English Electric Lightning

By Martin Derry and Neil Robinson

Developed to intercept increasingly capable Soviet bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-16, Tu-22 and Tu-95, the English Electric/BAC Lightning had a phenomenal rate of climb, a high ceiling, and a top speed of over 1,300mph at 36,000ft, and is a favourite of both aviation enthusiasts and aircraft modellers alike.This homage to the only all-British Mach 2 interceptor fighter, follows previous Flight Craft book formats, in that it is split in to three main sections. The first section offers a concise design and development history covering the six main single-seat fighter and two twin-seat trainer Marks; from its first RAF operational squadron deployments in 1960 through to its frontline retirement in 1988, and coverage of the only other two air forces to operate the type, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This is followed by a 16-page full colour illustration section featuring detailed profiles and 2-views of the colour schemes and markings carried by the type in RAF, Royal Saudi and Kuwait Air Force service.The final section lists most of the plastic model kits, accessories and decal sheets produced of the EE/BAC Lightning in all the major scales, with photos of finished models made by some of the UK's best modellers. As with all the other books in the Flight Craft series, whilst published primarily with the scale aircraft modeller in mind, it is hoped that those readers who might perhaps describe themselves as 'occasional' modellers, or even simply aviation enthusiasts, may also find that this colourful and informative work offers something to provoke their interests too.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473890572

Martin Derry

Martin Derry has been involved in compiling, editing, assisting-in and writingabout aviation-related books and publications for over 30 years and has brought a wealth of knowledge of the aircraft types and the colors that they flew in to enhance the Flight Craft series, having compiled and authored several books in the range. He has several more books under production and in preparation for future FlightCraft titles.

Book preview

Seen in 1965, when Lightning liveries were at their most flamboyant, is (from the front) F.2 XN779 ‘G’ of 19 Squadron, F.3 XP746 ‘K’ of 56 Squadron, F.3 XP739 ‘H’ of 111 Squadron and F.2 XN783 ‘A’ of 92 Squadron. All changed from January 1966 however! via Roger Lindsay

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Pen and Sword Aviation

An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS

Copyright © D&R Associates, 2016

Artwork copyright © Mark Gauntlett, 2016

ISBN: 978 147389 0558

PDF ISBN: 978 1 47389 0800

EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47389 0572

PRC ISBN: 978 1 47389 0565

The right of D&R Associates to be identified as Authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

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CONTENTS

Preface

Early development

Lightning F.1 and F.1A

Lightning F.2 and F.2A

Lightning F.3

Lightning T.4

Lightning T.5

Lightning F.6

Lightning exports

Lightning camouflage and markings

The Lightning in Colour

Modelling the Lightning

Appendix: Lightning data tables

Preface

Amongst the elite of post-war British military aircraft, the English Electric Lightning still fascinates to this day and continues to captivate publishers, model manufacturers and the nostalgic alike: perhaps it always will. Innumerable books have been published covering this icon of RAF history – some, it might be argued, didn’t add much to the subject – but others certainly did.

This particular one follows the pattern already established with certain other titles in the FlightCraft series (namely: Hawker Hurricane, Avro Lancaster, the V-Bombers and Avro Shackleton), by producing a book that modellers will find useful in finishing ‘their’ Lightning in any one of a surprisingly varied, often vivid, choice of colour schemes. When producing FlightCraft 9 ‘Avro Shackleton’, the authors took the opportunity – based upon earlier feedback – to experiment with the concept of reducing ‘body’ text while significantly increasing the number of images complete with informative captions. Judging by the feedback obtained from Shackleton, it would appear this method was well received, and so the authors have retained much the same approach for ‘Lightning’. As ever, it is hoped that both the modeller, and the nostalgic among us will find this volume to be a useful addition to their book shelf.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to Alan Carlaw, Roger Lindsay, Fred Martin, Bill Newton, Trevor Snowden and Dave Tuplin for their unflagging assistance throughout this project, which is further extended to our friends Mike Smith, Rosalyn Blackmore and all the staff at Newark Air Museum who opened their archives and facilities once more and also to Doug Derry for his assistance. Last yet again, but never, ever, least in our estimation – the authors wish to extend a special thank you to our good friend Mark Gauntlet for his superb artwork, wit and humour – even when things go up in flames!

Notes

Although the historical element of this book has, as far as possible, been organised by Lightning Mark in ascending order – from the P.1A, P.1B, F.1 through to the F.6 and foreign Lightnings, there are a couple of exceptions.

The first concerns the F.2 and F.2A whose respective service histories were closely interconnected and any attempt to separate them seemed not only unnecessary but pointless too.

The second concerns the Lightning Training Flight (LTF) at Binbrook which operated a few examples each of the F.3, T.5 and F.6 at any one time. Thus it made more sense to deal with the unit as a whole rather than distribute its aircraft by Mark throughout the book – hence the LTF (and the Lightning Augmentation Flight incidentally) appears within the Lightning T.5 section.

On a separate note – where a squadron or other unit ‘badge’ is mentioned, it refers to the complete heraldic symbol, as appeared on AFDS Lightnings for a time. A ‘motif’, differs in that it represents a particular element (often stylised) extracted from the whole badge which served to identify a particular unit.

Martin Derry and Neil Robinson

Lightning F.6, XS895 ‘DF’, of the Lightning Training Flight seen at Binbrook in July 1984. Fred Martin

Early Development

The story of the Lightning’s development began with the English Electric P.1 which first flew on 4 August 1954 piloted by Roland ‘Bee’ Beamont. It attracted much attention, not least because, at last, it seemed that here was a British design capable of taking the RAF into an era of sustained supersonic flight in an experimental aircraft that appeared to have sufficient built-in potential to allow it to mature into a future combat aircraft. As history now records – it did.

Even at that early stage, when viewed in plan, WG760, the Company’s twin-engined Project 1 (hence P.1 – later amended to P.1A), already possessed a likeness to the future interceptor that would become such a distinctive and familiar shape in the decades to come, although its profile was somewhat less evocative. WG760 was joined by P.1A, WG763, on 18 July 1955, while a third example, WG765, was constructed as a purely static test airframe. WG760 was used predominantly for handling and performance-related testing whereas WG763, which could accommodate two nose-mounted 30mm ADEN cannon and a ventral 250-gallon jettisonable fuel tank, was also able to undertake tests from an operational perspective.

English Electric’s next step was to produce the P.1B series of aircraft which, among many other duties, were used to help develop what was to become Britain’s first example of, in modern parlance, an airborne integrated weapons system in which a fighter’s radar, flying controls and weapons systems combined to enable the pilot to acquire a target in any weather – day or night. In the early-to-mid 1950s such systems were in their infancy and the only operational (as opposed to experimental) specimens in existence were fitted exclusively to American fighters. Inevitably, such a system was considered to be an essential component for future generations of British all-weather interceptor designs as then envisaged – particularly for single-seaters.

English Electric Project 1 (hence P.1, later P.1A), WG760, seen at Binbrook in August 1982 during (or after) its restoration. Fred Martin collection

WG763, the second P.1A, date and location unknown. This aircraft survived and was later preserved. Author’s collection

An undated image of P.1B, XG329, wearing ‘Lightning F.1’ on the forward fuselage. First flown on 30 April 1959, this aircraft was retained by English Electric (EE) for various test purposes and by September 1964 had received a broader fin in association with Lightning F.3 trials which was retained thereafter. Although XG329 isn’t carrying missiles, gun ports are visible on the nose, aft of which the cockpit frame, spine and fin are painted black. XG329’s last flight was in June 1969 following which it became 8050M. Author’s collection

The P.1B series were given deeper fuselages than their predecessor in which two Avon engines replaced the two Sapphires of the earlier jet. P.1Bs also received a raised cockpit to improve the pilot’s view and, crucially, a redesigned nose air intake incorporating a fixed shock cone housing Ferranti’s Airborne Interception Radar and Pilot Attack Sight System (AIRPASS) AI.23 radar.

Other equipment and fittings were also incorporated, the result of which was that the P.1Bs appeared outwardly to be almost indistinguishable from the Lightning F.1 – exceptions being XA847, which later received a very distinctive fin leading edge extension, while XG310 trialled a new fin and rudder design 30% larger than previously which, thereafter, became the standard on all first generation Lightnings.

The first P.1B to fly was XA847 on 4 April 1957 – the very same day on which the government chose to publish its Defence White Paper in which it claimed the missile era was now reality and that the manned interceptor’s days were numbered. Only the advanced stage of English Electric’s development aircraft allowed this company’s designs to be reprieved, whereas concepts and designs from other manufacturers went to the wall.

On 23 October 1958 the P.1B was officially christened ‘Lightning’. The programme had resulted in the construction of three prototype P.1Bs (XA847, XA853 & XA856) and twenty P.1B / Lightning pre-production examples (XG307-XG313 & XG325-XG337) i.e. twenty-three in sum (four more than the total number of Lightning F.1s), an unusual if not unique practice among British aircraft manufacturers of the day, but one which allowed for a greatly accelerated development process during the late 1950s and through much of the following decade.

The first P.1B, XA847, seen following delivery to Binbrook pending restoration. During the course of its active life its fin leading edge had been extended – which is the primary focus of this image. Earlier still, on 25 November 1958, XA847 became the first British aircraft to fly at Mach 2 and subsequently carried a plate on the port fuselage to record the fact, although it isn’t evident here. Fred Martin collection

P.1B, XG332, without cannon but displaying one of its two pylon-mounted Firestreak infrared guided missiles. Originally known as the de Havilland Blue Jay, the missile was renamed when initial examples entered RAF service from 1957. First flown in May 1959, XG332 was retained by EE until it was transferred to de Havilland in early 1961. It crashed following an engine fire in September 1962. Author’s collection