The Westland Lysander was a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft, used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in this role, its STOL (short take-off and landing) capability made it an exceptional aircraft for clandestine missions on makeshift airstrips, particularly in relation to the SOE in occupied France. The Lysander was also made under licence by the National Steel Car Company at Malton, Ontario from 1938. The RCAF used them in an army co-operation role but also for target towing duties, with a high visibility yellow and black striped paint job and it is this version that is the subject of our 1:72 scale model. The real thing is in the Canadian Heritage Warplane Museum in Hamilton, Ontario, which is an amazing museum and well worth a visit for any aircraft enthusiast. The museum also houses the second of only two flying Lancaster in the world, the first being with our Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in the UK. Our Oxford Lysander C-GCWL with its yellow scheme with black banding carries its number 2363 cleverly applied in contrasting colour to the background on the underside of the wings and along the fuselage. The tailfin and fuselage also feature the Air Force markings. The wheel hubs are painted a muted light green and note the interesting addition of wheel lights painted in metallic silver on the front of the wheels in silver.
