Profile – English Electric Lightning

The austere Britain of 1947 was not exactly conducive to projects such as that which Petter had proposed to the Ministry of Supply. Although a multitude of prototype aircraft had been, were being or would be built around that time – very many of them wasteful of time and resources – the ‘powers that be’ were firmly anti-supersonic, reasoning that such projects were fraught with danger (both real and political!) and were overly costly.

The fact that the Americans were actively encouraging the development of supersonic aircraft – both experimental and for production – meant little to those in Whitehall, and resulted in yet another area of aviation where the USA went ahead in leaps and bounds and won huge numbers of export orders as a result.

Against this background, it now seems remarkable that the relatively inexperienced, in design terms, English Electric Company was in 1947 issued an experimental study contract (ER. 103) by the Ministry of Supply which two years later turned into a contract (F. 23/49) to build two flying prototypes and a static test specimen of this advanced supersonic aircraft.

To put things into perspective, consider just what EE was proposing at a time when the RAF’s fastest fighters – the Meteor and Vampire -were flying in the 500mph range and that just five years earlier 400mph was considered a good top speed in a fighter. Here was an aircraft of radical configuration designed – ultimately – to top 1500mph and climb at a rate beyond the comprehension of all but a select few.

Officialdom distrusted the concept – and F. W. Page’s (who replaced Petter in 1950) calculations, the results of wind tunnel testing and the fact that both the French and Americans had come to the same aerodynamic conclusions as EE’s design team did not deter the MoD from requiring that a ‘proof of concept’ test aircraft be built.

The test vehicle which emerged, the fixed-undercarriage single-seater, the Shorts SB5 was a remarkable (if unnecessary) air craft in its own right and actually preceded the English Electric P. 1 (as the two F. 23/49 prototypes would be called) by nearly two years. Powered initially by a Rolls Royce Derwent turbojet and making its first flight in December 1952, the sole SB5 was capable of being fitted with wings of various differing sweep and various tailplane combinations. Sweeps of 50, 60 and 69 degrees and high and low tailplane positions were possible. The P. 1 combination (60-degree sweep, low tail) first took to the air in January 1954 (seven months before the P. 1·s first flight) and set about proving that the English Electric design staff (and not to mention the French and Americans) had indeed got their sums right and the P. 1 would fly as designed. The SB5 flew until 1968 after spending its latter years at the Empire Test Pilots’ School as a low-speed handling test aircraft, by now powered by a more powerful Bristol Orpheus turbojet.

The first P. 1 (WG760) made its maiden flight from Boscombe Downs on August 4, 1954 with R. P. ‘Bee’ Beamon! at the controls. Powered by two Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 5 turbojets rated at 75001b thrust each, the P. 1 (later designated P. 1A) had a remarkably trouble-free early career, particularly considering the complexity of its design.

Beaumont took the first prototype beyond the speed of sound for the first time in August 1955 when the aircraft was still fitted with the original non-afterburning Sapphire 5s. Reheated Sapphires didn’t appear on the P. 1A until 1955 and were of very crude design with fixed nozzles. Dry, they produced only about 55001b thrust each, with reheat thrust increased to 9200lb. Top speed attained was Mach 1. 53 (or 1,011mph) at altitude.

The second P. 1A (WG163) joined the flight test programme in July 1955, flying from EE’s aerodrome at Warton. Development continued, the first aircraft obtaining in early 1957 the kinked and cambered leading edge wing which would be seen on late production Lightnings. Meanwhile, the second aircraft had two 30mm Aden guns in the nose, a 250-gallon fuel tank faired into the underside of the rear fuselage and plain flaps instead of the split units used on the first aircraft.

The P. 1As were far from representative of anything resembling an operational fighter, but in 1954 work began on a major redesign of the P. 1 to turn it into a single-seat all-weather interceptor, the Ministry of Supply eventually issued a contract in August 1955 to cover the manufacture of three hand-built P. 1B prototypes. A later 1955 contract and another issued in 1956 gave the go-ahead to build a total of 20 further P. 1. Bs on production tooling, these aircraft in effect acting as pre-production versions of the forthcoming Lightning operational fighter.

The P. 1Bs bore little resemblance to the original aircraft except in general appearance and in their similar configuration. The engineering rework was extensive, ranging from the installation of Rolls Royce Avon 200R turbojets with reheat (giving 13,3001b thrust each) to the complete redesign of the nose section to a circular shape housing the Ferranti Al. 23 in a pressurised conical centrebody. With the acronym Airpass (for Airborne Interception Radar, Radar Attack Sight System) this unit provided the P. 1B with the world’s first HUD or head-up display. Provision was made for armament to go with the radar, a choice of either two de Havilland ‘Blue Jay’ (later Firestreak) infra-red homing missiles mounted on external pylons or two 30mm Aden cannon plus ammunition (or 24 two-inch FFARs – folding fin aircraft rockets) being provided for in removable ventral packs as well as the two fuselage Adens. When the Firestreaks were fitted, the missiles’ associated electronics were housed inside the pack. Later, the P. 1Bs were fitted with production-standard Avon 21Os of 11,250Ib dry or 14,430Ib with reheat thrust. These engines featured four-stage afterburners and some aircraft had the 250-gallon ventral tank which would appear on production aircraft.

The first P. 1B (XA847) made its maiden flight on April 4, 1957, by which time orders had been placed for a further 30 production P. 1 s (the aircraft was not officially christened ‘Lightning’ until October 1958). Beamont exceeded the speed of sound on that flight.

The date of the P. 1 B’s first flight was significant not only for the aircraft itself but also because it was – somewhat ironically- the very day that the infamous, ill-conceived and ridiculous Duncan Sandys White Paper “Defence – An Outline of Future Policy” was published. Among other things, this documented that the future air defence of Great Britain would be handled exclusively by surface-to-air missiles and that the RAF was ‘unlikely to require’ any more fighters.

The document was proven to be totally erroneous in its basic premise and had far-reaching effects on the British aircraft industry, resulting in the cancellation of many promising projects. The Lightning escaped the net by virtue of the fact that it was so well advanced, a fact regarded as ‘unfortunate’ by those who supported the Sandys theory. Nevertheless, most gave it little chance of anything but a brief career, predicting the aircraft would soon be replaced by the missiles advocated by the policies of the time. It was only a short time later that the folly of the Sandys doctrine was revealed and how grateful all and sundry were that the Lightning had survived!

Nevertheless, the Lightning did immediately suffer, as a project to give it exceptional ultra-high altitude performance by the fitting of a Napier Double Scorpion rocket was cancelled.

But progress towards operational status continued, Beamon! Taking the first P. 1B to Mach 2. 0 on November 25, 1958, the first time a British aircraft had achieved that milestone. With 20 preproduction aircraft flying, all aspects of the Lightning’s capabilities and systems were being thoroughly tested in the 1957-59 period, the reasoning behind the large number of test aircraft being that the programme would be minimally effected by unserviceable or lost aircraft.

Marks and Models

The evolution of the production Lightning spans 13 years and 312 aircraft, a figure which could have easily been trebled had the aircraft been fully developed into a genuine multi-role fighter half a dozen years earlier than it was. Suffering from the usual British fighter shortcoming of insufficient fuel capacity (the early Marks had an endurance of less than 40 minutes!), the Lightning, therefore, was always being adapted to carry more fuel. It wasn’t until the Mark 6 came along in 1965 – with large ventral removable overwing tanks – that the problem was fully overcome.

Similarly, while English Electric had planned a multi-role Lightning as early as 1958, they (and the British Aircraft Corporation from the early 196Os) were continually frustrated by ‘officialdom’ and even the RAF in their attempts to build such an aircraft. BAC finally turned the Lightning F. 6 into a multi-role attack fighter in the mid-196Os – at its own expense – and sold a number to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

But they missed the boat. While several European nations were furiously re-equipping with Lockheed F-1O4 Starfighters and other American fighters by the hundreds, the Lightning was being produced at a comparative trickle for the RAF exclusively as a short-range point defence interceptor.

The first production Lightning F. 1 (XM134) made its first flight from Warton on October 29, 1959 and the type entered service with 74 Squadron at RAF Coltishall in June 1960. Powered by the Avon 201 engines fitted to the pre-production aircraft, only 19 Lightning F. 1s were produced before being joined by the F. 1A which entered service in December of 1960. The F. 1A was similar to the original Mark but featured a UHF radio and – significantly – a removable flight refuelling probe. 28 were built. The Lightning F. 2 was the next variant, the first of 44 flying in July 1961 and entering service in December of the following year. Externally identical to the F. 1A, and carrying the same armament options, the F. 2 was powered by the new Avon 210 engine of 11,100lb (dry) and 16,300Ib (reheat) thrust with the operational benefits of a fully variable afterburner.

As with most fighters, two-seat operational trainer variants of the Lightning were developed. The first was the Lightning T. 4, the trainer for the Lightning F. 1, 1 A and 2. Flying for the first time in May 1959 and entering service three years later, Avon 201- powered T. 4 featured a front fuselage widened by 11. 5 inches to accommodate the side-by-side seating favoured by the RAF at the time. Full operational capability was retained and 21 were produced.

The prototype two-seat Lightning (XL628) made history in October 1959 when it suffered what is generally believed to be a structural failure in the fin during a supersonic flight near the Isle of Man. Test pilot Johnny Squire ejected, survived over 28 hours in the water and therefore became the first man to safely bail out of an aircraft travelling at greater than the speed of sound.

The Lightning F. 3 (first flight June 1962, service entry April 1964) represented an operational step-up from the previous versions. Powered by the slightly more powerful Avon 301 engines, this Lightning differed externally from its predecessors by having a larger square-tipped fin to improve directional stability at high speeds. Its performance and improved weapons systems made it probably the most capable interceptor of its day. A top speed of about Mach 2. 27 (1500mph) and an initial rate of climb of 50,000fpm saw that this Lightning was capable of dealing with anything, including the infamous American U-2 ‘spyplane’. When Lightning F. 3s ‘effortlessly’ (according to the USAF) intercepted a U-2 at over 50,000 feet, everyone involved in the planned exercise was understandably impressed.

The real secret to the F. 3’s success lay in its new auto-attack system – Elliot’s “Fire Brigade” – and the introduction of the Red Top collision course AAM. While the Firestreak was a ‘chase and fire’ missile, Red Top allowed engagement of the enemy aircraft from any angle of approach and the Fire Brigade computerised system allowed automatic tracking and weapons firing in combat. Despite the obvious capability of this Lightning, a further improved version followed the 62 F. 3s. First flown in April 1964 (the same month the F. 3 joined the squadrons) and entering service at the end of 1965, the ultimate RAF Lightning, the F. 6 featured several important changes which further enhanced the aircraft’s operational capabilities.

Aerodynamically, the aircraft sported the kinked and cambered wing leading edge first demonstrated on the original P. 1 back in 1957, and a larger (610 gallon)· ventral tank was fitted. Combined, these innovations gave the F. 6 reduced subsonic drag and substantially improved cruising range – and therefore flexibility.

Finally eradicating the Lightning’s range problem, this version also acquired removable overwing external ferry tanks giving an extra 540 gallons of fuel. Production of the F. 6 was the same as the F. 3 . . . 62 aircraft and later aircraft had a twin Aden gun pack in the front of the ventral tank, reducing the tank’s capacity to 535 gallons.

A final two-seat variant was produced as a trainer for the F. 3 and F. 6. The Lightning T. 5 entered service in April 1965, and featured the Avon 301 of its fighter equivalents but retained the small ventral fuel tank. 22 were built.

The last Lightning variant to enter service with the RAF was the F. 2A. Built specifically for service with RAF Germany, 31 F. 2s were converted to this upgraded specification between 1966 and 1967 at Warton after flying in from 19 and 92 Squadrons, Germany. Basically similar to the latest F. 6, aircraft converted to F. 2A specification featured the original Avon 21O engines but the rework included the kinked wing, the large ventral tank and the square fin. The F. 2’s nose-mounted guns were retained but the overwing tanks of the F. 6 could not be carried.

Export Action

As related earlier, BAC developed a multi-role version of the Lightning in the mid-1960s at its own expense and succeeded in selling it to the Royal Saudi Air Force and the Kuwaitis. A total of 61 aircraft being ultimately delivered to these countries after the initial £89 million orders were placed in 1966.

Over the years this order grew into Britain’s biggest-ever export deal by way of support contracts and orders for Stikemaster aircraft, the total value finally exceeding £800 million. BAC won the initial Lightning orders against stiff (and in one case allegedly corrupt) competition from Lockheed (Starfighter), Northrop (FSA) and Dassault (Mirage) and the goodwill created by Operation Magic Palm – as the deal was styled – went a long way to cementing the Saudi’s 1985 order for Panavia Tornados and BAe Hawks.

Similar to the RAF’s Lightning F. 6 and T. 5 aircraft but with enhanced ground attack capability (with underwing stores) the Saudi and Kuwaiti fighters were designated Lightning Mark 53 and the trainers Mark 55. A total of 46 Mark 53s were built (34 for the RSAF, 12 for Kuwait) as well as 8 Mark 55s (6 for the RSAF, 2 for Kuwait).

In addition, five ex-RAF F. 2s (as Mark 52) and two ex-RAF T. 4s (as Mark 54) were delivered to the Saudis in August 1966 ‘to get the ball rolling’, while the first new Saudi Lightning made its maiden flight in November 1966 and the Kuwaiti number one aircraft in May 1966.

An RSAF aircraft was the last Lightning to be built, this aircraft being delivered to the Middle East Kingdom in September 1972.

While the Saudis still have some Lightnings in service, the Kuwaitis’ experience with the aircraft was rather less long-lived. After seven successful years in service, that country was persuaded to buy Mirages from France, leaving its Lightning fleet grounded and at the mercy of the wind, the sun and the heat of the desert.

The last Lightning delivered to the RAF was an F. 2A (XN788) in July 1970 after conversion at Warton, while the final new-build British aircraft appeared in late 1967. The RAF still has two operational Lightning squadrons (number 5 and 11) based at Binbrook, Lancashire. At the same base is the Lightning Training Flight with T. 5s for operational training and one or two F. 3s for instruction and display flying.

A recent decision to keep two squadrons operational into the 1990s (to maintain air defence strength while the new Tornado F. 2s are coming on stream) has resulted in a two-year refurbishment programme on some aircraft. The programme began in 1985 and the principal modification involved is the strengthening of the aircraft’s wing roots.

This will give the Lightning an operational life of an amazing 30-odd years, a far cry from the brief service life predicted for it at the time of the Sandys Defence White Paper in 1957. As the first flight of the original English Electric P. 1 was in 1954, a total life of some 40 years is now a distinct possibility!

By any standards, the Lightning is a remarkable aircraft and probably the finest of its type in its era. It is still capable of outclimbing and outrunning just about anything and as such is the last of the ‘real’ fighters – single seat, hot to handle, hot to manage, still able to shoot down almost any enemy (despite relatively archaic systems) and a sheer joy to fly thanks to its remarkable ‘grunt’.