammad Ali: Fly like a butterfly ... sting like a b ... er, Mosquito! I agree, David. One can't argue its' effectiveness of usefulness. Nor can we argue her beauty! Britain has produced some homely, if very useful aircraft and tracked/wheeled (military or civilian) vehicles, but also they produced arguably 2 of the 3 "prettiest" aircraft. (And - those e-type Jags from the mid-1960s are doggoned beautiful, too!)
Louis @lgardner you are very right about the "look right; fly right" saying. The Mossie certainly "looks right" and flew/flies right! While I hadn't heard about the one engine "race" you mentioned, one thing I HAD heard about was its' phenomenal acceleration. They could also "turn on a dime and give you nine cents change."
One of the best of the VERY best. @dirtylittlefokker @yellow10