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Mach 2
- The P.1B was the only British Mach 2 aircraft, meaning it could move twice as fast as the speed of sound). This speed was achieved on 25 November 1958 during a test flight.
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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 is capable of a top speed of above Mach 2 . The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric .
British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) chief test pilot James ‘Jimmy’ Dell and test observer Graham Elkington were accelerating to Mach 1.82 on a southerly trajectory, 35,000ft over the Irish Sea, side-by-side in the cramped cockpit of XM966.
Whilst the English Electric P.1B was potentially faster than the Fairey Delta FD2 (which broke the air speed record at 1,132 mph on 10th March 1956) it lacked the fuel capacity to provide the ‘one run in each direction at maximum speed’ in order to qualify for the record.
- 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...
Maximum Speed : 2,414 km/h (1500mph) at 40,000ft. Service Ceiling : 18,000m (60,000ft) Empty Weight : 14,092 kg (31,069)lb. Loaded Weight : 18,632 kg (41,076 lb) Range : 1,367km (849 miles) The Lightning was the first and only interceptor to be designed and built in Britain that was capable of supersonic speeds in level flight.
English Electric P.1A WG760 the first British aircraft to achieve M1.0 in level flight - Richard Hall. View more. On 11 August, the P.1A was at 30,000 feet over the Solent when Beamont went to full throttle and reached a speed of M0.98.
While the Lightning's replacements (the Phantom and Tornado ADV in British service, the F-15 Eagle in Saudi service) are excellent aircraft in their own right, none compare with the sheer brute force and sparkling performance of the ultimate jet sports car - the English Electric Lightning.
