I’ve looked at the list of participating RIAT aircraft and can’t see a Lysander on their listing, and thats dated 1st March.

… there’s always the OW display during the same period that could blow him away, looks as if the Lysander could be at that one too.
No contest is it.

I couldn’t see it either so I’m not sure were that information was got from.

I’d say that it is certain that the Lysander will be at it’s home airfield for the show on Sunday 1st June at Old Warden as it is the 1st of their Military Airshows. If the weather is good, your Cousin will see aircraft from at least the first 50 years of the RFC/RAF.

….. and take away the opportunity to put up a Gladiator two-ship at Legends? :rolleyes:

That is assuming that the TFC Gladiator is actually ready and the weight of the paperwork is greater than the airframe.

The Lysander at RIAT will bring it to a whole new international audience.

May I suggest that you pay a visit to Duxford and the Shuttleworth Collection to see how much time, effort and, most importantly, money is spent restoring aircraft and keeping the in the air. There is no point in restoring something to airworthy condition if you don’t have the money to operate it and keep it in that condition.

I doff my cap to thee Mr Nosedive as you’ve shown that once in a while I’m right!!!

🙂

TT

For those not sure what we are on about, here she is in fine company last Sunday with dH51 G-EBIR “Miss Kenya” (the oldest flying de Havilland design), dH60 Moth G-EBLV (the oldest moth) and the Collections dH82 Tiger Moth.

I would suggest that you pay a visit to the National Archives at Kew Gardens. It is 10 minutes walk from Kew Gardens Station. The staff are very helpful and they have Research Guides that take you step by step through finding people. If you do go, you will need to take your Passport or Photo drivers license (something with your Picture on it) and a household bill to prove where you live. You will then be issued with a reader ticket that lasts fo 5 years.

As I’m sure you are aware, as a starting point, it is best to speak to people who are still alive and knew the person, which appears to be what you have done already, and as you have discovered, they can give you an outline of someone’s career (with inacuracies/embelishments as you have discovered already). A place and date of birth are a great help as they are normally recorded on official documents (they are also methods of checking that records refer to the same person if you have an unusual surname that is mispelt regularly).

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/militaryhistory/?source=ddmenu_research0_e

I can recommend the books that are published by the National Archives, they are about £20, but are worth it if you are going to look seriously.

Based on my experience, you should find this persons Service Record, this should give you a brief outline of their career (dates and places). From then it is possible to look at the specific events mentioned in the Service Record.

A final thought, Does your Family still have his Campaign Medals? Depending upon where he was posted, he may have specfic campaign medals and or bars on his medals.

The people here are discussing the paint schemes and not ‘complaining’ about them. A good proportion of the people on this thread are actually responsible for applying warbird schemes and helping owners research them, including Warbird Colour Services mentioned on the RNHF website.

I was refering to comments such as this.

Well done Lee! Between us we’ll get the UK’s warbirds painted authentically!!

Whilst I agree in principle that it is nice to have an aircraft in an authentic paint scheme, I don’t regard it as essential and I see nothing wrong with an aircraft flying in scheme from another airframe that it never wore in its life.

Just out of interest, how long ago was that photo taken?

Perhaps instead of criticising the guide who you say mis-informed you, you should actually be thanking him for giving up his time to help out at Old Warden so that the hangers can be opened to the likes of you to see Britain’s aviaition heritage. Without volunteers, many of these organisations would not be able to survive and open to the Public.

We all make mistakes, we are human.

Like all in this world, the actions of the idiotic few ruin it for the majority.

I think that this is the key point of this thread.

I’m sure if someone asks permission to take a closer look, most aircraft owners would be delighted to show off their aircraft to someone who generally has an interest, show them round and talk about it.

There will always be those who spoil it for the rest us who generally have a interest in aviation.