English Electric Lightning

Other Wars Cold War
#1

One of my favourite aircraft of all time - as you can probably tell… :smiley:

English Electric Lightning F Mk 1 - 23 Squadron RAF 1964

English Electric Lightning F Mk 1 - 56 Squadron RAF 1960

English Electric Lightning F Mk 1 - 74 Squadron RAF 1963

English Electric Lightning F Mk 1A - 5 Squadron RAF 1965

English Electric Lightning F Mk 1A - 23 Squadron RAF 1965

English Electric Lightning F Mk 1A - 56 Squadron RAF 1965

English Electric Lightning F Mk 1A - 111 Squadron RAF 1965

English Electric Lightning F Mk 2 - 19 Squadron RAF 1967

English Electric Lightning F Mk 2 - 92 Squadron RAF 1963

English Electric Lightning F Mk 3 - 29 Squadron RAF 1965

English Electric Lightning F Mk 3 - 56 Squadron RAF 1966

English Electric Lightning F Mk 3 - 111 Squadron RAF 1964

English Electric Lightning F Mk 3 - 111 Squadron RAF 1966

English Electric Lightning F Mk 6 - 5 Squadron RAF 1970

English Electric Lightning F Mk 6 - 11 Squadron RAF 1970

English Electric Lightning F Mk 6 - 11 Squadron RAF 1974

English Electric Lightning F Mk 6 - 74 Squadron RAF 1965

English Electric Lightning F Mk 53 - Kuwaiti Air Force 1967

#2

beautiful as always:)

#3

I was once taking a smoke break with my lads, sitting on the top of an APC in Germany. We were treated to this fantastic spectacle of a Harrier dog-fighting(simulating) a Lightning at fairly low level. Needless to say, the Harrier flew rings aroung the lightning, but it was great to observe.

If I remember correctly, the Lightning was from 11 Squadron (above), and was based at RAF Gutterslow (spelling?), West Germany?

http://www.aviation-picture-hangar.co.uk/Lightning.html

None of your weedy American Lightnings to be found here! That P-38, well… it ain’t noisy enough, it doesn’t have flames coming out the back end and it just doesn’t compare, full stop. That F-35… well, it’s ugly as hell, and completely lacking in charisma. English Electric made the only Lightning worth talking about. If you never saw a Lightning come off the end of the runway and immediately go straight up like a damn rocket making more noise than was believable, then you have my sympathies. You missed one hell of an experience!

#4

Putting this in the Cold War Forum.

#5

Claimed by many a pilot to be one of the best combat jet aircraft ever flown…

http://www.military-aircraft.org.uk/jet-fighter-planes/english-electric-lightning.htm

From the Wiki link above:

Performance

The Lightning’s speed and climb performance were excellent not just by 1950s or 1960s standards but even compared with modern operational fighters. Its initial rate of climb was 50,000 ft per minute (15 km/min). The contemporary Mirage IIIE climbed initially at 30,000 ft/min (9 km/min), the MiG-21 managed 36,090 ft/min (11 km/min). The recent Tornado F3 43,000 ft/min (13 km/min).

The Lightning could, using re-heat, reach FL 360 (nominally 36,000 ft) in 2.5 minutes.[3][4]

The official ceiling was a secret to the general public and low security RAF documents simply stated 60,000+ ft (18 000+ m), although it was well known within the RAF to be capable of much greater heights; the official maximum altitude mainly being determined by cockpit pressurisation reliability and safety. The late Brian Carroll, a former RAF Lightning pilot and ex-Lightning Chief Examiner, reported taking a Lightning F53 up to 87,300 feet (26 600 m) over Saudi Arabia at which level “Earth curvature was visible and the sky was quite dark” but controlwise it was “on a knife edge”. [5]

In 1984, during a major NATO exercise, Flt Lt Mike Hale intercepted an American U-2 at a height which they had previously considered safe from interception. Records show that Hale climbed to 88,000 ft (26,800 m) in his Lightning F3. Hale also participated in time-to-height and acceleration trials against F-104 Starfighters from Aalborg. He reports that the Lightnings won all races easily with the exception of the low level supersonic acceleration, which was a “dead heat”.[6]

Carroll reports in a side-by-side comparison of the Lightning and the F-15C Eagle (which he also flew) that “acceleration in both was impressive, you have all seen the Lightning leap away once brakes are released, the Eagle was almost as good, and climb speed was rapidly achieved. Takeoff roll is between 2,000 & 3,000 feet [600 to 900m], depending upon military or maximum afterburner-powered takeoff. The Lightning was quicker off the ground, reaching 50 ft [15 m] height in a horizontal distance of 1,630 feet [500m]”.

In British Airways trials in April 1985, Concorde was offered as a target to NATO fighters including F-15s, F-16s, F-14s, Mirages, F-104s - but only Lightning XR749, flown by Mike Hale and described by him as “a very hot ship, even for a Lightning”, managed to overtake Concorde on a stern conversion intercept.[6]

Despite its remarkable acceleration, altitude and top speed, the Lightning inevitably found itself outclassed by newer fighters in terms of range, radar, avionics, weapons load and air-to-air capability. The short range of the Lightning – just 900 miles – was a significant disadvantage.

english-electric-lightning-f.6.jpg
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#6

Wow the Great fighter, i did not hear about Laighting as hight-altitude speedy interceptor befor.
Sure it was not so impressive and effective as Mig-25 ( mid 1970) , but nevertheless…

#7

I don’t think anyone has done a direct comparison as a pure interceptor, but the E-Lightening came first, and it’s only glaring weakness was its short range…

As a dogfighter, I’m sure it would have handed the Foxbat its snout…

#8

Some of those graphics bring back some excellent memories, most of those squadrons are long gone now, a true classic aircraft that was perhaps a pure interceptor rather than anything else, but an interceptor par excellance!

#9

Could it be Gütersloh? And it’s all one Germany again :wink:

#10

You’re correct, but the Brits used to write it as Gutterslow during the 1950’s because their typewriters weren’t set up for German.

This, from an Ex RAF Navigator whose nephew was RAF Germany for a couple years.

Regards, Uyraell.

#11

I hope with RAF you mean Royal Air Force :wink:

There’s been another RAF in Germany that was about as popular as the RAF during WW2…

#12

Erm, Apologies, in my day RAFG meant Royal Air Force, Germany (Detached).
Or at least, AIUI, some reasonable variant thereof, because the actual terminolgy changed a couple times during the 1960’s.

What “modern” misapplication of the letters RAF may apply in Germany nowadays, I have little to no recognition of.

Respectful if somewhat puzzled Regards, Uyraell.

#13

RAF was also the initials of a German left wing terrorist group, the Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion). They operated from the late 60s to 1998, and rose to fame after the ‘German August’ of 1977, which was when they committed most of their crimes.
Their most famous victim was Hanns-Martin Schleyer, an influential industrialist and head of the German Labour party with a very dark past (He was a member of the SS and NSDAP). They ended up killing him when the German government didn’t give in on their demands.

This was their insignia:

#14

I recall the murder of Schleyer, though had long since forgotten about his killers.
My Thanks for the data, Schuultz, my friend. :slight_smile:
It seems a lot of that era was generally taken up with various lunatic fringe groups in various nations, and none of them were at base describable as benign.

Respectful and Warm Regards, Uyraell.

#15

Dear gods, I’m getting Old.
I’ve just recalled where I last saw the E.E. Lightning on film.

It was the movie (film, for British-speakers) “Wing Commander” based loosely on the then reasonably popular computer game that was later ported to PlayStation One console.

The Lightnings had been sold as scrap, and were to be destroyed.
Not to waste an opportunity, the film producer purchased approximately 6 of them, and in them built the cockpits for the Earth Force (or wtfe the good human types were called) space fighters.
Approximately 35% of a Lightning fuselage was used as the on-stage prop for filming, being basically the fuselage forwards of the wing-roots and the cockpit enclosure.

This is close enough how they end up looking in the movie:

=http://go.sciflicks.com/guides/wing_commander_preview.jpg

A sad waste of airworthy and Museum-Quality aircraft, though I suppose better than them being melted down outright.

Regards, Uyraell.

#16

A chap named Mike Beachyhead is running an operation in South Africa with a number of single and twin seat Lightnings. It’s mainly renting them out to Test Pilot schools, but it is also possible for members of the public to buy a trip in one.