Wingleader Photo Archive 32 - Westland Lysander

The Westland Lysander was one of those mid-1930s aircraft designs that represented a major step forward at the time from the biplane era, but then was immediately outdated by the rapid technological advances that came with the Second World War. By 1930s standards, the ‘Lizzie’ was very advanced, with its short take off and landing ability, leading edge slats and heavy duty undercarriage, it was ahead of its time. Unfortunately, by 1940, it was clearly vulnerable to any fighter attack and the Army Co-operation role was being polarised between fast fighters like the Mustang and ultra-slow spotting aircraft like the Auster.
Of course, the Lysander did eventually find its purpose as a very capable Special Duties aircraft ferrying SOE agents between England and France as well as in Italy and the Far East.
This book has been a bit of a team effort with author Andy Thomas supplying RARE photos from his remarkable collection and then the Wingleader team digging further into the technical aspects of the Lysander. We’ve all enjoyed the process as we didn’t realise how little we knew about the aircraft until we started digging. We hope you’ll enjoy what we discovered!