A wonderful Lizzie.. my grandfather worked for Westlands for 30+ years, my other grandad worked for Martin Baker for 30+ years.. What a generation they were..

I was so glad to see a Lysander in flight , brought back memories being a kid back in the UK reading the commando comics and such!

The Lysander was my favorite model airplane when I was kid in the early 60s..

@jamesadams6009

3 жыл бұрын

Mine too!

Hello, in France we had land for lisander In Luzillé, in 1942, the place called Les Fontaines serves as landing ground for the "Lysander" planes of the Royal Air Force (British Air Force). These planes have the distinction of being able to land and take off over a very short distance. They make the connection with Great Britain, deposit or ship resistance and also deliver equipment and weapons for the Resistance. Jacques Nolle, then lieutenant, deputy head of the network "Ecarlate", is responsible for the Luzillé field.

One of my first Airfix models...the original Spy plane as far as I am concerned and I am certain that I speak for many of like mind.Lest we forget.

@thevelointhevale1132

3 жыл бұрын

Same here ... I built my Airfix Lysander in the mid 70's ... brings back great memories of flying it around my bedroom!

Fascinating to see this. My great great uncle was Colonel Maurice Buckmaster of SOE. So it makes me very happy to see such magnificent example of the Lysander still flying.

@guitararnie6092

5 жыл бұрын

My Dad's scariest time during WWll was flying a Lysander into occupied France, alone, unarmed except for the Webley pistol in his flying boot.

@birddog9708

5 жыл бұрын

Guitar Arnie he might have had my uncle in the back. Agent seal

@guitararnie6092

5 жыл бұрын

Quite possibly, but he rarely met his passengers. They got in the back under cover of darkness and deplaned the same way. Then someone would hop in for the return journey to England. Very quick turn around. Thank you for your Uncle's service.

@birddog9708

5 жыл бұрын

Guitar Arnie the schedule was more important than most of the information or agents. Certainty is a rare luxury in war.

@kornofulgur

4 жыл бұрын

@@birddog9708 Night navigation into hostile territory to the objective, and one small difference in the agreed ground signal (usually: torches) was an immediate 180° turn towards England.

The Lizzie..an unsung hero in the Commando books n Comics I poured over as a kid..great vid..

Lovely to see this "venerable" old lady, Many SOE operatives flew out of USAF Station 129, on "carpetbagger" missions. later it reverted to RAF Harrington (later to become a "Thor" a nuclear missile site), if your ever westbound on the A14 near Kettering, Northants, come off at Junction 3 amd take the Lamport Road to the Harrington war museum, well worth a visit, thanks for sharing.

Lordy, lordy.....with a landing like that it was a bounce in France, a hop over Belgium and a landing in Holland!

@MrTerrymiff

5 жыл бұрын

I'm hoping that this was not his best landing.

@psblad2667

5 жыл бұрын

:-)

@petergregory8864

5 жыл бұрын

My Father flew Lysander's during the War. I remember him commenting on how landing could be a bit "Dicey", due to the Slats which popped out automatically below a certain airspeed and created more lift. My Dad wasn't involved with all the James Bond side of things we constantly hear about! He was towing targets on a (very long) cable, for the Fighter boys to shoot at.

@guitararnie6092

5 жыл бұрын

A very dangerous job. 116 Squadron?

@nurmister

3 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha

What a beautiful and unique aircraft, and much bigger than I imagined. Not the best landing,but it does show what the under carriage would endure when landing in an emergency situation. Like others on here I remember the tales of clandestine operations during WWII. Some great closeup shots at the end, but would have loved to have seen inside the cockpit. thanks for the upload.

WW2 bio of Per Hysing-Dahl, president of the Norwegian Parlament 1981-1984 Per Hysing-Dahl left Norway aboard the MK «Soløy» on August 2, 1941 and arrived in Baltasund on Shetland on August 4. [1] In the United Kingdom he joined the Air Force. After flying school at Little Norway in Canada, Hysing-Dahl was sent to one of RAF's training squads in Bomber Command, 10 OTU (Operational Training Unit), before being ordered to 161 Squadron RAF, stationed at Tempsford. The squadron was divided into two; A-flight operated with Westland Lysander and Lockheed Hudson, and landed and picked up agents for SOE in German-occupied Europe. B-flight flew Handley Page Halifax bomber, which was rebuilt to release operations, and drove off agents and supplies to resistance groups. Hysing-Dahl's first service period of 30 cruises was with the Halifax aircraft in B-flight, and ended in January 1944. Normally one was sent on rest after an end period, but Hysing-Dahl immediately began a new round, this time in A -fight with the Lysander aircraft. In July 1944, Hysing-Dahl would fly three French agents to a landing site in the Loire. The standard procedure was that someone at the landing site, which was often a small land, just before landing would fire fire so the pilot got a clue as to where he should go down. But that didn't happen, so Hysing-Dahl turned back to England. On the way home, the plane was hit by FLAK. Grenade splinters cut the oil pipeline so that the engine cut over the English channel. As the agents did not have parachutes, Hysing-Dahl had to try to put the plane down on the sea. He managed to avoid the plane tilting around, so that he and the three passengers managed to get out. An air bottle that would have blown up the liferaft Hysing-Dahl had in the parachute package, did not work. Before Hysing-Dahl had blown up the fleet, one of the French went under. He got the two remaining aboard the fleet, which was actually designed for one person. Only on the morning of the following day they were discovered and rescued by a patrol boat from U.S. Pat. Navy. After a rest period, flying Mosquito and Beaufighter aircraft from the UK plants to RAF units in Egypt for Ferry Command, Hysing-Dahl returned to 161 Squadron and B flight in March 1945. There, the Halifax aircraft were replaced by Short Stirling. The war was almost over, and the squadron concentrated on dropping supplies to the resistance movements in different parts of Europe.

Lysander was the main lever of SOE .....All kudos

The sound of relief for many people at the times, and the sound of fear since they dropped agents as the same time they took them to London.

magnifique wonderful. no other word.

When I was in the UK fire brigade 20 or so years back, one afternoon I was fitting smoke detectors in the house of an elderly gentleman. While I was filling in the necessary paperwork I spotted the familiar blue and white diagonal ribbon of a "Distinguished Flying Cross" framed on a wall of his living room. When I asked him who the DFC had been awarded to, his eyes opened wide with surprise that I would know what it was. He then told me how in 1939 as a Lysander pilot in RAF No.2 Sqd, he had flown observation missions over the French/Belgian border during the 1939/40 "Phoney war". He went on to say how in early June 1940 his squadron then got orders at short notice to evacuate to the UK. He said that the last 8 airworthy lysanders took off from north eastern France to hop over the channel, and that during the flight they had been attacked by Me109s. He had managed to evade multiple 109 attacks, and his rear gunner even managed to send one of the attackers banking away with smoke streaming from it. When they arrived in the UK only 4 of the aircraft had made it, the other 4 aircraft and their crews were lost in the channel. He said he later flew SOE operatives into and out of France during the German occupation and was awarded the DFC in 1944. Just a little white haired old man in his 80s.... and yet an outright bloody HERO. God bless his memory.

Brilliant! My favourite Commado comic features one of these beautiful girls.

It’s not all about speed and firepower.

Cool piece on a very forgotten airplane. BTW...how does someone dislike this kind of thing? Did the expect a free beer or a gift for watching the video?

@pgzzz

4 жыл бұрын

They are probably German lol

Anybody remember the matchbox 1/32 scale model kit of the Lysander. I managed to get French Resistance figures to go with this SOE aircraft in the same scale, in the late 1970s.

@JackGordone

3 жыл бұрын

I have that kit unopened. Bought it years ago & never got around to it. Don't know now if I ever will, I'm so old.

Excelent moi !!🌠🛩️

Love the Lysander. Probably one of the under rated Allied Planes of the War. Hear a lot about the Spitfire, the P-51, the P-47, B-17, P-38, Mosquito, Hellcat, etc. This plane probably tipped things in the Allies favor aiding the Resistance and gathering intel. Perhaps it could not be helped for an aircraft of its era, but it is very loud. If it could run quiet it would be stealthy all around. Can't see or hear it coming.

@markkosmider2144

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, very under rated!

Please correct me if I'm wrong, from memory it was a Lysander that flew Nancy Wake back into France to assist the Resistance.

@HighFlight

3 жыл бұрын

I’m not sure, although I can only find reference online to her landing by parachute with a 2nd ‘agent’, so if that’s correct I doubt it would have been from a Lysander?

Nice looking bird. That fuel tank is huge.

@royd5323

5 жыл бұрын

aaaht actually the belly tank was more often used to carry supplies into hostile territory

It was designed to do, exactly what it did.... and did it beautifully. While sounding like honey.

@alecblunden8615

5 жыл бұрын

It was designed as an army co-operation aircraft. Its capacity to fly low and slow, and to land and take off in short order, fitted them for an unintended role which they fulfilled extremely well.

@bipolatelly9806

5 жыл бұрын

Alec Blunden that's right. too....

The Black Taxis for the agents of the SOE

Halfway through this I had a brilliant idea and I cut in Ron Goodwin's Moonstrike theme. I'm not tecky so I can't reproduce it.

My Uncle flew one in WW2

@HighFlight

3 жыл бұрын

Excellent - a true hero. What is your uncles name and do you know which Squadron he was in?

Unobtrusive almost forgotten hard worker in WW2 Westland Lysander. What else to say?

Obsolete in it's intended role of close support bomber by the start of the war it found it's niche flying agents in and out of occupied Europe.

@tango6nf477

5 жыл бұрын

Actually the design specs called for army cooperation, tactical reconnaissance and artillery reconnaissance. Its STOL capabilities made it ideal for taking off and landing from makeshift landing grounds. but its slow performance made it very vulnerable to ground fire and fighter interception. Its similar to the Swordfish in a way, technically obsolete from day one of the war but found itself so capable and useful that it remained in service long after it should have been replaced.

The most dangerous air taxi you could ever get a trip in.

@HighFlight

5 жыл бұрын

That all depends on whether it's a one way trip to France with an uncertain future or a repatriation flight home? Either way, I would think that those who chose to go readily accepted any risks, which were minimal whilst in the aircraft compared to after they had arrived.

@birddog9708

5 жыл бұрын

The danger laid with the guys that would have to indentify the aircraft from the ground and then light the runway without anyone noticing. Unless of course they knew full well that they were dropping a double agent who required despatching by his own. Moody business the espionage game.

Surprised that the Hurricane and Spitfire could fly in so slow a formation.

It's a odd looking aircraft ?

A better STOL aircraft than German Storch or US L 4

Why does a plane have my name

Is a particular reason for the strange wing shape??

@Lee-70ish

5 жыл бұрын

VSTOL Michael the tech in WW2 was limited and other than the piper Cub which believe it or not on D day flew off of converted tank landing craft without catapults for spotting the Lysander had a higher pay load longer range and by reducing the inboard wing area gave it a better turn of speed.

@chrisknight6884

5 жыл бұрын

The odd shaped wing was partly due to the original design requirement for good visibility above. With the high wing configuration the view above is restricted, but by bringing the leading edge aft where it met the fuselage, the pilot's view was improved whilst maintaining the correct centre of pressure over the whole wing. Not that it did the pilot much good as the aircraft was a sitting duck during normal operations and even if he saw the enemy would be unable to do much about it.

@peteredwards338

5 жыл бұрын

It had could take off from a short runway which was handy in occupied France.

@ianwilkinson4602

4 жыл бұрын

Better visibility I would guess.

A flying barbecue grill, with that large fuel tank...

@HighFlight

5 жыл бұрын

It did increase range considerably allowing the aircrafts use in the 'special duties' role and with aircraft fuel tanks of the era being located in wings and fuselage areas, in many cases behind, under and in front of the aircrews, that description probably fits just about all of them. Fortunately the add on tank under this one is purely for show and not used.

@birddog9708

5 жыл бұрын

More like a flying fridge. 😉

@kennethcurtis1856

4 жыл бұрын

@@birddog9708 Like the Beas', William 'The Fridge' Perry's, scoring touchdown in the 86 Super Bowl win.

Wow! Not so great landing! Probably too fast!

This was the worst airplane built in WW II...Everything, almost 95% is built utter garbage...it actually needs a sizable room for landing...nowhere a STOL! A loaded Noorduyn Norseman need less room to take for landing and take off! Hum...this Westland Lysander could carry two passengers(very tight) powered by a 890 hp (660 kW) Bristol Mercury XII radial piston engine But the Noorduyn Norseman, at the same time carried seven passengers(PLUS FREIGHT) with only 600 horsepower... The view of Army AOP pilots was that the Lysander was too fast for artillery spotting purposes, too slow and unmanoeuverable to avoid fighters, too big to conceal quickly on a landing field, too heavy to use on soft ground and had been developed by the RAF without ever asking the Army what was needed (90% of all Lysanders were shot down!) See the Norseman cabin(About the same number built...)AND IS STILL FLYING IN THE BUSH! The Lysanders were dumped out 70 years ago!(And the De Haviland Otter, same engine carry TEN people plus a lot of freight sand use a quarter less than that crappy Lysanded!)

@HighFlight

3 жыл бұрын

There's no doubt that the Norseman is a great aircraft and does the job for which it was designed - a civil utility and passenger/load carrying bush plane. It wasn't specifically designed for military purposes and until 1940 only 17 had been sold, so its production numbers were low at the start of WW2 . The Lysander was designed specifically for military use for air observation, artillery spotting and other army co-operation tasks. During May and June 1940 175 Lysanders were deployed by the British in France and Belgium and 118 were lost to enemy action. Some were used for light bombing but up against the unexpected German 'Blitzkrieg' tactics and superior fighter aircraft they were highly vulnerable. Had they been available under the same circumstances the Norseman would have fared no differently, given that it's top speed is substantially less than that of the Lysander and it was not designed inane way for combat. The Lysander had and has very good slow speed handling and visibility that makes it ideal for air observation etc. Far superior to any view that the pilot can possibly have from the cockpit of the Norseman. The Lysander can comfortably land and take off from a field as short as 300 yards, which is why it was ideal for use in transporting agents and personnel too and from enemy territory under cover of darkness during WW2. What is the Norseman's short field landing and take off performance? How many Norsemen were used for that purpose? If the Norseman is so much better than the Lysander, for the roles that the Lysander performed, then perhaps you can explain why it wasn't used instead?

@hotspur666

3 жыл бұрын

Designed by Robert B.C. Noorduyn, the Noorduyn Norseman was produced from 1935 to 1959, originally by Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd. and later by the Canadian Car and Foundry company. As many built as the Lysander but WAS USED a lot by EVERYBODY because it was working as the Lysander was useless...fact The Lysander was dangerous as you never knew when the weird thing would stall anytime you slow down and most of them actually crashed while trying to land! Imagine the stupid thing has springs installed around inside the wheels for suspension...it froze anytime mud got in there and it flipped on the belly every time!

@HighFlight

3 жыл бұрын

@@hotspur666 So please explain, if the Norseman was so superior and the Lysander was so bad, why didn't the RAF and RCAF use the Norseman instead of all of the Lysanders that they did use? Can you give me an example of a Lysander that crashed due to aircraft malfunction or design while trying to land - how many of them 'crashed while trying to land'? If it 'flipped on the belly every time', how come those that are still flying haven't 'flipped on their belly' yet after themselves making hundreds of landings? None of your arguments seem to add up.

@hotspur666

3 жыл бұрын

@@HighFlight ...The Lysander was the worse designed airplane ever built! OK! See, you are coming to land on a short strip of dirt...you got to slow down to land, right? But with the Lysander, you cannot touch or control anything, it is all AUTOMATIC! So, as you come in, as you go slower, the flaps AND leading-edge slats extend by themselves...WOO! You are going down like a parachute!... But now you are a bit short and you are going down in a deep ravine before the strip...See, in a normal airplane, you add a bit of power and make it...so you go that, no choice, RIGHT??? But this is a Lysander, adding power make automatically slap shut out the flaps and the slats, the wing stall, of course, and YOU GO DOWN LIKE A ROCK INTO THE DEEP RAVINE(like all the Lysander did all the time...)THEY ALL CRASHED! And this also is the reason everything about Lysander was a big secret...TO HIDE THE FACT THEY CRASH BY THEMSELVES! See the boches they don't hide the Emile 109, they brag about the Messerchmitt(same type of flaps and slaps as the Lysander) but these wings DONT STALL like the Lysander do all the time!

@hotspur666

3 жыл бұрын

For artillery spotting in WW II, they used Piper cubs and Taylorcraft...with a 65 horsepower! vs the Lysander and their 900 horsepower...all they used ONE passenger...but all Lysanders got shot...this fat lead sled was irresistible to shoot for an Emile 109! For spotting, the gerries used the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch and built 3000 of them