But he was surprised to nd the LCU almost
deserted as most of the instructors were in
dispute with the company and had gone on
leave to the UK and refused to return. On top of
this, most of the aircraft had gone off to war!ON THE LINE
Phil Isaac had arrived in Dhahran eight
months earlier on a three-year Airwork
contract as a Lightning technician. He recalls:
“By April 1969 Airwork were running training
ights on the [RSAF] T-33s and F-86F Sabres,
but the LCU was only just getting started.
“Tony Winship and Bernie Ibison were the
QFIs [Quali ed Flying Instructors], with Tony
overseeing the ying in consultation with the
RSAF. Together they began to train up Saudi
pilots, although initially the emphasis was on
ying training as missiles and guns weren’t
carried.
“In the beginning, serviceability wasn’t good,
as spares were only gradually being built up.“By 9am the ight line temperatures could
be over 100 ̊F [38 ̊C] which caused Avpin [the
volatile starter fuel in a tank in the spine] to
evaporate before it got to the engine starter unit,
so engine starts at midday were hit and miss.
“We had to t thermal blankets along the
spine and open the canopies to stop cockpit
components melting. Air conditioning units
were also plugged in to keep the aircraft cool.
“The introduction of the ventral gunpack
was when our troubles really started, as they
kept jamming. New ammunition links were
introduced which helped solve the problem,
together with extra servicing to keep the guns
really clean – always difficult as the sand blew
everywhere.”LIGHTNINGS AT WAR
On November 26, 1969 a South Yemen
military force of 1,000 regular troops attacked
and occupied the strategic border post at El
Wadi’ah in southwest Saudi Arabia.Similar attacks in 1965/6 had precipitated
the Magic Carpet contract which resulted
in RSAF 6 Sqn Lightning F.52s and Hunter
F.60s being based at Khamis Mushayt, only
80 miles (125km) from the border, to deter
aggression.
In addition to the Saudi-based pilots who
had already converted onto the Lightning T.54
and F.52, conversion training for more, under
the Magic Palm contract, took place during
1968/9 at RAF Coltishall, where 226 OCU
used four T.55s (55-711 to ’714) temporarily
based at the station.
Khamis was not an ideal operating base
as it sat atop a 6,500ft (2,000m) plateau
where the thin air called for very high landing
speeds of about 200kts (230mph/370km/h),
close to the Lightning’s tyre limiting speed.
Moreover, the drag ’chute was less
effective in the thin air so harder braking was
required after landing. Nevertheless, between
December 3 and 15, a dozen Lightninghttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 35This Lightning is carrying the Vinten rotating recce pod under the forward part of the fuselage, an optional t in place of an air-to-air missile pack.A 2 Sqn Lightning F.53 on the range near Tabuk ring 2in
rockets from the retractable fuselage pack. Usually for
training only two rockets were loaded per side.32-39_lightning_saudiDC.mfDC.mf.indd 35 06/02/2017 13:26