Westland Lysander
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Westland Lysander was a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft used in the Second World War. It achieved fame through its ability to operate from short stretches of unprepared airstrip and its clandestine missions to plant or retrieve agents behind enemy lines, particularly in Nazi-occupied France. Like other British army air co-operation aeroplanes, it was given the name of a military leader, in this case, the Spartan Lysander.
Contents |
[edit] Design and development
In 1934, the Air Ministry issued the Specification A.39/34 for an army co-operation aircraft to replace the Hawker Hector. Initially, Hawker, Avro, and Bristol were invited to submit designs, but after some debate within the Ministry, a submission from Westland was invited as well. The Westland design, internally designated P.8, was the work of Arthur Davenport under the direction of "Teddy" Petter. It was Petter's second aircraft design and he spent much time interviewing RAF pilots to find out what they wanted from such an aircraft, suggesting that field of view, low-speed handling characteristics, and STOL performance were the most important factors.
Davenport and Petter worked to design an aircraft around the requested features; the result was highly unconventional, and, in 1934, seemingly antiquated. The Lysander featured a Bristol Mercury radial engine, high gull wings and a fixed taildragger landing gear inside huge spats; the spats had mountings for small, removable stub wings that could be used to carry bombs or supply canisters. In appearance it was not dissimilar to the Polish LWS-3 Mewa.
It was equipped with automatic wing slats and flaps, novel features for the era. It also featured the largest Elektron alloy extrustion made at the time: a single piece inside the spats supporting the landing gear wheels. The Air Ministry requested two prototypes of the P.8 and the competing Bristol Type 148, and quickly selected the Westland aircraft for production, issuing a contract in September 1936.
[edit] Operational service
The first Lysanders entered service in June 1938 equipping squadrons for "Army Co-operation" and were initially used for message-dropping and artillery spotting. When war broke out in Europe, the earlier Mk Is had been largely replaced by the Mk IIs, the older machines heading for the Middle East. Four regular squadrons equipped with Lysanders accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France. These were put into action as spotters and light bombers, and despite occasional victories against German aircraft they made very easy pickings for the Luftwaffe unless well escorted. Almost half the Lysanders operating in and over France were lost, and with the fall of France the type was quickly withdrawn from its original role. Back in England some went to work operating air-sea rescue for RAF pilots in the English Channel. Fourteen squadrons and flights were formed for this work during 1940/1941, dropping dinghys to downed pilots.
In August 1941, a new squadron, No. 138 (Special Duties), was formed to operate missions for the Special Operations Executive to maintain contact with the French Resistance. Among its aircraft were Lysander IIIs, which would fly over and land in France. While general supply drops could be left to the rest of No. 138's aircraft, the Lysander could smuggle agents on and off the continent, or bringing back members of downed aircrews that had been sheltered by the French. In this role, the Lysander was outstanding, and it continued in this capacity until the liberation of France. Flying on moonless nights and without navigation equipment other than a map and a compass, landing on short strips of land marked out by a couple of torches, the pilots of No. 138 and later No. 161 Squadron delivered 101 and recovered 128 agents from occupied Europe (Gunston 1995). The Lysanders were painted matt black and flew from secret airfields at Newmarket and Tempsford but used regular RAF stations to fuel up for the actual crossing.
The Lysander also joined the ranks of the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (FAFL) - the Free French air force - when Groupe Mixte de Combat (GMC) 1, formed at RAF Odiham on August 29, 1940, was sent to French North-West Africa in order both to persuade the authorities in countries like Gabon, Cameroon and Chad, which were still loyal to Vichy France, to join the Gaullist cause against the Axis powers, and to attack Italian ground forces in Libya. As with all FAFL aircraft, the Lysanders sported the Cross of Lorraine insignia on the fuselage and the wings, as opposed to the tricolor roundel first used in 1914, in order to distinguish their aircraft from those flying for the Vichy French air force. The Lysanders were mostly employed on reconnaissance missions but were also employed to carry out occasional attacks.
The type also filled other, less glamorous roles such as target-towing and communication aircraft. It was also licence-built in Canada to fill these roles. All British Lysanders were withdrawn from service in 1946.
Export customers of the type included Finland, Ireland, Turkey, Portugal, the United States and Egypt. Egyptian Lysanders were the last to see active service, against Israel in the War of Independence in 1948.
A total of 1,786 were built, including 225 Canadian examples. A small number are preserved in museums in the UK and Canada.
[edit] Variants
- Lysander Mk I - Powered by one 664-kW (890-hp) Mercury XII radial piston engine. Two forward-firing 0.303 in (7.7-mm) Browning machine guns in wheel fairings and one pintle-mounted Lewis or Vickers K gun for the observer. Stub wings, if fitted, carried 500 lb (227 kg) of bombs. Four 20 lb (9 kg) bombs could be carried under rear fuselage.
- Lysander Mk TT.Mk 1 - Lysander Mk 1s converted into target tugs.
- Lysander Mk II - Powered by one 675-kW (905-hp) Bristol Perseus XII radial piston engine.
- Lysander TT MK II - Target tug conversion of the Lysander Mk II.
- Lysander Mk III - Powered by one 649-kW (870-hp) Bristol Mercury XX or 30 radial piston engine, 350 delivered from July 1940. Twin 7.7-mm (0.303-inch) Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit for the observer.
- Lysander Mk IIIA - Similar to the Lysander Mk I. Twin 7.7-mm (0.303-inch) Lewis machine guns in the rear cockpit for the observer.
- Lysander Mk IIISCW - Special version for clandestine operations. No armament, long range fuel tank, fixed external ladder.
- Lysander TT Mk III - Lysander Mk Is, Mk IIs and Mk IIIs converted into target tugs.
- Lysander TT M IIIA - 100 new target tugs.
[edit] Operators
The Lysander served with Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Indian Air Force units as both the primary aircraft and in a secondary liaison and communications role. It was also used by Australia, Canada, Eire (Ireland), Egypt, Finland, France, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom Royal Navy, (Fleet Air Arm, Royal Air Force), and the United States.
[edit] Specifications (Lysander Mk III)
General characteristics
- Crew: One, pilot
- Capacity: 1 passenger (or observer)
- Length: 30 ft 6 in (9.29 m)
- Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
- Height: 11 ft 6 in (3.50 m)
- Wing area: 260 ft² (24.2 m²)
- Empty weight: 4,044 lb (1,834 kg)
- Loaded weight: 5,833 lb (2,645 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 6,305 lb (2,866 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Bristol Mercury XX , 870 hp (649 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 212 mph (341 km/h)
- Range: 600 miles (966 km)
- Service ceiling: 21,500 ft (6,550 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,410 ft/min (7.2 m/s)
- Wing loading: 22 lb/ft² (109 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (250 W/kg)
Armament
[edit] References
- Donald, D. and Lake, J. (eds.) Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft. London: AIRtime Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-880588-24-2.
- Gunston, B. Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways. London: Osprey, 1995. ISBN 1-85532-526-8.
[edit] Related content
Comparable aircraft
Designation sequence
- Wallace - P.8 (Lysander) - P.9 (Whirlwind) - P.11 - P.12 - Westland Welkin - W.34 (Wyvern)
