Aviation_News_2017-03

If the JPT rises too quickly, there is

a good chance the RPM won’t rise fast

enough to cool the engine down and an

over temperature will occur – these are old

engines and 1,000°C can quickly be achieved

and damage the engine, especially in hot

countries.

Having got both engines started, the

canopy is closed so the ground crew can

check your ejector seat/canopy interlock –

vital in the case of an ejection. The aircraft

brakes are mounted on the control column

and operate as a joint parking brake/wheel

brake system as well as a method of steering

the aircraft. As you release the brakes and

select the taxi light ‘on’, the aircraft is like a

dog on a leash. Squeezing the brakes nods

the nose of the T5, known as the ‘Tub’ for its

bath-like front fuselage.

As if  ying the aircraft won’t be hard

enough, taxiing is an acquired skill, co-

ordinating rudder with brakes, squeezing the

brake lever for more pressure and kicking on

a full boot of rudder to get the aircraft turning.

AIRBORNE

Initially cold power take-offs are the order

of the day, mainly to conserve fuel and

secondly you couldn’t cope with a reheat

take-off at this stage! Sortie one is de nitely

not a freebie – some students were lucky

enough to get a ‘sandbag’ ride during ground

school; others are plunged in at the deep

end. In terms of handling the Lightning

bears no resemblance to the Hawk – none

at all! Its swept wing requires a different

technique to  ying with lots of back stick

required when you roll on bank to get the 60°

swept wing to generate enough lift to turn.

The  rst  ve sorties were dedicated to upper

level work and circuit  ying – with so little

LIGHTNING TRAINING UNITS

The RAFs  rst Lightning pilots were trained

at RAF Coltishall under guidance of the

Command Fighter Establishment (CFE) with the

task then taken on by the Lightning Conversion

Squadron (LCS) which formed at the same

base on January 4, 1960. Initially Lightning

pilots were required to have a minimum of

1,000 hours’ fast-jet experience when the

aircraft entered service in 1960 with 74 (Fighter)

Tiger Squadron.

The RAF did not underestimate that the

Lightning was a quantum leap in capability

compared with its counterparts such as the Hunter

or Javelin. It was twice the speed of the Hunter

and, unlike the Javelin, was a single-seat  ghter

that needed the pilot to interpret the radar. While

the RAF took delivery of the single-seat version of

the Lightning, it was another two years before the

two-seat trainer became available.

Known to the RAF as the Lightning T.4, the

 rst two-seater joined the LCS at RAF Middleton

St George – the unit had moved north in August

1961. Solely made up of trainer versions, the
      unit quickly gained in size and became a full
      Operational Conversion Unit (OCU). Adopting
      the title 226 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU),
      a former Hunter unit, it also began receiving

46 Aviation News incorporating Jets March 2017

a former Hunter unit, it also began receiving a former Hunter unit, it also began receiving

Below: A Lightning F.1 assigned to 226 OCU which during this period had the shadow unit

number of 145 Sqn. Frontline Lightning squadrons for a time painted the spine and  n with

their squadron colours and so the training unit did the same, to represent 145 Sqn.

Below: RAF Binbrook’s last station

commander Gp Capt John Spencer used

Lightning F.6 XR728 – note the personalised

tail code. The LTF badge was taken from

the base’s insignia and so was deemed

appropriate for the boss’s jet. This F.6 was

sometimes used as a target aircraft in the

early days of the LTF. Key Collection

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