Flying in a Westland Lysander - WW2 Secret Agent Plane 

My late beloved uncle, Ron Willis Scales (known as Ron), of Pickering, North Yorkshire died peacefully 30th April 2013 aged 91. He flew many missions as a rear gunner from Tempsford before his severely damaged Handley Page Halifax bomber ditched in the North Sea on its return from Germany. Of the four crew who survived the ditching, only two survived the war. They spent two days adrift on the water before washing-up on occupied Holland. Crossing a mined beach successfully, one of Ron's crew was none-the-less badly injured and would die a short time after they were picked-up by the occupying forces. Ron spent three and a half years interned in POW camps, but survived to return home after the war ended. He went on to marry my mother's eldest sister, Margaret Emery, and had a daughter, Jill. Margaret died 23rd January 2016 aged 90 years. Ron and Margaret named their home in Pickering "Tempsford". Tragically, they would lose Jill in a car accident in Liberia on Valentines Day 1977; her fiance Jeff Yutan survived. Jill and Jeff were employed by British Caledonian at the time of the accident, and Jill featured in several adverts for them (in days before model agency staff were used). Ron rarely spoke of his wartime experiences; though in later times he was persuaded to commit some of his memories to print. Ron, Margaret and Jill are remembered by their family with much love to this day. His sacrifice - and all those who fought for our freedom - will always be remembered. www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8172823.veteran-ron-scales-tells-his-remarkable-and-moving-war-story-in-a-new-book/ for those interested in learning more of his wartime experience.

Never apologise for soaking up and enjoying an experience such as this - it was your flight to treasure. The fact that you had enough footage to present to us this great story is testament enough to your respect for all those who built, worked on, rode into and back out of harm’s way in defence of the Realm in one of these all those years ago. Lest We Forget.

4 agents in the rear cockpit had "an uncomfortable ride home". It was more comfortable than being marched into captivity at bayonet point.

My wife's uncle was a decorated pilot on the Lysander in WW2. Sadly, he is no longer with us.

I enjoyed that it was interesting to see an aircraft that my dad did some development design work on during the war. He had some wonderful tales to tell of his time at Yeovilton. We still have a photo taken of Harold Penrose flying a Whirlwind over Boscomb Down.

2023 here, and the pubs are back!

another brilliant video haha love the ending, creative af!

A very well presented and informative video. The little injections of humour help a lot. Keep up the good work.

A must read 'Cyanide in my shoe' by Josephine Butler

Nice video thanks. Pity you did not mention westlands designer Teddie Petter , seldom mentioned but designed some incredible aircraft, With Westland then laterlly with English Electric. Notable of these are the Canberra, and Lightning.

Great video as always! Would love to hear more about your time at the UAS! And you should definitely give the Tutor more credit 😉

just found your video whilst researching my dads RAF time. He was stationed at Tempsford with either 138 or 161. I do know he was an engine expert and worked on the Lysander which maybe why he was there to make the Lysander reliable. Thanks.

Excellent vid.

The hedge hopper !

Can’t wait 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I believe the record in the back was 7. May be worng (probably am) the memory isn't what it was. If you strip the fairings off the main landing gear the bow that forms the undercarriage looks like a girder left over from the Forth rail bridge.

I'm curious about one thing with the Lysander. Given its ability to get into small rough landing areas (and back out again) was the Lysander ever considered for operations by the Fleet Air Arm for operations off of small escort carriers in the North Atlantic. In retrospect it seems as though it would have been ideally suited for the role. After all the role of such aircraft (at least prior to the emergence of homing torpedoes) was to spot submarines and if not able to attack to drive them under the surface. Of course the best time to attack them was when they were submerging. Once the sub has its hatches closed their only real defense is to dive fast and change course.

Stupendo!!!

At night, it was 3 or 5 lanterns in l shape.

A nice enjoyable and informative film which I enjoyed. I had wondered how you were lucky enough to get a flight in the Shuttleworth Lysander - what a privilege! You can now buy a flight in another Lysander in the UK with the Aircraft Restoration Company at IWM Duxford. Thanks for the credits. Best wishes.👍🙂

Wonderful video. Can you tell me the purpose of the red circles on top of the wheel pants? I replicated the circles on my model. Thank you.

My question is what is that attachment on the bottom midline? External fuel tank? Capacity? Extended range?

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