My two cents. I had an opportunity to talk with a retired pilot, who had flown the Lightnings in an air force of one of their Mid-Eastern users. He was not fond of these birds actually. He mentioned that they were not pleasant to fly, surprisingly not too maneuverable, and consumed gas extremely quickly. The maintenance was very laborious. That said, the Lightning was too cumbersome and expensive to operate giving not too big advantage in return. Compared to the Lightnings, the Hawker Hunter was much more pleasant and much cheaper to fly, he said.