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English Electric Lightning

The English Electric Lightning was a British supersonic fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, remembered for its great speed and natural metal exterior. It is the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft. Renowned for its capabilities as an interceptor, RAF pilots described it as "being saddled to a skyrocket". English Electric was later incorporated into the British Aircraft Corporation, later marks being developed and produced as the BAC Lightning.

The Lightning was used throughout much of its service life by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force. The aircraft was a regular performer at airshows and was the first aircraft capable of supercruise. The Lightning was also one of the highest performance planes ever used in formation aerobatics. The Lightning aircraft is now largely retired to museums, but three examples still fly at "Thunder City" based at Cape Town, South Africa.

Design and development

The prototypes, known as English Electric P.1s, were built to a Ministry of Supply requirement (Specification ER.103) for a transonic research aircraft. The first of the two P.1s WG760 flew for the first time from RAF Boscombe Down on 4 August 1954. It was soon realised that the aircraft should be regarded as a prototype fighter to satisfy the British Air Ministry's 1947 specification F23/49 rather than being research aircraft. This specification followed the cancellation of the Air Ministry's 1942 E.24/43 supersonic research aircraft specification which had resulted in the Miles M.52. The Lightning shared a number of innovations first planned for the Miles M.52 including the shock cone and all-moving tailplane, the latter described by Chuck Yeager as the single most significant contribution to the final success of supersonic flight.

The P.1's designer was W.E.W. Petter, formerly chief designer at Westland Aircraft. The design was controversial and the Short SB5 was built to test wing sweep and tailplane combinations. The original combination was proved correct. The forerunner of the Lightning series was the P.1A and P.1B flying "proof-of-concept" aircraft. Looking very much like the production series, the prototypes were distinguished by the rounded-triangular intakes, short fins and lack of radar or operational equipment. On 25 November 1958, the P.1B became the first British aircraft to fly at Mach 2.

The Lightning was specifically designed as a point defence interceptor - essentially a guided missile-armed, air superiority fighter optimised to defend mainland Britain against bomber attacks. In order to reduce cross sectional area of the fuselage and improve performance, the fuel capacity was highly restricted. It was armed with two 30 mm ADEN cannons and two air-to-air missiles, at first the de Havilland Firestreak and later the Hawker Siddeley Red Top.

A unique way of minimising the drag of the twin engine installation was put forward by Petter. This involved stacking the engines vertically (staggered to avoid too much weight aft, with the lower engine forward of the upper), effectively tucking them behind the cockpit, fed from the nose and achieving minimum frontal area. This effectively gave twice the thrust of its contemporaries for an increase in frontal area of only 50%. The Ferranti AI23 AIRPASS: Airborne Interception Radar and Pilot Attack Sight System was mounted in the shock cone.

Limitations of fuel capacity dominated this aircraft's design as its fuselage was nearly all engines and ducting, and thus could not hold much fuel. Hence all available room was adapted to the purpose of holding fuel. The flaps were even used as fuel tanks, and the landing gear had very narrow tyres that retracted outward so that there could be greater tankage inboard. This also meant that when the addition of drop tanks for greater range was considered, they could not be placed beneath the wing and were mounted on top instead. When the aerodynamic principle of the area rule became standard practice, a ventral tank was added to the fuselage so the aircraft could carry more fuel while being more aerodynamic.

Operational history

The first operational aircraft, a pre-production P.1B (XG336), arrived at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk in December 1959. From 1960 the production mark F1 served initially with 74 Squadron. An improved variant the F2 first flew on 11 July 1961 and entered service with 19 Squadron at the end of 1962. The F3 was first flown on 16 June 1962 and the longer-range F6 on 16 June 1965. The versions sold to Saudi Arabia were essentially similar to the T5 and F6 models in UK service and this final production batch reverted to the classic natural metal external finish which lasted well in the drier Arabian climate.

During the 1960s, as strategic awareness increased and a multitude of alternative fighter designs were developed by Warsaw Pact and NATO members, the Lightning's shortcomings in terms of range and firepower became increasingly apparent. The withdrawal of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms from Royal Navy service enabled these slower but much longer-ranged aircraft to be added to the RAF's interceptor force alongside those withdrawn from Germany which were being replaced by SEPECAT Jaguars in the ground attack role. Later the Tornado F3s also arrived to defend UK airspace. While slower and less agile than the Lightning, the Tornado carries a much larger armament load and much more advanced avionics. Lightnings were slowly phased out of service between 1974 and 1988, although much testing and modification was needed to keep them in air-worthy condition due to the high number of flight hours accumulated.

The English Electric Lightning is credited with a single kill, ironically a British aircraft- a Harrier pilot ejected, but the pilotless aircraft continued to fly. The order was given to shoot down the aircraft and the Lightning achieved this successfully.

In their final years of UK service, all RAF Lightnings were based at RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire and many were camouflaged to make them less conspicuous when flying at low level. They tended to defend the Flamborough Head Sector of airspace above the North Sea. These later aircraft were the single-seater F3 and F6 and the twin seat trainer variant T5, all constructed by British Aircraft Corporation and distinguished from earlier versions by their flat topped fins. In their last year of service their pilots regularly pushed the aircraft to their limits as they used up the remaining hours of fatigue time.

Many Lightnings are conserved in museum collections where they delight visitors with their clean sleek lines, evocative of the high speeds that they once attained. The Short SB5 and a P.1A are at the RAF Museum, Cosford. The Civil Aviation Authority refused a licence for the surviving airworthy examples to perform at air shows in the UK but there are three flying in South Africa (see Operators below).

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.

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. In September 1962 Fighter Command organised a series of trial supersonic overland interceptions of Lockheed U-2As, temporarily based at RAF Upper Heyford to monitor resumed Soviet nuclear tests, at heights of around 60,000-65,000ft. The trials took place in two stages, the second series consisting of 14 interceptions, including four successful and four abortive ones at 65,000. 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 control-wise it was "on a knife edge".

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 XR749. 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".

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 ft [600 to 900 m], 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. The XR749 now resides at the entrance of Score Group PLC's gas turbine testing and servicing facility in Peterhead, Scotland.

Despite its remarkable acceleration, altitude and top speed, the Lightning inevitably found itself outclassed by newer fighters in terms of radar, avionics, weapons load, range, and air-to-air capability. More of a problem was the obsolete avionics and weapons fit, particularly the 30 mile (very short) range 1950s radar sets: the avionics were never upgraded in RAF service since Lightnings were always supposedly just about to be replaced by something better.

Variants

English Electric P.1A

Single-seat supersonic research aircraft.
Two prototypes built and one static test airframeEnglish Electric P.1B
Single-seat operational prototypes.
Three prototypes built
20 pre-production aircraft (so-called Development Batch)Lightning F1
Single-seat fighter
Delivered in 1960
A total of 19 built (and one static test airframe)
Two × Rolls-Royce Avon 200R engines
VHF Radio
Two × 30 mm ADEN cannons in nose
Two × Firestreak missiles
Ferranti AI-23 "AIRPASS" radarLightning F1A
Single-seat fighter
Delivered in 1961
Now the "BAC Lightning"
Avon 210R engines
Addition of in-flight refuelling probe
UHF Radio
A total of 28 builtLightning F2
Single-seat fighter (an improved variant of the F1)
Delivered in 1962
A total of 44 built with 31 later modified to F2A standard
Five later modified to F52 for export to Saudi ArabiaLightning F2A
Single-seat fighter (F2s upgraded to near F6 standard)
A total of 31 converted from F2
Avon 211R engines
Retained ADEN cannon and Firestreak of F2 (The Firestreak Pack could be replaced with an Aden Cannon Pack to give the aircraft four Aden Cannon)
Larger Ventral Tank and Arrester Hook
About two hours enduranceLightning F3
Single-seat fighter
Upgraded radar - AI-23B
Avon 301R engines
Firestreak changed for Red Top missiles
Enlarged and clipped tailfin due to aerodynamics of carriage of Red Top
ADEN cannon removed
A total of 70 built (at least nine were converted to F6 standard)Lightning F3A
Single-seat fighter
Extended range, 800 miles with large ventral tank
New cambered wings
A total of 16 built at the end of F3 production, known also as an F3 Interim version or F6 Interim Version
15 modified later to full F6 standardLightning T4
Two-seat side-by-side training version, based on the F1A.
Two prototypes and 20 production built
Two aircraft later converted to T5 prototypes
Two aircraft later converted to T54Lightning T5
Two-seat side-by-side training version, based on the F3.
22 production aircraft built
One former RAF aircraft later converted to T55 for Saudi Arabia (crashed before delivery)
Two former RAF aircraft later civilian operatedLightning F6
Single-seat fighter (an improved longer-range variant of the F3)
New wings with better efficiency and subsonic performance, increased fuel storage
Overwing fuel tanks and larger ventral fuel tank
Change back to 30 mm cannons (initially no cannons but later in the forward part of ventral pack rather than in nose).
Two x Red Top missile
A total of 39 built (also 9 converted from F3 and 15 from F3A)Lightning F52
Slightly modified ex-RAF F2 single-seat fighters for export to Saudi Arabia (five converted from F2).Lightning F53
Export version of the F6 with pylons for bombs or unguided rocket pods (44 × 2 in (50 mm)
A total of 46 built and one converted from F6 (12 F53Ks for the Kuwaiti Air Force, 34 F53s for the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force, one aircraft crashed before delivery)
Used air-to-ground in dispute near border with South Yemen in 1969 with great successLightning T54
Ex-RAF T4 two-seat trainers supplied to Saudi Arabia (two converted).Lightning T55
Two-seat side-by-side training aircraft (export version of the T5).
Eight built (six T55s for the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force, two T.55Ks for the Kuwaiti Air Force and one converted from T5 that crashed before delivery)

Total production was 277 single-seat fighters and 52 two-seater trainers, including RAF and export aircraft.

Popular culture

British journalist and TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson borrowed a Lightning (serial XM172) which was temporarily placed in his garden and documented on Clarkson's TV show "Speed".
The cockpit sections from four scrapped Lightnings were used to construct the full-scale mockups of the CF-117b Rapier starfighters in the film Wing Commander.

Operators

Military operators

Kuwait Air Force operated both the F53K single-seat fighter and the T55K training version from 1968 to 1977
Royal Saudi Air Force operated the Lightning from 1967 to 1986

RSAF Squadrons

2 Squadron operated the F53 and T55
6 Squadron operated the F52 and F53
13 Squadron operated the F52, F53 and T55
RSAF Lightning Conversion Unit

Royal Air Force operated the Lighting from 1959 to 1988.

RAF Aerial display teams

The Tigers of No 74 Squadron. Lead RAF aerial display team from 1962 and first display team with Mach 2 aircraft.
The Firebirds of No 56 Squadron from 1963 in red and silver.

RAF Squadrons

5 Squadron operated the F1A and F6 (1965-1987)
11 Squadron operated the F3 and F6 (1967-1988)
19 Squadron operated the F2 and F2A (1962-1976)
23 Squadron operated the F3 an F6 (1964-1975)
29 Squadron operated the F3 (1967-1974)
56 Squadron operated the F1, F1A, F3 and F6 (1960-1976)
65 Squadron operated as No. 226 OCU with the F1, F1A and F3 (1971-1974)
74 Squadron operated the F1, F3 and F6 (1964-1971)
92 Squadron operated the F2 and F2A (1963-1977)
145 Squadron operated as No. 226 OCU with the F1, F1A and F3 (1963-1971)
111 Squadron operated the F1A, F3 and F6 (1961-1974)
226 Operational Conversion Unit operated the F1A, F3, T4 and T5 (1963-1974)
Air Fighting Development Squadron
Lightning Conversion Squadron (1960-1963)

RAF Flights

Binrook Target Facilities Flight (1966-1973)
Leuchars Target Facilities Flight (1966-1973)
Wattisham Target Facilities Flight (1966-1973)
Lightning Training Flight (1975-1987)

RAF Bases

Civil operators

The Anglo American Lightning Organisation, a voluntary group based at Stennis Airport, Kiln, Mississippi, are returning to flight EE Lighting T5, XS422. The aircraft was formally with the Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, UK.
Thunder City, a civilian company based in South Africa operates two Lightning T5 and one single-seat F6 (current August 2008).

Survivors

The following aircraft are on public display:

WG760 P.1A on display at the RAF Museum Cosford, England
WG763 P.1B on display at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, England
XG329 Lightning F1/3 on display at the Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, England
XG337 Lightning F1/3 on display at the RAF Museum Cosford, England.
XM135 Lightning F1 on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, England.
XN730 Lightning F2A on display at the Luftwaffe Museum, Gatow, Germany
XN769 Lightning F2A on display at the Malta Aviation Museum, Ta'qali, Malta
XN776 Lightning F2A on display at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, Scotland.
XN782 Lightning F2A on display at the Luftfahrtausstellung Museum, Hermeskeil, Germany.
XR728 Lightning F6 on display with LPG, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire. Taxi-able.
XR749 Lightning F3 is displayed outside Score Group's Integrated Valve and Gas Turbine Plant, Peterhead, Scotland.
XR771 Lightning F6 on display at the Midland Air Museum, Coventry, England.
XS417 Lightning T5 on display at the Newark Air Museum, Newark, England.
XS459 Lightning T5 on display at the Fenland and West Norfolk Aviation Museum, Wisbech, England.
XS897 Lightning F6 on display at Aeroventure, Doncaster, England.
XS903 Lightning F6 on display at the Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, England.
XS904 Lightning F6 on display with LPG, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire. Taxi-able.
XS925 Lightning F6 on display at the RAF Museum, Hendon, England.
ZF578 Lightning F53 on display as XR753 at the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, Tangmere, England.
ZF579 Lightning F53 on display at the Gatwick Aviation Museum, Charlwood, Nr Gatwick Airport, England.
ZF583 Lightning F53 on display at the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum, Dumfries, Scotland.
ZF588 Lightning F53 on display at the East Midlands Airport Airpark, Castle Donington, England.
ZF592 Lightning F53 on display as 53-686 at the City of Norwich Airport Museum, Norwich, England
ZF593 Lightning F53 on display at the Warner-Robins Museum of Aviation, Georgia, USA.
ZF594 Lightning F53 on display at the North East Aircraft Museum, Sunderland, England.
ZF597 Lightning T55 on display at the Olympic Flight Museum, Washington, USA.
ZF598 Lightning T55 on display as 55-713 at the Midland Air Museum, Coventry, England.

Specifications (Lightning F6)

Image of weapon load-out for a typical Lightning fighter.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Caygill, Peter. Lightning from the Cockpit: Flying the Supersonic Legend. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2004. ISBN 1-84415-082-8.
Winchester, Jim, ed. "English Electric Lightning." Military Aircraft of the Cold War (The Aviation Factfile). Rochester, Kent, UK: The Grange plc., 2006. ISBN 1-84013-929-7.
Thunder and Lightnings - Lightning Retrieved: 11 March 2008.