English electric Lightning WHM 1:48

[SteveB]

Nice set of models - you've done a great job with them.

One small point - when you say the Lightning was designed and built by British Airways, it was actually designed and built by English Electric (as your main title suggests). They were later absorbed into the British Aircraft Corporation (B.A.C.). English Electric was a large, long standing company that created all sorts of things, including the Lightning, the Canberra, the Deltic locomotive and even household appliances. That's quite a range of stuff - from refrigerators to jet bombers!

[hyair]

Steve B - The correct name and Manufacturer I was wrong -
The English Electric Lightning is a fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, ... Mechanical Engineers conferred on the Lightning its "Engineering Heritage Award" at a ceremony at BAE Systems' site at Warton Aerodrome.

Yair

[hyair]

Both these aircraft had a very special looking with the big wings and pointed front but if it was me
I will choose the Draken for the more elegant one.

Yair

[hyair]

The two had tbe same mission of being a fast interceptors that need to react to intruding planes by rapid climb and speed. The lightning used two AB Avon series engines and the SU-9 AL-9 powerful but gas gusler engine. Both were close in speed at mach 2.0 but in climb the Lightning always win and in range the SU-9 was slightly better.
The SU-9 could carry variuos A -A missiles of russian origin while the Lightning carrid either Firestrike or Redtop missiles.
The SU-9 didn't carried guns and the Lightning carried 1 gun in the lower belly pack in the front.
The SU-9 service was shorter and most phased out toward the 80's while the Lightning in 1987. The two are built in 1:48 scale.

Yair

[hyair]

The two are really hotrods - the Lightning for it's ablity to climb 50k feet per min and the Starfighter to zoom more than 100k feet . Both can do over mach 2.0 - 2.1 for Lightning
and 2.2 for starfighter. The F-104 was produced in higher numbers
mainly for the Eoropean joint venture of Germany Italy and Holand and Japan and some 3000 were produced in compare to 350 Lightnings. Also the service life of both was early 1990's in Italy and in Saudi Arabia
as well. The most advanced types
were the F53 Saudi Arabia version and the Italien Starfighter that could carry two Sparrow radar guided missiles.The F-104 is the one that fired in anger but without a success in Indo -Pakistan conflict in Vietnam. The F-104 could carry more bomb load and had the internal m61 Vulcan 20mm gun while the Lightning had a 30 mm gun in the belly pack
Both are from WHM in 1:48 scale.

Yair

[Mike1158]

Actually the early aircraft carried two Aden cannon in the nose which were deleted later in some versions but including the ventral pack, they could be armed with up to four Aden cannon per aircraft.

[hyair]

Dear Mike - You are right , the 847 which is the built model was a pre series of the P.1 first version that was equipped with two aden 30 mm guns up in the front - therefore no guns in this WHM release. A pair of two Firestrike AA missiles will be added later to this model for a little spicing....

Yair

[hyair]

Some more images of the English Electric Lightning - the 50k feet per min vertical reality fighter.

Yair

[jetman]

Originally Posted by hyair

The two are really hotrods - the Lightning for it's ablity to climb 50k feet per min and the Starfighter to zoom more than 100k feet . Both can do over mach 2.0 - 2.1 for Lightning
and 2.2 for starfighter. The F-104 was produced in higher numbers
mainly for the Eoropean joint venture of Germany Italy and Holand and Japan and some 3000 were produced in compare to 350 Lightnings. Also the service life of both was early 1990's in Italy and in Saudi Arabia
as well. The most advanced types
were the F53 Saudi Arabia version and the Italien Starfighter that could carry two Sparrow radar guided missiles.The F-104 is the one that fired in anger but without a success in Indo -Pakistan conflict in Vietnam. The F-104 could carry more bomb load and had the internal m61 Vulcan 20mm gun while the Lightning had a 30 mm gun in the belly pack
Both are from WHM in 1:48 scale.

Yair

I must correct a mistake made here repeatedly. The Lightning could NOT reach 50,000 feet in one minute!
It had an INITIAL climb rate of 50,000 ft/min, but that is a very different thing, and the assumption that in climbed at that rate up to 50,000 ft is wrong. Actually it best climb rate at low level was 20,000 ft, and to quote Wikipedia "A Lightning flying at optimum climb profile would reach 36,000 ft (11,000 m) in under three minutes".
I don't think the Lightning ever held the world record for time to climb, and the numbers for the Streak Eagle, many years later, were 39,00 ft in 1 minute, and time to 50,000 ft - 77 sec.
With that said, the Lightning is an impressive airplane, the IAF magazine model was one of the first I built, and I like the aircraft and the model very much.

[jetman]

Originally Posted by hyair

The Lightning was an amazing fighter at the time with a vertical climb ability.
I started a new build diary on this interesting and special type.
It is from the IAF magazine enlarge to 1:48 from original 1:50 and from WHM.

Yair

Hi Yair,
The IAF magazine had a metallic shine to it, which was lost when you printed it. I think it was not worth the change in scale which is very small.