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English Electric Lightning (later BAC Lightning) - a British supersonic fighter aircraft from the 1960s, produced at English Electric (from 1960 British Airc...
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- Dariusz Gorgoń
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. ... The English Electric Lightning is a British ...
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- European Defense | Dung Tran Military
Aug 5, 2017 · Gatwick Aviation MuseumThe English Electric Lightning is a supersonic fighter aircraft of the Cold War era. It was designed, developed, and manufactured by E...
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- Topfelya
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 is capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric. After EE merged with other aircraft manufacturers to form the British Aircraft ...
- 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 English Electric Lightning was a groundbreaking British fighter aircraft, renowned for its remarkable performance as a Mach 2+ interceptor during the Cold War era. Featuring a unique stacked twin-engine configuration, it was designed for rapid climb and high-speed interception, making it one of the fastest fighters of its time. With its ...
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Jun 9, 2021 · English Electric Lightning. In 1960, Fighter Command received an interceptor, the performance of which was beyond anything then in service. With a speed of over Mach 2, more than twice the speed of the Hunter, the technologically advanced Lightning was the RAF’s first truly supersonic aircraft. Its initial climb rate of 50,000ft per minute ...
