Warbird Information Exchange

15 August 1940 Bombing up a Westland Lysander of No. 110 (Army Cooperation) Sqn. RCAF.
.303 cal ammo being loaded into the track for the wheel fairing machine guns. (RCAF photo)


Winglets used for racking of bombs & package bundles. (RCAF photo)






Loading camera's into the fuselage compartment. (RCAF photo)

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Zero Surprise!!...

It is hard to imagine flying off to war, armed with a modest upgrade from peashooters and hand grenades.

A great selection of shots, thanks for putting these up. That last pic shows RCAF 416, the first Canadian-built Lysander. The airworthy Lysander in Canada (previously owned by Vintage wings) is painted as 416 in an earlier silver scheme, but isn't the real 416.

These shots are great for comparison as they show the smooth-cowled Mk.II with Bristol Perseus engine and the bumpy-cowled Mercury-powered Mk.I or Mk.III. (The Lysander Mk.1 was Mercury powered, the Mk.II had the Perseus, then they reverted to the Mercury for the Mk.III.)

As for armament, there was even a lash-up mod during 1940 with two 20mm Hispano fixed to the legs. Desperate days...

Sweet!!! Thank you Mark!

Thank you Mr LysanderUK....never knew about the Perseus! Interesting.

I like the coat and tie uniforms they wear during bomb loading.Very proper looking armorers.

I guess formal bomb dropping takes formal clothes.

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Better is the enemy of Good.

A Lysander will carry anything you can stuff into it. It has a 50 ft wing and 250 more horsepower than an Otter. The trouble is, there is no room inside, and no side door.

I'm sure dozens of Bush operators looked at the RCAF surplus ones in 1946 with the idea of converting them to commercial use. But...

-- no cargo space, poor access
-- odd landing gear difficult to convert to skis and floats
-- weird engine

… thus they'd go buy a Norseman, some of which were even some surplus, and which were far more practical.

in photo 7602, the Sargent does not have his right boot fully laced.

Side bar for sure. But I am curious Dave why the AN-2 has not made it to the bush plane flying world?

Slow yes! But super cheap.....have seen it on float also.

Those pics are OUTSTANDING. Thank you again Mark.

I was wondering why so many Lysanders became farmyard derelicts rather than civilian flyers. I do recall seeing a photo of one with a CF- registration rigged with spray bars; some Googling turned up this shot of three of them with the Westland Dusting Service:

(via pprune.org but I can't access the site)
Can't see the registrations here but one was CF-FOA per the Britmodeller forum.

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Yes, that short-lived spray operation was about it.

The AN-2 is very much a bush plane, used all through Russia/Siberia. Mind you, it didn't have to make a profit.

As to why it didn't catch on here, one reason is the lower wing. It's a show-stopper at many docks.

Good write-up here http://www.bush-planes.com/Antonov-An-2.html

And about the time the Wall fell and you could buy one, the modern turbine aircraft were becoming more common, such as the Caravan. Also, the bread-and-butter for northern operators is service to the Reserves. And they all have gravel strips now.

Here is modern life for a Bush Pilot in Canada: http://hadfield.ca/o-dark-thirty/

Dave

Thank you Mr Dave!

Great article. And great lyrics.

Did not think about the lower wing at dock! You cannot even cross it to get to the other side with a fabric wing.

Edit! Great site also with the bush plane perspective! Side bar to the thread...sorry....
http://www.bush-planes.com/PZL-Wilga.html
http://www.bush-planes.com/Fieseler-Fi-156-Storch-Stork.html
http://www.bush-planes.com/Boeing-C-17-and-Ilyushin-Il-76.html
http://www.bush-planes.com/ShortSkyvanBushPlane.html
http://www.bush-planes.com/aviationfun.html Funnies....hehe