Westland Lysander Mk III

General Description

The Lysander was designed in the mid-1930s as a two-seat army cooperation airplane, with its first flight in June 1936. The Lysander was named after the Spartan general Lysander and was affectionately known by its crews as the ‘Lizzie.’ Armament consisted of two 0.303 in Browning machine gun operated by the pilot, one in each wheel spat firing outside the propeller disc, and a free Browning in the rear cockpit. Twelve small anti-personnel bombs could be carried under small stub-wings fitted to the spats.

1,372 Lysanders were built on a cottage industry basis in Britain. Parts were built by small firms and individuals and trucked to locations where they were assembled into components. These parts were taken to yet another location where they were assembled into an airplane. Some Lysanders were also built in Canada by National Steel Car in Malton, Ontario. Production began in October 1938 with the first example flying for the first time in August 1939.  A total of 225 were built in National Steel Car factory specifically for the RCAF and an additional 104 U.K. built Lysanders were shipped over for the RCAF to supplement the Canadian built examples. Notably, most surviving Lysanders worldwide are Canadian built former RCAF airframes.

For its day, the Lysander was quite aerodynamically advanced with new and innovative features like automatic leading edge wing slats, slotted flaps, and a variable incidence tailplane. These refinements gave the Lysander a very low stalling speed and became one of the original STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) designs, having the ability to land and take off in the length of a football field (915 ft, or 279 m), which was far shorter than its contemporaries.

Although initially used for ground attack, observation, and liaison during the early parts of World War II, it quickly became obsolete as more modern aircraft entered service. As a result, Lysanders were soon reassigned to secondary roles such as target towing, glider towing, and air-sea rescue— the latter involving the dropping of rubber rafts and survival packs to downed airmen.

One role that allowed the Lysander to stay on the front lines for a little bit longer and in fact made the airplane famous, was its use by the SOE (Special Operations Executive) using 138 and 161 Squadrons of the RAF in transporting allied agents into and out of enemy occupied territory; a task that was incredibly dangerous. These agents were tasked with sabotage, coordinating with resistance fighters, and spying on enemy operations; a task that was vital to the allied war effort. To accomplish these missions, the Lysanders were fitted with a long-range external fuel tank and a side ladder to allow personnel to quickly scramble in and out of the airplane. The Lysanders were painted jet-black and operated at night to avoid detection. Resistance fighters in France and Belgium would light up fields with flashlights to provide pilots with a visible landing area. The whole exercise had to be done quickly so that the Lysander could depart before being detected by the ever-watchful eyes of the German forces.

In Canada During World War Two, some Lysanders were operated by the RCAF with 111 squadron at RCAF Station Patricia Bay, near Victoria, BC. Lysanders also served in other pats of the country such as Rockcliffe and Jarvis, Ontario, Mossbank Saskatchewan, Lethbridge Alberta, and Macdonald Manitoba. These were mostly training squadrons, and the bulk of the work they did was in the capacity of target towing.
 
After World War Two there was a surplus of military airplanes, and many companies attempted to take military aircraft and apply them to civilian uses. One such entrepreneur was E.S. (Ted) Holmes of Edmonton, Alberta, who purchased four Lysanders surplus from War Assets at a cost of between $50 and $250 each. He had them modified by NW Industries of Edmonton, AB who converted the 95 gal (360L) fuel tank to hold liquid agricultural spray material and a new 45 gal (170L) fuel tank was installed behind the pilot seat. The Lysanders were also fitted with span-wise spray nozzles for the disbursement of the pesticides. After two years of operation E.S. Holms sold the company at which time it moved to High River, Alberta and changed names to Westland Spraying Services. Sadly, the company’s operation was short-lived and ceased operations in 1950 due to lack of demand for their services.

Today, approximately 14 Westland Lysanders survive worldwide, with 4 of those located in Canada. Globally, three Lysanders remain in flying condition, with one of these based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. This flyable Lysander is RCAF 2365 and is owned by Lysander Funds Ltd. The Canadian Museum of Flight would like to return our Lysander to flying condition as well, once funds permit.

Our Westland Lysander Mk III

Lysander RCAF 2349 was built in Malton, Ontario in 1942 and was taken on strength by the RCAF No. 4 Training Command in Regina, Saskatchewan, but the specific unit it was assigned is unknown. It was later transferred to No. 2 Air Command in Winnipeg, in 1944. By 1946 it was struck off strength and put up for disposal by the War Assets Corporation. As was the case with many ex-RCAF airplanes after the end of WWII, Lysander RCAF 2349 was sold to a farmer who picked the airframe for useful parts that could be used around the farm.

The CMF’s Lysander is an example of what it takes to restore a very rare airplane. It was assembled using parts and components from numerous Lysander airframes coming from 7 different locations around North America, ranging from Texas to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Vancouver Island.

The massive job of restoring the airplane began in late December 1985 and the impressive restoration was accomplished in less than 4 months almost entirely by volunteers under the direction of Mark Zalesky. The restoration was hurried along to meet the deadline for displaying the Lysander at Expo 86 which took place in downtown Vancouver’s False Creek area. Instead of being restored to original military configuration, our Lysander was restored with clear plastic covering allowing onlookers to see all the intricate inner details of the airplane. This design choice was requested by the Expo’s organizers to create the “Gossamer Lysander” and it was proudly featured in the Aviation Plaza of the Expo 86 site. It is currently on display in the museum hangar, but due to space limitations it only has the left wing attached.

It needs to be noted that the basic components for the restoration were donated by the Zalesky family in 1986, A considerable amount of the restoration work was also carried out by members of the Zalesky family, along with assistance by other Canadian Museum of Flight volunteers.

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