TESTING THE Lysander

Making the first flights in an immaculately restored historic aircraft, notorious for its handling peculiarities

- Elliot Marsh

Lined up on Duxford’s runway, it occurred to John Romain that with more than forty years of Bristol Mercury experience behind him, this was a special moment. “It all started here, and the Lysander’s first flight was a culmination of sorts.”

In recounting the maiden flight of the Aircraft Restoration Company’s Westland Lysander MkIIIA V9312 in August 2018, John alludes to the latest chapter of a saga that dates back to 1974 and spans three Blenheim rebuilds, personal involvement with two other airworthy Lysanders, and V9312’s restoration.

The Lysander project surfaced during a visit to Kermit Weeks’ Fantasy of Flight air museum in Florida, early in 2003. There John was introduced to the dilapidated but largely complete V9312, held in Weeks’ storage hangar. “Kermit explained that he had two Lysanders and asked if I would be interested in buying the one he had in storage,” remembers John. “Interestingly, it was a very rare British-built Lysander, identifiable by its hollow, one-piece undercarriage legs, British electrics and instrumentation, and wood ribbed wings, rather than the more familiar tubular alloy ribs of the Canadian-built Lysanders−perfect for our collection. Restoring it would be a real challenge. I thought about it for a few days and we spoke again, agreeing a price. It wasn’t long before we headed back to Florida to break it down for shipment to the UK”.

The Lysander arrived at Duxford in June 2003. Its home, initially at least, was ARCo’s famous Building 66 workshop−the beating heart of the Blenheim rebuild projects− where it was stripped down ahead of a full restoration.