Use to love watching Lightnings at Binbrook as a kid, Lincoln was a good place to live, every day we saw the Vulcans from Waddington, the Red Arrows at Scampton flying over. Waddo was 5miles away but i always heard the Trumpet sound of the Vulcans taking off when i was in bed at night. Plus days out at Donna Nook watching A-10s firing the GAU-8. Ahhhh.. childhood memories :)
I was " Man F " on Lightning OTR's ( operational turn rounds ) @ RAF Leuchars in the early 80's when they flew in from RAF Binbrook and we had to turn them round in under 30mins, at which point the Station Commander would present us with a barrel of beer in the social club for our efforts. It was an awesome sight watching them batting down the peritrack rather than the runway for a quicker take off and then do a vertical climb at the end.
fitted with most of the modern tech available today I reckon the EEL would still be one of the best fighter/interceptor around today and would no doubt embarrass most of the modern fighter jets around. Just love this aircraft.
No it wouldn't, it might be romantic to think that but against a modern fighter it has no hope. I remember reading an article by a USAF officer who flew the F-15A against the Lightning in the 80's. He got a chance to take it up against the EE Lightning F.6 for dissimilar air combat training and in every respect performance and system wise he ran rings around the Lightning. He had vastly superior energy state availability and situational awareness against the F.6. He also had vastly superior weapons, the only time the Lightning had a chance is when he allowed it to. Against a modern fighter with even superior weapons and situational awareness and even if the Lightning was somehow upgraded its chances would be slim. You can't get around the limitations of its early generation engines. airframe and aerodynamics, yes it was quick in a straight line but that doesn't mean it would do well against more modern types.
No it wouldn't be, you are comparing 1950's engineering with 1970's. An F-15 will run rings around an EE Lightning even in modernised form. You loving the aircraft doesn't change physics. Every DAC exercise that the F-15 did against the Lightning was a resounding victory for the F-15. Even with adapted RoE the Lightning was totally outclassed.
@Original Prankster I am well versed of the DaC exercises between the Lightning and the F-15 in all cases even with restricted RoE the latter outclassed the former. I don't need to have flown the types to know this.
I wonder that they started the engines inside hangar when mechanics were present. The fumes from the starter engines burning isopropyl nitrate are not too different from tear gas.
They should be allowed to fly at airshows i know they're very thirsty beasts and the pilot needs to keep a close eye on the fuel gauge on these brutes but I would love to see one fly again in the UK! Even if it was a low level flight it would be worth seeing!!!😊
Sadly this is extremely unlikely to ever happen - look at the millions of pounds and years of work it took to certify Vulcan XH558 to fly and that aircraft had the benefit of a full service history through the years it was maintained by the RAF as the Vulcan display aircraft. The dedicated volunteers of the Lightning Preservation Group at Bruntingthorpe have done an amazing job in keeping their aircraft in ground running order but sadly they no longer have access to the runway and Bruntingthorpe is now closed to the public: See www.lightnings.org.uk/ for details.
Possibly a bloody good job it didn't see combat considering the need for refuelling just after take off and the extensive engineering work it required after each flight.From a former crew chief it was an hour of maintenance for every half hour of flight!
If it ever saw combat, it would've been over before it began, as their RAF airfields would've been top priority targets. Any surviving airborne Lightning's I imagine, would've been ditched by their pilots, as there would be no airfield to come back to.
Let's hang our heads in shame, no airworthy Mosquito, Short Sunderland, Vulcan, Victor or Lightning, to mention but a few. Where's our national pride. The RAF /Navy/Army should have a Government grant to maintain a historical flight not just a Battle Of Britain Flight.
Well that si what haoppends wehen you elct idiots to governemtn. They sell our very core to the WEF, a hostile NGO with a Ernst Blowhard as its leader. Boris and suank are aboth accolytes as are many leader saroudn the world. They don;t care about national ropide. In fact they want to destroy national pride.
FANBLOODYTASTIC! The most beautiful jet ever built by anyone ever. Other than the Vulcan of course. Oh, and other than the Canberra. Um, other than the Hunter silly me! I want to idnetify as a jet and marry them all! My proniuns will be jeee-zuzzz/ker-rist.
These iconic British jet fighter aircraft were retired from flying with the Royal Air Force back in 1988, three were kept flying in private hands until 2009 in South Africa but other than one flight in 2014 none have flown since. In Leicestershire (UK) a group of ex RAF personnel and other people who share a passion for this aircraft type keep two of the remaining aircraft in ground running order and it is this impressive "fast-taxy run" that you see on the video film. No aircraft of this type are licensed to actually take off and fly in the UK - the cost in engineering, licensing and insurance make this a virtual impossibility but the Lightning Preservation Group do an amazing job in at least demonstrating the raw power of these aircraft on the ground. Check out the website at www.lightnings.org.uk/
This is only my opinion but I'm pretty sure that if the pilot got up to takeoff speed and pulled the stick back the aircraft would leave the ground. However despite the incredible effort put in by the efforts of the LPG to keep all systems operational they would not want to put this to the test for a whole host of reasons. Have a look at what happened when the Victor tanker at Bruntingthorpe accidentally took to the air a few years ago whilst performing a fast taxy run.
A few years ago this actually happened at Bruntingthorpe - not with a Lightning but with the Victor V Bomber. The pilot managed to get the aircraft back safely on the runway but it was a hairy 10 seconds flight.
The UK still has the very best tank in the world the C2 and soon C3. Britsh armour that the sceptics put ont heir M1 gas guzzling monster that has a fuel tanker tethered to its ar-se.
A comment from a typical British keyboard aviator. Assume the "rubbish" of which you speak is the F4 Phantom. An aircraft designed concurrently with your beloved Lightning and, curiously, still operational in dozens of air forces round the world. If you did not squander your tax revenue on social benefits, then perhaps some new aircraft of British design could be made. One wonders if the stellar Blackburn Company could be resurrected to this end.
@@jkoysza1 the phantom has far more volume than the lightning (which is a 'stripped out rocket with wings' primarily intended to intercept nuclear bombers); so they can put electronics which didn't exist in 1960s into it. The reason a lot of British people are doomed to survive on benefits lies in the deliberate policy of keeping the £ high (it always outvalues the $ or the €) so there can never be jobs in basic industries anymore because what they produced would be too expensive.
@@pcka12 OK, so I am ignorant on this social policy. Educate me. Why keep the GBP artificially high? The expat Britts I have met are well educated and productive people, often Managing Directors et al. Why the policy of dreary socialism in country? The older I get, the less I understand.
@@jkoysza1 it is called ‘monetarism’ both Ronald Reagan & Margaret Thatcher adopted it as a policy, by controlling the money supply you squeeze out inflation & put your government back in charge, it works on the idea that globally there are various sources of a commodity such as coal or tin, but if you can buy it cheaper on world markets why mine it yourself? Britain remains an Island set on a mountain of coal and metals but we no longer exploit them (they have not run out!). The banks & other financial institutions were put in charge & since Britain’s economy is small on a world scale (it was the Empire which made it the greatest economy in the world) our financial institutions have become like the proverbial. ‘Gnomes of Zurich’ or the Jews in medieval Europe (when Cristians were prohibited from ‘usury’). Most engineering & much of science & technology has been ‘squeezed out’ & it is cheaper to keep substantial numbers on the dole than have them working in unprofitable industry. The National Health Service NHS is a sort of sacred cow, no politician dare challenge it (like mom & apple pie) but they quail at it’s costs & inefficiencies this is made worse by the fact that since the 1980s at least 60% of medical school intake has been female & most females naturally follow on paths to motherhood so they dominate those medical jobs which accommodate motherhood leaving a shortage of doctors which is filled by recruitment from the so called ‘third world’ so India & Pakistan train doctors who prop up the NHS aided by Philippine nurses (this is a planning nightmare which could have been avoided by thinking about outcomes before they set off on this path). Is all that helpful?
Use to love watching Lightnings at Binbrook as a kid, Lincoln was a good place to live, every day we saw the Vulcans from Waddington, the Red Arrows at Scampton flying over. Waddo was 5miles away but i always heard the Trumpet sound of the Vulcans taking off when i was in bed at night. Plus days out at Donna Nook watching A-10s firing the GAU-8. Ahhhh.. childhood memories :)
These beast should still be flying in the skies over the UK.
I was " Man F " on Lightning OTR's ( operational turn rounds ) @ RAF Leuchars in the early 80's when they flew in from RAF Binbrook and we had to turn them round in under 30mins, at which point the Station Commander would present us with a barrel of beer in the social club for our efforts.
It was an awesome sight watching them batting down the peritrack rather than the runway for a quicker take off and then do a vertical climb at the end.
Man I would have gibe my left one to sit in one of the seats.
fitted with most of the modern tech available today I reckon the EEL would still be one of the best fighter/interceptor around today and would no doubt embarrass most of the modern fighter jets around. Just love this aircraft.
No it wouldn't, it might be romantic to think that but against a modern fighter it has no hope. I remember reading an article by a USAF officer who flew the F-15A against the Lightning in the 80's. He got a chance to take it up against the EE Lightning F.6 for dissimilar air combat training and in every respect performance and system wise he ran rings around the Lightning. He had vastly superior energy state availability and situational awareness against the F.6. He also had vastly superior weapons, the only time the Lightning had a chance is when he allowed it to.
Against a modern fighter with even superior weapons and situational awareness and even if the Lightning was somehow upgraded its chances would be slim. You can't get around the limitations of its early generation engines. airframe and aerodynamics, yes it was quick in a straight line but that doesn't mean it would do well against more modern types.
@@Fedaykin24 just to stick a spanner in the works, the Lightning was really an interceptor not a fighter.
@Original Prankster No it wasn't don't delude yourself.
No it wouldn't be, you are comparing 1950's engineering with 1970's. An F-15 will run rings around an EE Lightning even in modernised form. You loving the aircraft doesn't change physics. Every DAC exercise that the F-15 did against the Lightning was a resounding victory for the F-15. Even with adapted RoE the Lightning was totally outclassed.
@Original Prankster I am well versed of the DaC exercises between the Lightning and the F-15 in all cases even with restricted RoE the latter outclassed the former. I don't need to have flown the types to know this.
In the words of Neil Diamond.." What a beautiful noise"
Love the way the ground crew hide away in the hangar to avoid the jet blast before the aircraft taxis.
I wonder that they started the engines inside hangar when mechanics were present. The fumes from the starter engines burning isopropyl nitrate are not too different from tear gas.
They are the suvivors so they've learned.
The power of these machines is incredible!
They should be allowed to fly at airshows i know they're very thirsty beasts and the pilot needs to keep a close eye on the fuel gauge on these brutes but I would love to see one fly again in the UK! Even if it was a low level flight it would be worth seeing!!!😊
Sadly this is extremely unlikely to ever happen - look at the millions of pounds and years of work it took to certify Vulcan XH558 to fly and that aircraft had the benefit of a full service history through the years it was maintained by the RAF as the Vulcan display aircraft. The dedicated volunteers of the Lightning Preservation Group at Bruntingthorpe have done an amazing job in keeping their aircraft in ground running order but sadly they no longer have access to the runway and Bruntingthorpe is now closed to the public: See www.lightnings.org.uk/ for details.
How dare you! They arn't brutes! They are the wench you wished would play drs. & nurses with you.
When we could defend our skies! What a beautiful 'plane.
One of the greatest jet aircraft of all time. It's almost a pity it didnt see combat.....
Possibly a bloody good job it didn't see combat considering the need for refuelling just after take off and the extensive engineering work it required after each flight.From a former crew chief it was an hour of maintenance for every half hour of flight!
If it ever saw combat, it would've been over before it began, as their RAF airfields would've been top priority targets. Any surviving airborne Lightning's I imagine, would've been ditched by their pilots, as there would be no airfield to come back to.
Let's hang our heads in shame, no airworthy Mosquito, Short Sunderland, Vulcan, Victor or Lightning, to mention but a few. Where's our national pride. The RAF /Navy/Army should have a Government grant to maintain a historical flight not just a Battle Of Britain Flight.
We hav a nimrod and Shackleton at coventry airport which we keep in top shape 🙂
Well that si what haoppends wehen you elct idiots to governemtn. They sell our very core to the WEF, a hostile NGO with a Ernst Blowhard as its leader. Boris and suank are aboth accolytes as are many leader saroudn the world. They don;t care about national ropide. In fact they want to destroy national pride.
FANBLOODYTASTIC! The most beautiful jet ever built by anyone ever. Other than the Vulcan of course. Oh, and other than the Canberra. Um, other than the Hunter silly me! I want to idnetify as a jet and marry them all! My proniuns will be jeee-zuzzz/ker-rist.
These beasts climbed like F15's, but they did it an entire generation earlier. Raw power at it's best.
Nobody mention the TSR2 ! Oh F!...
There you go. Another Liebour decision a sell out to the sceptics.
If you were demonstrating these aircraft you’d want to “accidentally” pull back on the stick. I would.
at least one person has.
Was it just a ground run or they flew?
These iconic British jet fighter aircraft were retired from flying with the Royal Air Force back in 1988, three were kept flying in private hands until 2009 in South Africa but other than one flight in 2014 none have flown since. In Leicestershire (UK) a group of ex RAF personnel and other people who share a passion for this aircraft type keep two of the remaining aircraft in ground running order and it is this impressive "fast-taxy run" that you see on the video film. No aircraft of this type are licensed to actually take off and fly in the UK - the cost in engineering, licensing and insurance make this a virtual impossibility but the Lightning Preservation Group do an amazing job in at least demonstrating the raw power of these aircraft on the ground. Check out the website at www.lightnings.org.uk/
Air worthiness certificates aside, could these jets fly? Mechanically speaking I mean
This is only my opinion but I'm pretty sure that if the pilot got up to takeoff speed and pulled the stick back the aircraft would leave the ground. However despite the incredible effort put in by the efforts of the LPG to keep all systems operational they would not want to put this to the test for a whole host of reasons. Have a look at what happened when the Victor tanker at Bruntingthorpe accidentally took to the air a few years ago whilst performing a fast taxy run.
@@andybennett5570 tee hee.
Wonderful
One of the pilots should accidentally pull back on the stick and have to do a quick fly around and land. Oops!
A few years ago this actually happened at Bruntingthorpe - not with a Lightning but with the Victor V Bomber. The pilot managed to get the aircraft back safely on the runway but it was a hairy 10 seconds flight.
Его название - беременный истребитель. Это ж надо такое соорудить.
They are not allowed to fly, ground run only unfortunately. Still too potent
They don't want civvies flying aircraft that can out perform the current RAF jets.
Ééé... Mas voar que é bom nada, né...???
Come on chaps, if you're going to post a QRA at least get airborne!
What a pity that the UK “sold themselves” to american military hardware...
The UK still has the very best tank in the world the C2 and soon C3. Britsh armour that the sceptics put ont heir M1 gas guzzling monster that has a fuel tanker tethered to its ar-se.
Back in the days when we had an aircraft industry and weren't dependent on buying American rubbish
A comment from a typical British keyboard aviator. Assume the "rubbish" of which you speak is the F4 Phantom. An aircraft designed concurrently with your beloved Lightning and, curiously, still operational in dozens of air forces round the world. If you did not squander your tax revenue on social benefits, then perhaps some new aircraft of British design could be made. One wonders if the stellar Blackburn Company could be resurrected to this end.
Original Prankster Agreed. I used to read about the EEL when I was 10 years old. I’m now 70. Quite a fine plane.
@@jkoysza1 the phantom has far more volume than the lightning (which is a 'stripped out rocket with wings' primarily intended to intercept nuclear bombers); so they can put electronics which didn't exist in 1960s into it.
The reason a lot of British people are doomed to survive on benefits lies in the deliberate policy of keeping the £ high (it always outvalues the $ or the €) so there can never be jobs in basic industries anymore because what they produced would be too expensive.
@@pcka12 OK, so I am ignorant on this social policy. Educate me. Why keep the GBP artificially high? The expat Britts I have met are well educated and productive people, often Managing Directors et al. Why the policy of dreary socialism in country?
The older I get, the less I understand.
@@jkoysza1 it is called ‘monetarism’ both Ronald Reagan & Margaret Thatcher adopted it as a policy, by controlling the money supply you squeeze out inflation & put your government back in charge, it works on the idea that globally there are various sources of a commodity such as coal or tin, but if you can buy it cheaper on world markets why mine it yourself?
Britain remains an Island set on a mountain of coal and metals but we no longer exploit them (they have not run out!).
The banks & other financial institutions were put in charge & since Britain’s economy is small on a world scale (it was the Empire which made it the greatest economy in the world) our financial institutions have become like the proverbial. ‘Gnomes of Zurich’ or the Jews in medieval Europe (when Cristians were prohibited from ‘usury’). Most engineering & much of science & technology has been ‘squeezed out’ & it is cheaper to keep substantial numbers on the dole than have them working in unprofitable industry.
The National Health Service NHS is a sort of sacred cow, no politician dare challenge it (like mom & apple pie) but they quail at it’s costs & inefficiencies this is made worse by the fact that since the 1980s at least 60% of medical school intake has been female & most females naturally follow on paths to motherhood so they dominate those medical jobs which accommodate motherhood leaving a shortage of doctors which is filled by recruitment from the so called ‘third world’ so India & Pakistan train doctors who prop up the NHS aided by Philippine nurses (this is a planning nightmare which could have been avoided by thinking about outcomes before they set off on this path).
Is all that helpful?