English Electric Lightning

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
English Electric Lightning
English Electric Lightning T.4 around 1964
Type: Interceptor
Design country:

United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom

Manufacturer:

English Electric / British Aircraft Corporation

First flight:

4th August 1954

Commissioning:

December 1959

Number of pieces:

337

cockpit
On the XM135 on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford , the engines are arranged one above the other

The English Electric Lightning , later BAC Lightning , was a twin- engine interceptor made by the British manufacturer English Electric . The machine was used from the late 1950s to 1988 by the Royal Air Force and the Arab air forces.

history

The prototype P.1A took off for the first time on August 4, 1954. In contrast to NATO considerations at the time with regard to multi-purpose combat aircraft , the Lightning was designed from the outset only as an interceptor and was only used as such. In January 1958 the British aviation magazine Flight presented the P.1 for the first time as the “last manned fighter of the RAF” with a sectional drawing and details on the construction of the wings. "The English Electric Co., Ltd." published a picture in flight with further details and for the first time with the name "P.1B Lightning" at the end of August 1958.

technology

Thanks to its uncompromisingly slim fuselage shape with strongly swept wings without boundary layer fences, the Lightning achieved excellent flight performance in terms of speed, climb performance and peak altitude. As with delta wings, the ailerons were attached at right angles to the flight direction at the trailing edges of the wing tips.

It was the first British fighter that reached a speed of Mach  2 with the use of the afterburner and one of the first models that could fly quickly above Mach 1 without an afterburner (so-called supercruise ). Their disadvantages were the short operational range and the tight armament. It was noteworthy that the two jet engines were arranged one above the other in the fuselage: if one engine failed, the aircraft remained capable of straight flight without any action by the pilot.

Versions

The following series have been developed for the armed forces of the United Kingdom (see also information on the designation system for British aircraft ):

  • English Electric P.1A
Single-seat supersonic test aircraft for testing, 2 built
  • English Electric P.1B
Single-seat pre-production model for testing, 3 prototypes and 20 more built
  • Lightning F.Mk.1
Single-seat version of the interceptor with Avon 200R engines, armed with Firestreak guided missiles, 19 built
  • Lightning F.Mk.1A
Single-seat interceptor variant with Avon 210R engines and refueling probe, 28 built
  • Lightning F.Mk.2
Single-seater, improved interceptor variant compared to the F.1, 44 built
  • Lightning F.Mk.2A
Single-seat interceptor variant (F.2 modernized to almost F.6 standard) with Avon 211R engines, catch hook and a larger fuel tank for 2 hours of flight time. Total of 31 converted F.Mk.2.
  • Lightning F.Mk.3
Single-seat interceptor variant with Avon 301R engines, more powerful radar, without Aden-MK, armament with Red-Top guided missiles instead of the Firestreak and an enlarged vertical stabilizer, 70 built
  • Lightning F.Mk.3A
Single-seat interceptor variant with a larger fuel tank and modified wing geometry, 16 built
  • Lightning T.Mk.4
Two-seater trainer variant based on the F.1A, 22 built (including two prototypes)
  • Lightning T.Mk.5
Two-seater trainer variant based on the F.3, 22 newly built, two prototypes emerged from T.4
  • Lightning F.Mk.6
Single-seat interceptor variant with a new wing profile (analogous to F.3A) and additional tanks on the wings, rear armament with Aden-MK, 39 newly built, 9 converted F.3 and 15 converted F.3A

The following versions were names for the export:

  • Lightning F.Mk.52
Single-seat interceptor variant for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), 5 converted F.Mk.2
  • Lightning F.Mk.53
Single-seat interceptor variant for Kuwait Air Force (KAF), based on F.Mk.6 with additional pylons , 46 newly built, 1 converted F.6
  • Lightning T.Mk.54
Two-seat trainer variant for the RSAF, corresponds to the T.Mk.4, 2 pieces
  • Lightning T.Mk.55
Two-seat trainer variant for the KAF & RSAF, based on T.Mk.5, 8 newly built, 1 converted T.5 (which, however, crashed before delivery)

Technical specifications

BAC Lightning F Mk.6
English Electric Lightning approaching for landing
Parameter Lightning F.Mk.3
crew 1
length 16.84 m
span 10.62 m
height 6.40 m
Wing area 35.31 m²
Wing swept 60 °
Max. Takeoff mass 19,000 kg
Engines 2 x teaspoons Rolls-Royce Avon ; each 5990 kp without, each 7530 kp with afterburner
Top speed 2,450 km / h at an altitude of 12,000 m
Marching speed 950 km / h
Rate of climb 100 m / s
Service ceiling 18,300 m
Range 2000 km
Take-off / landing runway 960 m
Total number of items built 334 (including trainer)

Armament

On-board weapons
Air-to-air guided missile
  • 2 × de Havilland "Firestreak" (F.1, F.2 / 2A)
  • 2 × Hawker Siddeley "Red Top" (F.3, F.6)
  • 48 × unguided rockets caliber 50 mm
Unguided bombs
Air-to-ground missile
  • 4–8 MATRA 155 tubular launch rocket containers for 18 × unguided SNEB (TDA) air-to-surface missiles, 68 mm caliber
  • 4 × MATRA JL100 rocket tube launch container for 18 × unguided SNEB (TDA) air-to-surface rockets, caliber 68 mm
container
  • 2 × additional tanks for 1182 liters of kerosene each (over-wing additional tank)

Users

Military users

120 (100 F.1 / F.2 / F.2A / F.3 / F.3A / F.6 and 20 T.4 / T.5)
The first squadron from 1960 was the 74th Squadron in RAF Coltishall . The British models used for airspace defense were supplemented in this role by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II , beginning in the 1970s, and finally taken out of service after the introduction of the Panavia Tornado F3 at the end of the 1980s. At RAF Germany , Lightning of the F2a series were operated from 1965 to 1977 at Gütersloh Airport by the 19th and 92nd Squadron , the latter only from 1968 in Gütersloh, after three years of operation at Geilenkirchen Air Base . Among other things, they set up the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) alarm ranks for north-west Germany.
41 (35 F.52, 2 T.54, 6 T.55)
14 (12 F.53, 2 T.55)

Private users

Airworthy specimens with the option of flying along were available from Thunder City at Cape Town Airport (South Africa) until November 2009 , where two F.Mk.6 single-seaters and one T.Mk.5 double-seater were kept ready to fly. The second two-seater operated by the company crashed on November 14, 2009. At the beginning of 2014 an airworthy machine with the license plate ZU-BBD was put into operation.

Station locations in Germany

In the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil the XN782 is issued and the Air Force Museum Gatow in Berlin-Gatow the XN730.

Others

The photographer Jim Meads photographed a vertically falling EEL on September 13, 1962 shortly before the impact; the pilot's ejector seat parachute was just opening. In addition, on July 22, 1966, the Lightning XM135 accidentally flew.

Web links

Commons : English Electric Lightning  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Documentary on youtube.com with lots of details
  2. ^ Making the P.1 Wing. (PDF) Details of the Structural Design and Production Problems. In: FLIGHT International, January 10, 1958. Flight International , January 10, 1958, pp. 47–51 , accessed on January 28, 2019 (English).
  3. ↑ a b P.1B Lightning. (PDF) Details of the Structural Design and Production Problems. In: FLIGHT International, August 29, 1958. Flight International , August 29, 1958, p. 313 , accessed on January 29, 2019 (English): “The next, and possibly the last, intercepter for the RAF, the P.IB will beable to exceed Mach 2 and has already flown at well over 1,200 mph "
  4. ^ Ferdinand C. W. Käsmann: World record aircraft . Volume 2, 2nd edition, Aviatic Verlag, Oberhaching 1999, p. 60.
  5. ^ A b c Bill Gunston: Modern Air Combat: The Aircraft, Tactics and Weapons Employed in Aerial Warfare Today , Crescent, 1st edition 1988. ISBN 978-0-517-41265-7 , pp. 88 + 89.
  6. ↑ ZU-BEX (RAF no. XS451) crashed at the biennial 'South African Air Force Overberg Airshow' at Overberg Air Force Base near Bredasdorp ( aviation-safety.net )
  7. ↑ see also www.incredible-adventures.com and www.historicandclassicaircraftsales.com
  8. ^ Sylvia Wrigley: The Story Behind an Unbelievable Photograph. In: Fear of Landing. November 1, 2013, accessed January 27, 2019 .
  9. ↑ ניצן סדן: טייס בלי כוונה: המכונאי שהמריא בטעות במטוס הכי חזק בעולם. April 5, 2019, accessed January 19, 2020 .