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Well, the thumbnail for this video was off. However the lightning was a beast of an aircraft. It was the first fighter to supercruise, before supercruising was a thing. A concept that is relevant now. Let alone in the 50's.
Disappointing he never mentioned that Jeremy Clarkson bought one in a TV stunt and greatly angered his Wife after it got dragged across his front lawn, destroying it in the process.
Comparing technology of the Lightning with fighters of 1988 is like comparing the technology on a Saturn V with that of the space shuttle, yes, the Saturn V was prehistoric to the shuttle, but the Saturn V is still the only rocket to put men on the moon.
If you want be an educational channel with correct facts (your videos are peppered with wrong facts) then start by using the right aircraft for the thumbnail.
I'd love a cover piece on the AH64D 🙂 I didnt see on when I searched for it
My Dad use to fix these when he was in the RAF – he bloody loved them!
What is that image on the thumbnail? 😂😢
It makes me think of the F35 – it's not meant for dogfighting and I imagine if it functioned as a mothership for various smart missiles it would be more effective
Your level of mis-information is legendary
Could you do a Megaprojects video on AirVenture? 10,000+ small aircraft and 670,000+ people converging on a regional airport in Wisconsin for a week. The logistics of air traffic control are astounding.
Err…. Australia never had the F-15.
I wish we had the F-15, but we got the F/A-18 instead.
Sorry, but from the first time I had seen this aircraft, with it's angular lines, especially the wing shape, and that MIG like nose, was to me, a goofy looking aircraft. And then there's that pregnant guppy ventral housing, well that is a weird gun placement and configuration.
Britain was the world leader in planes after WW2 but our B*stard government sold the country out to America like it usually does .
Lol! Who the hell is in charge putting thumbnail uip like that?? Someones trolling!
What In The AI Hell is that thumbnail? When humans relinquish responsibility…
I had the privilege of seeing four Lightnings flying in formation at Ysterplaat AFB, Cape Town in 2006. They belonged to Thunder City, now sadly no more after the crash of one of the Lightnings at TFDC Overberg in 2009, killing the pilot when the ejector seat failed and the sudden death of the founder, Mike Beachy-Head in 2017.
20,000 fpm might be the average, but i thought initial climb was 50,000 fpm. But didn't hold it long. Was told an empty DC10 (by ex Laker cpt.) could do 10,000 fpm.
Lightning pilot told me one problem, the aircon, it would cause it to snow inside the cockpit.
More planes, cars and bikes need to be "Gloriously over-powered" in my view. The Lightning was a superb airframe that never got the devlopment in avionics, radar, weapons and engines it deserved.
When the Panavia Tornado was being devloped, the avionics and radar were tested in the aircraft it was to replace, the Blackburn Buccaneer. The pilots reported that they would be perfectly happy with the upgraded Buccaneer, most of the upgrade in capability was in the avionics, not the aircraft.
The aircraft I think of most like the Lightning was the F104 Starfighter. A similar ultra high speed record setter which gave away too much lift for speed and had a grave digging reputation. The Lightning (or Frightning) was faster, but still benign to fly. A mechanic once accidentally took off in one and still managed to land it! (Walter "Taffy" Holden)
My favourite story was one pilot who was told to take off without afterburners, but still lit them anyway. He didn't get the gear up until 30000 feet, and later on said that he was "ahead of the plane" right until he let off the brakes on the runway.
The only aircraft that could show a Lightning a clean pair of heels was a SR-71 Blackird, and that's saying something.
Fun fact: The Lightning remains the fastest aircraft that the RAF ever flew, but Concorde was faster. Only a Lghtning could intercept Concorde in an interception trial, nothing the USAF had could catch it.
'Aeroplane'
i was lucy enough to be at an airshow at an airshow at raf lossie in 83 and saw one fly,,it stole the show,the noise,then took off, went vertical and disappeared,f14 arfter was a bit limp
Did Ira Jones of 74 squadron ever over an opinion?
Why is the art in your thumbnail so awful? That looks like some mongrel breed of Folland Gnat and Panavia Tornado, with a few odd '50s jets thrown into the gene pool. certainly nothing like an English Electric Lightning.
That was a rhetorical question by the way, I know the answer already: you're using AI to generate the art, AI even less knowledgeable about technical matters than you, Simon, instead of a human artist who you'd have to pay, but would at least get the bloody subject of the video right. God, man, AI's only fit for making creepypasta and nightmare waifus with too many fingers, you can't use it to illustrate anything specific, unless you train it with pictures you could use for the thumbnail as is.
I guess you'd rather save money than not treat your staff and your audience with contempt.
The Lightning was a magnificent piece of engineering at the time, And perfect for what it was meant to be!. A fast climbing Point interceptor. By the 80s it was old and expensive to maintain but could still do its intended job. It was an amazing thing to see!
It’s speed was almost accidental. When the lightening design was first started it was intended to go supersonic without reheat (afterburners). So when reheat was added, plus the increase in dry thrust (non-reheat) that often happens during the development life of an engine, it ended up as a massively overpowered, low drag aircraft that could go supersonic in a vertical climb. One strange example could catch concord and intercept the top US spy plane using a zoom climb. This was keep secret at the time.
I remember seeing a Lightning as a child at Farnborough in a display. It took off , went vertical and went supersonic. They weren't supposed to do that at air shows. Either the the pilot did a woops or was enjoying himself scaring the crap out of the dignitaries.
RAF “Coll ‘tis holl”….?
What a ugly aircraft…
We used to refer to ex lightning guys as WIWOL’s….. When I Was On Lightnings, as they’d always tell you even if you didn’t ask
Did you just say "buffet", like a brunch, vs "buffet", ie buffeting (shaking)?
Simon needs an onlyfans where he sells his used sheath underwear. Don't wash them Simon, sell them. I'm not buying, somebody is
I've seen a cut-away lightning fuselage in the metal, lots of valves, it could still out preform most modern fighters at speed, climb and altitude, but not sa an bvr. But from what I've read, in could take on US f4's successfully in the merge.
“Light heavy buffet” 😅
Please stop using AI garbage
The RR Avon engine was also used in the Saab 35 Draken, also capable of Mach 2. On one engine…
Cool Plane… Totally Rad as British people like to say. Just kidding British people just say Cheers all the time then go back to what they were doing before. Cheers!
That thumbnail has to be click-bait; no one could be that dumb.
First time I saw a lightning was St Eval airshow… Lighting on the end of the runway, Hawker Hunter does a fast pass and climbs away at around 45degress doing slow rolls. Lightning sparks up the afterburners, releases the brakes … very very short take off run, vertical climb, rolling slowing and (naughty) a sonic boom just before he disappeared in the clouds… an 8 yr old boy fell in love at that point… it's been a favourite ever since.
“I was in full control right up to releasing the handbrake” – English Electric Lightning pilot
Sentimentality aside, it did the job during the Cold War but in a real war scenario the UK air defences would likely have been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Soviet aircraft. A numbers game. In the WW2 massive Kursk tank battle, Russian tank losses were enormous compared with the opposing smaller force of superior German tanks – but huge numerical losses accepted by the Russians could not be accepted by the Germans, who (basically outnumbered) suffered a defining strategic defeat at Kursk.
The more I learn about the Lighting and more I like it. I don't care that much about weapons systems. All that crap can be hanged under the wings, if necessary. Including fuel. The most amazing thing to me about the plane is that over/under engine configuration. Almost every other fighter ever developed has a side by side engine configuration. In the event of an engine failure they could of course fly, but it would be in emergency status heading back to base having a bad yawl to one side. The Lighting pilot would hardly even notice. It would still have perfect centre of gravity. Perhaps just a little more average rate of climb. Also, if it was ever an issue the Lighting could cruise on one engine. Something no fighter with side by side engines could reasonably do, and it would be unlikely save fuel that way anyway. It was a great loss to Britain's defence system and considering they were replaced with two American fighters… Something is green and stinks to high heaven.
The upper-lower engines configuration seems to be a maintenance nightmare, especially that upper engine. Also, Mach 2+ speed doesn't seem to be a priority for today's fighters. The sweet spot seems to be around Mach 1.5.
As a young boy I went to the 1962 Farnborough Air Show. At one stage a group of three Lightnings started their take off run together. I happened to be standing opposite where they lifted off, a second later they each did a flick roll in perfect synchronisation – the wing tips were really not very far off the ground. It really was a gasp out loud moment and not just for a young boy like me. They then climbed vertically until they were out of sight.
More than 60 years later, I still have the at image in my head.