Lightning question

[Vortex what...ouch!]

Saw this on a web site but nobody seems to know what it is? Some kind of "guard" on the underside of the fuselage. Any of you guys know? It's an F2 apparently.

http://www.hotel.wineasy.se/ipms/photos/detail_lightning_02.jpg

[sycamore]

Probably a 30mm cannon blast-deflector/flash deflector if it`s on a pack under the fuselage,on an F2.

[lightningmate]

Unlikely to be an F2 since the wpns pack fitted, integral beneath and slightly forward of the cockpit, was rarely anything but the missile pack. The permanent guns fitted to an F2/F2A were above and behind the intake. The graphic looks much more like an F6 and that mark had its guns fitted at the front of the ventral fuel tank.

lm

[Archimedes]

LM,

Am I correct in thinking that the F2A could, in theory, carry the gun pack in the front of the ventral tank a la Mk 6?

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the F2A could carry up to 6 ADEN - the two permanent guns, the lower pack in lieu of Firestreak, and the ventral tank - but that you were equally likely to meet a hen on your next trip to the dentist as you were to see that configuration for real.

[soddim]

The F2A was never configured with guns in the front of the ventral. This would not in any case have been worthwhile since it always carried the two upper guns and could, if required, carry a gun pack with a further two 30mm Aden in place of the missile pack.

Cannot recognise the item in the picture but it could perhaps be an add-on to the business end of one of the guns in the gun pack fitted in place of the missile pack.

[Archimedes]

soddim, quite - hence my point about this being theoretical.

After all - with 2 x ADEN on board already, would the pilot go for two more in the tank or for the fuel? Think I can probably guess....

By the by, there is a piccie of an F2A (XN733) fitted with the ventral pack in Wings of Fame Vol 7 - but this appears to be purely for test purposes, and the caption comments on how odd a sight this was for the F2A.

[2 TWU]

The ventral tank of a 2A couldn't be configured to take the 2 Adens a la Mk6. The photo is naggingly familiar but age and Altzheimers intervene, may well be from a Mk 6 ventral pack.

Firing the upper fixed guns from a Mk2/2A was always interesting, the vibrations could do wonderful things with the instruments, I once landed twice in one day in a Mk2 with an ASI failure caused by said vibrations breaking the tubes to the instrument.

[BOAC]

Like 2 TWU, the memory chips are dying! My money is on a modded F6, but I see XN 795 did trials on the 27mm Mauser gun at Warton.

Need to ask my 'guru'. Standby!

[Archimedes]

Vortex,

If you look at Ian Black's Last of the Lightnings, (1st ed) there are some excellent shots of this 'thing' (the blast deflector) . The piccies on pp.s 8, 12, 14, 35-36 & 76 (amongst others) show the item clearly.

A pic in the Wings of Fame piece shows XN795 with the 27mm Mauser fitted in the tank position as well.

I wouldn't dream of arguing with 2TWU about the ventral fit (or more accurately the non-fitment) on the F2A - indeed, my question was whether or not the fitment was possible, so thanks for answering it 2TWU. However, most puzzlingly the WoF pic I referred to is of an F2A (the serial is correct for this mark), and does appear to have the cannons - perhaps another trials a/c or an optical illusion the caption writer didn't spot? :confused:

[MightyGem]

And there was me thinking it was a met question...ho hum:8

[BOAC]

To add confusion, my 'Guru' has come up trumps and sent me this (http://www.hotel.wineasy.se/ipms/stuff_eng_detail_lightning.htm) link, which clearly indicates the fitment is in the ventral of XN782, a Mk2A of the 92nd fleet of foot.!!