Thanks for the pics, Brad!
barnbstormer wrote:
Where is, and what is the status of the one the The Bianchi's, of Personal Plane Services, U.K. restored to flying condition for Philip Mann? At the time, I believe that was the first one to be restored to flying status in the modern era, circa mid 1970s. I know that all the paperwork was lost in Neil Williams' tragic CASA 111 crash and after that, Mann said it would need the equivalent of an annual inspection for EACH flight then on, (barring another full restoration with new paperwork records) so that was his reason for selling it on to a major UK collection who could sign it off for flights. The name escapes me at the moment. I remember some little details such as Dunlop having the mold to get the restoration a proper set of tires for it. We had also shipped it to UK with a spare Mercury IX, (possibly firewall forward) for the Lysander,if my memory is correct.
That aircraft, CanCar 1244, ex-G-BCWL, is the example with Kermit now. I wasn't aware of the paperwork story. The real issue with most Lysander restorations was most people didn't manage to get the Bristol Mercury engine to run properly. (Incidentally, the Mk.II Lysander had the sleeve-valve Bristol Perseus engine. Technically that mark is extinct (hang a Perseus on then airframe you'd make a 'Mk.II' of course - but first catch your Perseus...).)
Oh, and just checking, Kermit's example was never registered with the FAA - so it certainly can't fly legally. Which is a pity - it was, and should be a flyer. It'll need some amount of restoration now, though.
However in the case of G-BCWL they fitted at the least a Bristol Bollingbroke exhaust, cowl and heater set up, rather than the correct Lysander Mercury. I suspect the whole engine was ex- Bolly.
Mike wrote:
JDK wrote:
Holedigger wrote:
On further reading on Kermit's Lysander, it was rebuilt (apparently only to static condition) and is in the lineup to be rebuilt to flying status (which certainly will be a while!) With his small staff and big collection......looks like she will be static for a while yet!
Errr? It was airworthy in the UK, and when sold to him...
Kermit had a second Lysander, a project, which is the one now with ARCo at Duxford.
So to clarify, Kermit currently owns CanCar 1244 and did once own V9312, Westland C/No Y1363, rsgistering it as N3093K, although it was never comple/airworthy in Kermit's hands. The pitfalls of not using
any ids and owner's or aircraft names.
Firebird wrote:
Must have a search through some old photos for the Flying Legends at Dx back in the mid-90's sometime when all three flyers at that time, flew together - what a terriffic sight that was.
Indeed. I'll try and dig out an electronic copy. IIRC, it was five Mercuries two Lysanders, the Blenheim and the Shuttleworth's Glad.
Firebird wrote:
IIRC, wasn't the Lizzie designed by Teddy Petter who went on to join English Electric and design the Canberra and start the design of what became the Lightning.
Teddy Petter was from the owner's family (boss' son syndrome) how much he designed, although he's often credited with the design, is open to debate. Certainly when Teddy was appointed as Technical Director, Robert Arthur Bruce, the MD and Geoffrey Hill, Designer resigned, the works manager also being changed. Arthur Davenport was Westland's chief designer at the time, and he, Petter and Test Pilot Harald Penrose worked as a team to research the design with the Army co-op pilots - but in Westland's archives, Davenport is credited as 'designer'. How much input was Petters isn't clear - it might have been a lot.
John Dupre wrote:
I remember reading that one of the UK flyers had some sort of problems with the Briston Mercury engine that took nearly a year to sort out. Any one have any idea what that was? Could that be why the one restored in CA in the 70's that is now at the USAFM had such a short flying career?
As above; IMHO, no-one really got to grips with operating a Mercury engine except Shuttleworth on the Gladiator and the Aircraft Restoration Company. I'm no engineer, but my impression was the engine needs to be managed differently to more familiar big radials and won't behave unless that's done. Operated
properly, it works fine.
Dwight Brooks' example, Can Car 1185 N7791, now in the Smithsonian, flew fine - I'm not aware as to why he gave it up, but not as far as I know because of the engine.
Just a final remark. The Lysander was an aircraft built up of exchangeable parts - lots of them, rather than a stressed skin monocoque construction. Therefore a good deal of part exchange, particularly in rebuilds is not only easy, but often sensible - so most survivors contain significant parts from other airframes - I've used the identities above to specify a particular aircraft's history - not to say it's 100% that machine - because most aren't.
Cheers,
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