FlyPast – August 2018

54 FLYPAST August 2018

FROM THE WORKSHOP ENGLISH ELECTRIC LIGHTNING

Hugh Trevor details the restoration of his Lightning F.2A cockpit – from ballistics target to museum piece

Best of Breed

W

atching English Electric

Lightning aerobatic

displays at airshows in the

1970s first sparked my enthusiasm

for this icon of British aviation

design. A little later, the F.2A

became the variant of particular

attraction – despite my never

having seen one fly. A magazine

article full of stunning images

of the drab-toned fighters then

hooked me for life.

sorties of more than an hour were

not uncommon.

I had previously restored the

cockpit of F.6 XS932 in the 1990s,

which is now in the care of Richard

Scarborough in Lincolnshire. In

2000 I seized my chance to acquire

the front fuselage of an F.2A from

cockpit collector Nigel Towler.

He had two available, rescued

from the Proof and Experimental

Establishment at Shoeburyness,

At the height of the Cold

War, F.2s and F.2As of 19 and

92 Squadrons were based in

RAF Germany, predominantly

at Gütersloh, close to the ‘Iron

Curtain’. The Lightnings were

tasked by NATO with maintaining

Battle Flight (similar to the

UK-based Quick Reaction Alert)

at five minutes’ readiness to

intercept Warsaw Pact intruders.

In 1977 McDonnell Douglas

Phantom FGR.2s at Wildenrath

took over the role.

Many pilots would acknowledge

the F.2A as the best of the breed.

It retained two fixed 30mm ADEN

cannon in the upper nose, which

meant the whole of the ventral

tank could be used for fuel. The

airframe was lighter and the

Rolls-Royce Avon 211 turbojets

had better fuel economy than the

Avon 301/302s of the later F.6, so

To p

A fl ight of 19 Squadron F.2As on

exchange to Aalborg in Denmark

in September 1968, led by their

CO, Bob Barcilon, in XN726.

VIA AIR CDRE BOB BARCILON

Right

Lightning XN726 under tow

at Binbrook while with AFDS.

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