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The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric.
While flying the Hunter in 1960, the squadron was designated as the RAF's aerobatic squadron, with the name Blue Diamonds, a name the squadron carried on after tranferring to the Lightning. The squadron then re-equipped with Phantoms, before being disbanded on 1st July 1991.
The English Electric Lightning, later known as the BAC Lightning, was a powerful and iconic aircraft of the Cold War era. Serving as the United Kingdom’s first and only all-British supersonic interceptor, the Lightning earned a reputation for its exceptional performance, agility, and armament.
- 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 Lightning stemmed from a 1947 requirement for a fighter capable of unprecedented performance. English Electric's design was so radical at the time that the Royal Aircraft Establishment took exception to some parts of it.
A Lightning had no great trouble performing a dash to 18.3 kilometers (60,000 feet), and one may have unofficially reached 23.8 kilometers (78,000 feet), at which point it was no doubt as aerodynamic as a brick. Still, the Lightning could climb like a rocket.
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This is a list of accidents and incidents involving the English Electric Lightning twin-engined interceptor and multi-role fighter. The main operator of the Lightning was the Royal Air Force but it was also operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force and the Kuwait Air Force .
