FlyPast – August 2018

(John Hannent) #1

58 FLYPAST August 2018


FROM THE WORKSHOP ENGLISH ELECTRIC LIGHTNING


I decided to give the nose section
a ‘split personality’ to display the
colours of both the aircraft’s RAF
Germany squadrons. I wanted
to retain Jim’s name on the 92
Squadron green finish, so it would
have to be the starboard side that
was stripped to give the earlier
bare metal finish of XN726’s time
with 19 Squadron.
This was not ideal as the
starboard side had been the
target for the shrapnel tests


and had suffered more damage,
which would be more apparent
in the absence of paint. Another
challenge was to remove the yellow
zinc chromate and etching primer
beneath the camouflage without
damaging the metal surface.
I held ‘Plan B’ in reserve, which
was to spray with silver paint;
although I feel this seldom
looks convincing.
Having stripped most of the
paint I had to resort to fine grades

of wet and dry paper to remove
the more resistant areas, following
which I buffed the surface using
polishing compound and mops
driven by an electric drill. All in all
it was a long and tedious process,
but definitely worth it.
I resprayed the red, white
and blue roundel using ‘rattle
cans’ mixed to the correct paint
specifications, together with the
blue and white chequers of 19
Squadron. Fortunately these large
markings covered the major areas
of damage.
Exposed areas of filler were
covered with patches of self-
adhesive aluminium foil, or
‘speed tape’ – not perfect, but the

damage is, after all, a reminder
of the airframe’s research career.
This is pertinent to XN726 fitting
the BDAC collection philosophy.
Unfortunately I couldn’t retain
the original paintwork on the
port side due to skin damage
and because the dark green
paint, which I believe was infra-
red reflective, had oxidised to
a brown shade and could not
be satisfactorily restored to its
original hue.
I decided to repaint using acrylic
weather-resistant paint colour-
matched to a surplus F.2A rear
fuselage panel, having used T-Cut
colour restorer and gloss varnish
to bring up the original shade.

“The guest of honour was Jim Wild. With regret, he had piloted XN726 to the


Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, Hampshire, on her fi nal fl ight


on April 4, 1977”


Lightning F.2 and F.2A survivors

The F.2A ‘type specimen’ – the most complete – is XN776 at the National
Museum of Flight Scotland at East Fortune, near Edinburgh. Even this Lightning
is missing some cockpit items, and sports incorrect colours.
Two more airframes exist in Germany: XN730 at Gatow and XN782 at
Hermeskeil, together with XN784 at Baarlo in the Netherlands, all kept outside.
The front fuselage sections extant in the UK are XN726, XN728 and XN795,
while XN769, the sole surviving F.2 cockpit section, is at the Malta
Aviation Museum.

Former 19 Squadron pilots (left) and 92
Squadron pilots (right), with the author in
the middle. RICHARD CROSSLEY

The air speed indicator and
Machmeter panel reassembled after
refurbishment, together with an
original smashed Machmeter.
Free download pdf