Several projects from the magazine "Aero PK Revue" # 42/1995 and the quotation from Fr.K.Mason "The British Bomber since 1914"-PutnamThe Specification attracted design tenders from Bristol (the Type 148), Avro (the Type 670), Hawker (a biplane), and Westland (the P.8).
The Hawker tender was rejected out of hand, and the Avro design was not pursued beyond a preliminary sheme, but prototypes were ordered of both the Bristol 148 and the Westland P.8.
I've been wondering that, and since a Lysander in 1/32 scale is nice(I'm old and 1/72 can be problematic), and since there are plenty of the Matchbox kits available, and it really is a nice kit, although a bit sparse, although that's the vintage not the quality.During early 1940, Westland's Chief Designer Petter and test pilot Penrose flew to Paris to visit Delanne, who was working on a light-weight aerodynamic prototype of a tandem wing at the Arsenal factory. Delanne flew the light-weight model a bit and had almost completed a full-scale, tandem-wing, two-seater fighter prototype when Germany invaded. Notsis completed the Delanne Arsenal prototype and test flew it in France before ferrying it to Germany for further testing.
I question the logic of rear-facing guns to strafe beaches. Because he lacks forward visibility, the gunner only has a few seconds to acquire and fire on targets. OTOH The pilot has plenty of time to acquire, aim and fire at targets with his fixed, forward-firing guns.
In the end, I think that the Delanne Lysander was more of a what-if project to test the Delanne tandem-wing configuration. The turret was just a convenient balance weight.
I wonder if a Delanne Lysander spy-carrier might have been quicker to load than the slightly modified Lysanders that supported French resistance fighters. Removing the turret would allow rapid unloading of bulky supplies and rapid loading of stretchers.
'Tandem Wing Lysander'
"..... Project design work was undertaken at Yeovil early in 1940 but detail work and construction was transferred to Harringtons, a coach-buider in Hove.
During the war Harrington built Mosquito and Lysander aircraft and maintained the aeronautical connection well into the post-war period, supplying components for the Viscount
During the Second World War ..... [Harrington] made airframe components, believed to have been for the famous Westland Lysander aircraft .....
..... Harrington’s expertise was adapted in the construction of the airframes for the Westland Lysander aircraft
During the Second World War, work other than war effort stopped completely. The very few passenger vehicles that emerged from the works may be presumed to be either repair of damaged vehicles or for supply to the armed forces. Harrington certainly constructed a number of special vehicles for Army, Navy and RAF and maintained others. Part of the works was converted to manufacture air frame components. It is believed that this was primarily for the Westland Lysander aircraft, famed for its ability to land and take off in a small area and much used in contacts with the French Resistance. Another activity where Harringtons were proud to contribute was the production of prototype aircraft components and this eventually became a major part of war work. The techniques such as light alloy construction and jig manufacture were incorporated into post-war coach production, thus ensuring quick and accurate assembly. Prototype work such as this continued even after the war and through the fifties.