There I was minding my own business...

[raleighnut]

I've never seen that.
I understand that the Thames is a designated flight corridor which is why we get to see them on a regular basis.

I saw it in a documentary a few (or several) years back, could have been in the States though. A company was using them to fit new air-con units to tall buildings in a fraction of the time it takes to erect a tower crane, do the job and dismantle the crane.

 

[ArDee]

View attachment 57005
Has anybody seen an English Electric Lightning? They first flew in 1954 and had an initial rate of climb of 50,000 feet per minute. I was told that they could easily have exceeded that figure but the nose wheel retracted forward so the pilot had to keep the speed down after take off so that it l could fold in against the air resistance. I think it could be over Iceland in twenty minutes. There used to be one at Cranfield, privately owned by a New Zealand sheep farmer who would take it out for a fast taxi down the runway. A great sight and an even more incredible noise. Judging by the blast of heat from the aircraft, I wouldn't want to be the one picking up the fuel bill.

In my younger days I was in the ATC. During summer camp, you were allowed to work with RAF staff "helping" them with their roles in the RAF. I asked to help with ground RADAR and ILS systems. I spent a day in the lab helping to set up the ground RADAR systems and repeaters and then spent a day being flown to an airfield in North Lincolnshire in an Argosy - using a theodolite set up at the end of the runway and a radio to the Argosy getting it to fly down the theodolite cross hairs whilst they feedback if they were low or high according to the instruments.

Whilst we were doing this 2 Lightnings scrambled, at the end of the runway there was, what can only be described as a shed with the doors closed. A siren went off, two guys rushed out of a building into a Land Rover which dashed across the airport. Whilst they were being driven across, the doors on the shed opened and the 2 Lightnings inside were started so the engines were running when the guys leapt out of the Land Rover and climbed into the Lightnings, a few seconds later they were out the shed, down the run way and turned from horizontal flight to near vertical where we were standing, the noise was something else. From siren to climbing out of view through the "high" cloud had to be less than a minute.

I understand that there are now none flying, and that the CAA would be very unlikely to give them an airworthiness certificate, due to the duration of flight they could manage without re-fuelling and that without the engines running their flying characteristics resemble that of a brick.

 

[raleighnut]

Wasn't it a Lightning that Clarkson stuck in his garden til the council made him take it away. (or it could have been his wife. )

 

[Flying Dodo]

Lightnings were incredible machines - far ahead of their time, but VERY thirsty. 3.5 gallons per second per engine. 35 minutes was the endurance on a supersonic intercept over the North Sea.

Re them flying, British Aerospace wouldn't provide any assistance to UK firms wanting to keep one flying, and similarly the CAA wouldn't allow it, due to its rather bad habit of crashing a few times due to engine fires.

Prior to 2009 there had been 4 flying in Cape Town, but they got shut down due to a crash caused by poor maintenance procedures which resulted in the death of a pilot. However, this year they did fly one of them again, but they're up for sale.

There's one in the USA which they're trying to restore to flight but they reckon it will take $600,000.....

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Lightnings were incredible machines - far ahead of their time, but VERY thirsty. 3.5 gallons per second per engine. 35 minutes was the endurance on a supersonic intercept over the North Sea.

Re them flying, British Aerospace wouldn't provide any assistance to UK firms wanting to keep one flying, and similarly the CAA wouldn't allow it, due to its rather bad habit of crashing a few times due to engine fires.

Prior to 2009 there had been 4 flying in Cape Town, but they got shut down due to a crash caused by poor maintenance procedures which resulted in the death of a pilot. However, this year they did fly one of them again, but they're up for sale.

There's one in the USA which they're trying to restore to flight but they reckon it will take $600,000.....

That's nearly as bad as my Volvo.

 

[Markymark]

That's nearly as bad as my Volvo.

tbh if you drive a Volvo, all things should be bad for you.

 

[ColinJ]

Lightnings were incredible machines - far ahead of their time, but VERY thirsty. 3.5 gallons per second per engine. 35 minutes was the endurance on a supersonic intercept over the North Sea.

Ideal for scaring crowds with ludicrously risky fly-pasts at airshows!

 

[summerdays]

I went with a friend to one of the Filton staff days a few years ago when they had lots of different planes flying etc and had a great day, then as we were about to go out the gates we saw lots of crowds near the runway and went to look, and there was a Vulcan taking off and then flying by. And incredible sight, sound and feeling in the bottom of your stomach!

Recently we had lots of aircraft flying over our house and I took a photo to show to my Rolls Royce friend, and he identified them as Osprey V22's.

 

[Fab Foodie]

IIRC there is still one Lightening flying in SA it featured recently in a BBC documentary with that young physics doctor bloke whose on all the time but I cant remember his name and was on TOTP once ....
Also I think they still hold the vertical climbing record.
Anna Notherthing ... the engines were extremely unreliable and leaked like sieves apparently. Complete rebuilds needed after nearly every flight.

Awesome sight and noise however, just an engine with wings and cockpit attached.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

When I were a nipper the Vulcan was a common sight as we lived near to Bruntingthorpe, and then at school later in Lutterworth the Red Arrows used to do a practice (pre-season) display over the school.

Bruntingthorpe was where XH558 was restored
I went there in 1995, for my 40th, & had a 'TVR Trackday'
Sadly, it was a Saturday, & hanger tours only took place on Sundays

The Vulcan could out climb Hawker Hunters much to the chagrin of their pilots.

And, quite possibly out 'aileron roll' them too??

View attachment 57005
Has anybody seen an English Electric Lightning? They first flew in 1954 and had an initial rate of climb of 50,000 feet per minute. I was told that they could easily have exceeded that figure but the nose wheel retracted forward so the pilot had to keep the speed down after take off so that it l could fold in against the air resistance. I think it could be over Iceland in twenty minutes. There used to be one at Cranfield, privately owned by a New Zealand sheep farmer who would take it out for a fast taxi down the runway. A great sight and an even more incredible noise. Judging by the blast of heat from the aircraft, I wouldn't want to be the one picking up the fuel bill.

There was one at the side of the A1, in a scrapyard, near Balderton, it could be seen looking very sorry for itself
It must have been scrapped/cannibalised, as it's not listed anymore
'XN 728'

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/index.php

The trouble with Vulcans if they fly past, particularly if they are climbing, is that the noise can very easily be mistaken for the end of the world.

If not the Howl of the Damned????

Don't they use them as an alternative to cranes when disruption/inconvenience is an issue?

The constructors of the CN Tower (in Toronto) used a Sky-Crane to install the final sections, & some antenna sections

Ooooh a Vulcan! Pointy ears and all

Wrong Vulcan, it's this Vulcan that we're interested in

Wasn't it a Lightning that Clarkson stuck in his garden til the council made him take it away. (or it could have been his wife. )

Yes, it was, & the one in question; 'XM 172'
http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/lightning/survivor.php?id=31

 

[Flying Dodo]

There's also a Lightning at Cranfield which does occasional taxi runs - next one scheduled to be 18th October. £25 gets you up close & personal and a sit in the cockpit (when stationary).

 

[raleighnut]

Bruntingthorpe was where XH558 was restored
I went there in 1995, for my 40th, & had a 'TVR Trackday'
Sadly, it was a Saturday, & hanger tours only took place on Sundays




And, quite possibly out 'aileron roll' them too??


There was one at the side of the A1, in a scrapyard, near Balderton, it could be seen looking very sorry for itself
It must have been scrapped/cannibalised, as it's not listed anymore
'XN 728'

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/index.php

View attachment 57193



If not the Howl of the Damned????


The constructors of the CN Tower (in Toronto) used a Sky-Crane to install the final sections, & some antenna sections





Wrong Vulcan, it's this Vulcan that we're interested in







Yes, it was, & the one in question; 'XM 172'
http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/lightning/survivor.php?id=31

Quoted 3 times and no 'you're wrong ' comments Cheers Mate Multi likes due.
(See I told them all I wasn't mad. it just looks that way. )

 

[Pale Rider]

. the engines were extremely unreliable and leaked like sieves apparently. Complete rebuilds needed after nearly every flight.

Awesome sight and noise however, just an engine with wings and cockpit attached.

My brother worked on Lightnings when he was an RAF technician.

No surprise to learn the ground crew nickname for them was 'frightenings'.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

The Vulcan could out climb Hawker Hunters much to the chagrin of their pilots.

There's two at a diving centre, to the east of Pontefract ('Blue Lagoon' at Womersley)
http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/hunter/survivors.php

XJ 639 & WT799
http://www.divebluelagoon.com/

My brother worked on Lightnings when he was an RAF technician.

No surprise to learn the ground crew nickname for them was 'frightenings'.

'Thrust 2' (the Land Speed Record car) was powered by a single Lightning engine

 

[Simontm]

Vulcans are kinda part of the family as my father-in-law was a V-force navigator. Apparently, its elastic band and string technology used to wind up the Americans in war games as it was impervious to their attempts at jamming the planes.