sandiego89 wrote:
Think that is missing the point about warbirds today. I think there would be a decent amount of interest is seeing a Lysander restoration or reproduction today. Just because they were not popular post war and put into wide spread civil use does not mean they would not be popular today. There were cheaper (to operate) and perhaps better bush planes that were put into service. We had all kinds of types that no body "wanted" post war, but would be highly sought after today. Heck mosquitos were literally put out to pasture in Canada, but I think you find the are quite popular today...
I understand what you're saying, it's frequently said on the Key Publishing forum. The fact remains, there is a
lot of money in the UK warbird community. If there was a market for a Lysander, someone would restore or build one (and yes the basically unsupportable engine would be a problem).
Witness the lack of Mosquitos flying in the UK. You would think there would be more in the UK than US.
It looks to me like the UK warbird community has lots of money to spend on Spitfires/Hurricanes/Mustangs etc. but not a lot for weird stuff.
The flying rare items seems to owned by groups (Shuttleworth or the Blenheim groups name two).
I imagine the "rich guys" find it more rewarding to say at their private club "I have a Spitfire" than saying "I have a Lysander"...then having to spend the next 10 minutes saying what a Lysander is.