416 Westland Lysander T.T. Mk. III RCAF
At the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, Nanton, Alberta, Canada, August 7th, 2019.
Westland Lysander T.T. Mk. III, RCAF (Serial No. 1557). This aircraft is painted in distinctive yellow and black stripes indicating its role as a target towing aircraft. The aircraft was built by Westland Aircraft Limited at Yeovil, Somerset as a Lysander Mk. IIIA. It became a United Kingdom contribution to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and allocated RAF (Serial No. V9358). After being shipped to Canada, this Lysander was assembled by Fleet Aircraft Limited at Crumlin Airport Ontario, better known today as London International Airport. It was taken on strength with the RCAF on 27 Jan 1942 and re-serialed as 1557. The aircraft was later stored in reserve with No. 1 Training Command. Lysander 1557 was converted to the target towing configuration on 24 Oct 1942 and re-designated as a Lysander T.T. Mk. III. It was transferred to Western Air Command`s No. 3 Operational Training Unit at R.C.A.F. Station Patricia Bay, British Columbia on 8 April 1943. Lysander 1557 was struck off stength with the RCAF on 21 July 1946.
(source: www.silverhawkauthor.com/post/canadian-warplanes-3-westla...)
The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War.
After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's short-field performance enabled clandestine missions using small, improvised airstrips behind enemy lines to place or recover agents, particularly in occupied France with the help of the French Resistance. Royal Air Force army co-operation aircraft were named after mythical or historical military leaders; in this case the Spartan admiral Lysander was chosen.
One hundred and four British-built Lysanders were delivered to Canada supplementing 225 that were built under licence by National Steel Car at Malton, Ontario (near Toronto) with production starting in October 1938 and the first aircraft flying in August 1939. The RCAF primarily operated Lysanders in the Army Co-operation role, where they represented a major improvement over the antiquated Westland Wapiti which could trace its origins back to 1916.
Initial training was conducted at RCAF Station Rockcliffe (near Ottawa, Ontario) with No. 123 Squadron running an army co-operation school there. Units that operated the Lysander for training in this role in Canada include 2 Squadron, 110 Squadron (which became 400 Squadron overseas) and No. 112 Squadron RCAF.
No. 414 squadron formed overseas and joined 110 Squadron and 112 Squadron with Lysanders. Prior to going overseas 2 Squadron was disbanded and its airmen reassigned to 110 and 112 Squadrons to bring them up to war establishment (2 Squadron would later reform in England as a Hawker Hurricane unit and eventually be renumbered as 402 Squadron). In all there were three squadrons ready to begin operations against the Axis Powers. Although Operation Sea Lion – the planned German invasion of Great Britain – was averted by the British victory in the Battle of Britain in 1940, the high losses suffered by RAF Lysanders in the Battle of France resulted in any plans for cross-channel offensive operations by Lysanders being put on hold, although the Canadian squadrons continued training with the Lysanders until suitable replacements were available.
No. 118 Squadron and No. 122 Squadron RCAF were the only Canadian units to use their Lysanders on active-duty operations – 118 in Saint John, New Brunswick, and 122 at various locations on Vancouver Island, where they performed anti-submarine patrols and conducted search-and-rescue operations. During the same period, No. 121 Squadron RCAF and several Operational Training Units (OTUs) used Lysanders – painted in a high-visibility yellow-and-black-striped scheme – for target towing duties.[21]
For a brief period in 1940 when every available Hurricane fighter had been sent overseas to fight in the Battle of Britain, leaving the RCAF without a modern fighter aircraft at home in Canada, two RCAF Lysander-equipped squadrons which were supposed to convert to fighter aircraft but had none to convert to were re-designated as operational fighter squadrons. 111 Squadron, a coastal artillery squadron which earlier had replaced its Avro trainers with Lysanders and been reclassified as an army co-operation unit, was again reclassified as a fighter squadron – the only one on the Canadian west coast – in June 1940. Lysander-equipped 118 Squadron also was redesignated as a fighter squadron. The Lysander completely lacked the capability to operate in a fighter role, and neither squadron saw action as a fighter unit while equipped with Lysanders, but their designation as fighter squadrons did allow RCAF fighter pilots to work up at a critical time without having to wait for the arrival of true fighter aircraft. No. 118 Squadron was disbanded in September 1940, and when it reformed in December 1940, still as a fighter squadron, it was equipped with 15 old, otherwise unwanted Grumman Goblin fighters produced by Canadian Car and Foundry. Both 111 and 118 Squadrons soon re-equipped with the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk, bringing the brief service of Lysanders in fighter squadrons to an end.
By late 1944 all Canadian Lysanders had been withdrawn from flying duties.
source: Wikipedia
416 Westland Lysander T.T. Mk. III RCAF
At the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, Nanton, Alberta, Canada, August 7th, 2019.
Westland Lysander T.T. Mk. III, RCAF (Serial No. 1557). This aircraft is painted in distinctive yellow and black stripes indicating its role as a target towing aircraft. The aircraft was built by Westland Aircraft Limited at Yeovil, Somerset as a Lysander Mk. IIIA. It became a United Kingdom contribution to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and allocated RAF (Serial No. V9358). After being shipped to Canada, this Lysander was assembled by Fleet Aircraft Limited at Crumlin Airport Ontario, better known today as London International Airport. It was taken on strength with the RCAF on 27 Jan 1942 and re-serialed as 1557. The aircraft was later stored in reserve with No. 1 Training Command. Lysander 1557 was converted to the target towing configuration on 24 Oct 1942 and re-designated as a Lysander T.T. Mk. III. It was transferred to Western Air Command`s No. 3 Operational Training Unit at R.C.A.F. Station Patricia Bay, British Columbia on 8 April 1943. Lysander 1557 was struck off stength with the RCAF on 21 July 1946.
(source: www.silverhawkauthor.com/post/canadian-warplanes-3-westla...)
The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War.
After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's short-field performance enabled clandestine missions using small, improvised airstrips behind enemy lines to place or recover agents, particularly in occupied France with the help of the French Resistance. Royal Air Force army co-operation aircraft were named after mythical or historical military leaders; in this case the Spartan admiral Lysander was chosen.
One hundred and four British-built Lysanders were delivered to Canada supplementing 225 that were built under licence by National Steel Car at Malton, Ontario (near Toronto) with production starting in October 1938 and the first aircraft flying in August 1939. The RCAF primarily operated Lysanders in the Army Co-operation role, where they represented a major improvement over the antiquated Westland Wapiti which could trace its origins back to 1916.
Initial training was conducted at RCAF Station Rockcliffe (near Ottawa, Ontario) with No. 123 Squadron running an army co-operation school there. Units that operated the Lysander for training in this role in Canada include 2 Squadron, 110 Squadron (which became 400 Squadron overseas) and No. 112 Squadron RCAF.
No. 414 squadron formed overseas and joined 110 Squadron and 112 Squadron with Lysanders. Prior to going overseas 2 Squadron was disbanded and its airmen reassigned to 110 and 112 Squadrons to bring them up to war establishment (2 Squadron would later reform in England as a Hawker Hurricane unit and eventually be renumbered as 402 Squadron). In all there were three squadrons ready to begin operations against the Axis Powers. Although Operation Sea Lion – the planned German invasion of Great Britain – was averted by the British victory in the Battle of Britain in 1940, the high losses suffered by RAF Lysanders in the Battle of France resulted in any plans for cross-channel offensive operations by Lysanders being put on hold, although the Canadian squadrons continued training with the Lysanders until suitable replacements were available.
No. 118 Squadron and No. 122 Squadron RCAF were the only Canadian units to use their Lysanders on active-duty operations – 118 in Saint John, New Brunswick, and 122 at various locations on Vancouver Island, where they performed anti-submarine patrols and conducted search-and-rescue operations. During the same period, No. 121 Squadron RCAF and several Operational Training Units (OTUs) used Lysanders – painted in a high-visibility yellow-and-black-striped scheme – for target towing duties.[21]
For a brief period in 1940 when every available Hurricane fighter had been sent overseas to fight in the Battle of Britain, leaving the RCAF without a modern fighter aircraft at home in Canada, two RCAF Lysander-equipped squadrons which were supposed to convert to fighter aircraft but had none to convert to were re-designated as operational fighter squadrons. 111 Squadron, a coastal artillery squadron which earlier had replaced its Avro trainers with Lysanders and been reclassified as an army co-operation unit, was again reclassified as a fighter squadron – the only one on the Canadian west coast – in June 1940. Lysander-equipped 118 Squadron also was redesignated as a fighter squadron. The Lysander completely lacked the capability to operate in a fighter role, and neither squadron saw action as a fighter unit while equipped with Lysanders, but their designation as fighter squadrons did allow RCAF fighter pilots to work up at a critical time without having to wait for the arrival of true fighter aircraft. No. 118 Squadron was disbanded in September 1940, and when it reformed in December 1940, still as a fighter squadron, it was equipped with 15 old, otherwise unwanted Grumman Goblin fighters produced by Canadian Car and Foundry. Both 111 and 118 Squadrons soon re-equipped with the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk, bringing the brief service of Lysanders in fighter squadrons to an end.
By late 1944 all Canadian Lysanders had been withdrawn from flying duties.
source: Wikipedia