Perhaps the only civil use for a Lysander.

[Cap'n Wannabe]

http://modelingmadness.com/review/civil/bakerlys.htm
https://www.flickr.com/photos/franclab/10211914254
http://www.erudit.org/revue/phyto/2004/ ... 900ar.html
http://s30.photobucket.com/user/india42 ... s.png.html

[RHB785]

G'day damo. interestin guse for a Lysander but there were plenty of them in Canada after the war so it makes a lot of sense to use something like that with plenty of power and good low speed handling for ag work. The Lysander looks as though it didn't need much conversion work, not like the Ceres here.

Regards,
RHB.

[Cap'n Wannabe]

From what I've read, they were only used for a couple of years as they weren't very economical to run compared to other types.

[RHB785]

Yes. That's why the Ceres wasn't used for very long out here either. By that time there were smaller more economical types being built for the ag world. Now of course we're getting back to those very powerful ag types like the turboprop Ayers and Dromadar which is now also being built with a turboprop from what I understand. They are a huge best of an aeroplane. I walked aoround a pair of them at Deniliquin about 5 years ago and took a heap of pics of them. I think perhaps that people are starting to realize that low powered low speed aeroplanes working at heavy weights and low altitudes in hilly or mountainous terrain can be very injurious to the pilot's health. The Dromadar actually makes about 110 hp more than the Lysander did and 400 hp more than the Ceres did and the turboprop aircraft about the same as the Dromadar.

Regards,
RHB.

[Barneydhc82]

Quite a few years ago I was cruising the back country roads of southern Saskatchewan..yes it is a real place...looking for restorable relics of our war time history. The prairies of Canada was known as the Aerodrome of Democracy and there were thousands of training aircraft sold off to the farmers by Crown Assets Disposal.

One of the many aircraft found on that trip was a Lysander sitting axel deep in the prairie gumbo. Not a stitch of fabric left on her after 30 odd years of extremely harsh weather but no rust on the steel airframe. I told my friend Harry, a collector, about it and he took it home, restored it to flying condition and today it is owner by Vintage Wings of Canada. And it is beautifully refinished.

Barney http://www.barneysairforce.com