Warbird Information Exchange

Sweet!!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

The description is wrong in the fact that Weeks didn't send the aircraft out for restoration. The aircraft was purchased by the Duxford-based Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo) from Kermit Weeks in 2003, and the aircraft today still remains owned by ARCo.

V9312, up until its test flights this week, had not flown since December 30, 1944. Following WWII, it was privately owned and stored, unrestored, in Canada for decades and then was acquired by Kermit Weeks in the 1990's and stored some more. No restoration work was ever done on the airframe. ARCo acquired it in 2003 and began the restoration in 2005/2006 (this is what it looked like then: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwhitwort ... MW1-iuBot6)



Also, there is some confusion on the internet (including the Warbird Registry) surrounding V9312, the Lysander owned by ARCo just completed this week, and another Lysander, V9545, that is currently owned by Kermit Weeks. V9545, which was a flying example and last operated in the UK by ARCo when owned by Brian Woodford (then registered G-BCWL), was sold to Kermit Weeks in 1998 and was a fully restored aircraft and flew up until the point that Weeks purchased it (it hasn't flown since coming to the US). V9312, on the other hand, had never been restored, and had no fabric or wood coverings when Weeks sold it in 2003 to ARCo.

On this page for V9312, the photo is actually of V9545 which Weeks still owns, and has nothing to do with V9312: http://www.warbirdregistry.org/lizziere ... v9312.html

That photo should actually be used on this page for V9545: http://www.warbirdregistry.org/lizziere ... -1244.html and information updated to include what has happened with the aircraft since the late 80's - such as having been operated by ARCo, at Duxford, on behalf of owner Brian Woodford, between 1996 and 1998, during which time the paint scheme was changed to as it remains today with "BA-C" codes, and Kermit Weeks having purchased it in 1998, loaning it to the Florida Air Museum in 2003, and then taking it back to Fantasy of Flight for storage in 2014.

Thanks John, for your explanation, which clears up things…
I remember seeing Kermit's Lysander flying together with the Belgian one (OO-SOT) and the Shuttleworth example at Duxford.
Those were the days

Gert