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The first aircraft to enter service with the RAF, three pre-production P.1Bs, arrived at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk on 23 December 1959, joining the Air Fighting Development Squadron (AFDS) of the Central Fighter Establishment, where they were used to clear the Lightning for entry into service.
The Air Marshal converted onto Lightning at Middleton-St-George in 1963 before serving on 19 Squadron from 1964 to 1968, first at Leconfield and later Gutersloh. In 1968 Air Marshal Wratten converted to Phantoms at Davis-Monthan AFB, USA, and then instructed on 288 (Phantom) OCU from 1968 to 1970.
Apr 30, 2015 · The first aircraft to enter service with the RAF, three pre-production P.1Bs, arrived at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk on 23 December 1959, joining the Air Fighting Development Squadron (AFDS) of the Central Fighter Establishment, where they were used to clear the Lightning for entry into service.
In 1962 the official aerobatic team of RAF became The Tigers from No. 74 Squadron. They were equipped with nine English Electric Lightning F. 1A aircraft and are the first team in the world to uses aircraft capable of reaching Mach 2 (twice as the speed of sound).
- Development of The Iconic British Aircraft
- Royal Air Force Lightning Force Build-Up
- Lightning Quick Reaction Alert Operations
- Lightning Akrotiri ‘Battle Flight’
- Lightning Force Contraction
The Lightning was a radical aircraft from the outset. Born of a 1947 Ministry of Supply study, English Electric designed the P1with twin, vertically mounted engines. The first official P1A flight, with WG760, was on August 4, 1954 in the hands of Chief Test Pilot Roland Beamont. A few days later, it became the first British aircraft to break thesou...
The English Electric Lightning F.1 entered service with 74 Squadron in June 1960 at RAF Coltishall. Armament comprised two nose-mounted 30mm ADEN cannon and two Firestreak missiles. The jets’ Avon 200 engines had staged reheat, with four-position nozzle control in the reheat range. At first the type’s serviceability was poor. A number of problems b...
The 1960s saw the Lightning pre-eminent in protecting the UK Air Defence Region (UKADR). The quick reaction alert fighter force, also known as the ‘Interceptor Alert Force’ for a while, were ready to be launched 24 hours a day against unidentified aircraft approaching the UKADR. Divided into Northern and Southern Sectors, aircraft from RAF Leuchars...
In April 1967, 56 Squadron moved to RAF Akrotiri, the UK’s strategically located airfield in the eastern Mediterranean, maintaining an armed Battle Flight. John Ward, then 56 Squadron’s Weapons Instructor, recounted: “Lightning tactics were slow to develop. When we moved to Cyprus the work and environment there were completely different from the UK...
When the Jaguar replaced the RAF’s Phantomsin the ground attack role, they were re-roled for air defence work, instigating the start of the rundown of Lightning squadrons. At its peak around 1968-70, the Lightning force had been some 150 aircraft, in nine squadrons. By 1977 it was down to 35 aircraft and two squadrons, which remained nearly constan...
The first prototype, designated the P.1, took to the air on the 4th of August 1954, piloted by Roland Beamont, EE's chief test pilot. Powered by Sapphire engines, on its third flight (on the 11th) it exceeded Mach 1 in level flight, the first British aircraft to do so.
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Feb 5, 2021 · In 1960, No. 74 Squadron became the first unit in the RAF to operate the English Electric Lightning F.1. Between 1962 and 1963, they operated an aerobatic display team called 'The Tigers'...
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