Westland Lysander

what is it?

The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's short-field performance enabled clandestine missions using small, improvised airstrips behind enemy lines to place or recover agents, particularly in occupied France with the help of the French Resistance. Royal Air Force army co-operation aircraft were named after mythical or historical military leaders; in this case the Spartan admiral Lysander was chosen.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 15.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 341 km/htop speed
• size 2,871 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,786made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 90 years ago, in 1936.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 15.2 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1936-06-15

introduced

1938

retired

1946

status

retired

number built

1,786

role

army co-operation and liaison aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Westland Aircraft

engines

1× Bristol Mercury XX

crew

2

length

9.3 m

wingspan

15.2 m

height

4.4 m

max take-off weight

2,871 kg

top speed

341 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,553 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.