General Information

The Lightning entered service in 1960 and was operated until the late 80's by the RAF as an all-weather interceptor. The Lightning was very different from normal aircraft, the 2 Rolls-Royce 302 engines were stacked ontop of each other and fed my one nose intake. Most aircraft you sit in, with the Lightning you strapped yourself to it, the fusalage was nearly all engine and the ventral (belly) area and wings fuel tanks, it was built for power and speed. It met is specifaction perfectly with a vertical climb rate of 60,000 feet in 2 mins. Because of this the Lightning was "raced" with an F-15 and won by a long shot, it also sucessfully intercepted a U-2 spyplane so it earnt alot respect within the USAF.

The Lightning had a huge following and was always an airshow favorite, there was also a Lightning display team, 23 Squ The Firebirds, who set car alarms off all around the country.

When the Lightning was retired alot of airframes were bought by "crash gate regulars" and so there are still working examples today.

XS904 Bravo Qubec & XR728 Juliet Sierra maintained and fast taxied at Bruntingthorpe by the Lightning Preservation Group