70 UNITED KINGDOM
Left: A Lightning F1 famously captured just prior
to crashing while on nal approach with the pilot
ejecting safely. The place was Hat eld in 1962
and the pilot was George Aird, a civilian test pilot
with Hawker Siddeley Dynamics. The Lightning
became uncontrollable after an engine bay re
had weakened a tailplane actuator, and the pilot
was forced to eject from low level. Unfortunately
he landed on some greenhouses, breaking both
legs in the process. This incredible photograph
was taken by Jim Meads who happened to live
next door to test pilot Bob Sowray, who was due
to be ying the aircraft that day. To capture the
event, Meads had positioned himself near the
air eld threshold, close to where a tractor was
cutting the grass.Below: Early Lightning F1s of No 74 Squadron
hold immaculate formation. Before the days of
the ‘Red Arrows’, RAF Fighter Command would
each year designate a ghter squadron as its
o cial aerobatic team for the season. The Tigers
of No 74 Squadron (Lightning F1) provided the
team for 1962.EE Lightning F1A
Maximum speed: Limited to Mach 1.7
Engine: 2 x Rolls-Royce Avon 210
turbojets
Power: Each of 11,090lb
(5,030kg) max dry thrust
and 14,140lb (6,413kg)
in afterburner
Wingspan: 34ft 10in (10.62m)
Length: 55ft 3in (16.84m)
Height: 19ft 7in (5.97m)
Max T/O weight: 39,000lb (17,690kg)
Service ceiling: 60,000ft (18,290m) – but
stories insist that
altitudes of over
80,000ft were reached in
zoom climb
Armament: 2 x 30mm Aden
cannon, each with
130 rounds, in upper
forward fuselage plus
2 x DH Firestreak
infra-red guided missiles
on pylons on lower
forward fuselageformed part of the largest single export deal
ever signed, in 1963, with Saudi Arabia. Based
on the F6, the F53 was developed to carry a
variety of external stores including 1,000lb
bombs and Matra/SNEB rocket launchers.
Thirty four F53s were delivered to Saudi Arabia
from 1967 and served most successfully, and
popularly with their pilots, until replaced by
more modern (but not necessarily higher-
performance) types in 1986. The only other
export customer was Kuwait, which bought
a batch of 12 F53s but found them over-
demanding to operate and to maintain.
In the UK, Lightning operations continued
at a number of RAF stations (notably Leuchars,
Wattisham and Binbrook) through the 1970s,
with Nos 5 and 11 Squadrons continuing to y
the type from Binbrook until nal retirement
and replacement by the Tornado F3 in 1988.
While the Tornado F3 had two crew, vastly
greater fuel tankage (and hence endurance),
a more capable radar and a truly worthwhile
array of air-to-air armament, its out-and-out
performance came nowhere near that of the
Lightning, whose passing was sorely missed
on the squadrons.
The Lightning never red its guns – nor
launched its missiles – in anger during its time
in service with the RAF. That said, the type
surely had a huge deterrent e ect during the
Cold War, holding QRA from bases on the East
Coast and Battle Flight in RAF Germany.