Lightning XM192

[Pontius Navigator]

I feel like a little game with my Orange Putter.

[safetypee]

Beware of the Pink Poodle, a so called weapon of government and of debatable use in the Middle East.
A possible ‘bunkum buster’.
‘XM192’, I flew that in July 66 as a very inexperienced Ltg stude, would love to see it again when complete.

[lightningmate]

Likewise had the pleasure of flying '192' about the same time; albeit becoming somewhat 'aroused' when the starboard leg failed to come down. I flew past the Tower thinking 'Oh Gawd!' - there was a rumble and down it came. I guess I should have expected the experience since Paul Hobley had the same problem previously with 192 and spent about 20 mins doing various aircraft gymnastics to get the bl**dy thing to come down. Yours truly got the jet after a bit of 'ground tested found satisfactory'. I really thought I was about to do a Geoff Fish!

lm

[Conan the Librarian]

This is really sad, I know, but.... When I was about three and a bit feet shorter, my first Airfix kit was a Lightning and memory says XM192 or possibly XM172. If it turns out to be something in the XS range, please disregard this post and eat the computer.

Conan

[Archimedes]

Conan - even more sadly, I know the answer - which is that the Airfix F1 kit was of XM192

[Conan the Librarian]

Archimedes, thank you for highlighting my mispent youth. I will sleep tonight. That is, providing that nurse brings my medication...

Conan

[Tim McLelland]

Chinney, pay no heed to these cheeky chaps - the obscure names are mostly warhead and bomb designs, although I see we drifted-off into even more exotic nomenclature as we progressed!

Conan, you're quite right, the afore-mentioned Lightning was indeed famous in enthusiast circles as being the original "Airfix kit" on which the company based their model and markings. The kit is still occasionally availble, thinly disguised as an F3, but boy does it show it's age. Thankfully, Airfix more recently produced a truly outstanding Lightning kit in the larger 48th scale.

Delightful though it may be that the extremely rare Lightning F1A was saved from the Hemswell disaster, I was horrified that the Canberra T19 was simply cut-up on site. It was the only Mk.19 to ever be painted in camouflage - what a disgrace that it was destroyed.

[bin boy]

xm192

hi there all
i am currently restoring xm192 at tattershall thorpe and i am trying to get in contact with anyone who had anything to do with the aircraft either ground crew or pilots
considering the aircraft hasnt flown for 30 years the aircraft is in good condition and within the year i will hopefully be able to apply power to certain areas.i have nearly finished restoring most of the instrument panels to serviceable condition whch i will eeventually refit.
i have the canopy operated by the hydraulic hand pump so things are pretty good so far .
so if anyone has any pictures or log book entries which i could get copied for display with the aircraft it would be great
please contact me at [email protected] if possible
if anyone has any questions regarding 192 i would be more than happy to answer


darren

[SirToppamHat]

Tim

Delightful though it may be that the extremely rare Lightning F1A was saved from the Hemswell disaster

Sorry if I seem a bit thick, but what do you mean? I live near to Hemswell and have noticed that many of the airframes on display there have vanished recently - I thought they may have gone into storage - have they suffered a more terminal fate?

This is the Museum Web Site:

Hemswell Museum

STH

Edited to add that further research of the Woodall Spa Museum Site reveals that the Hemswell Museum has now closed down. Sad that the Canberra (and presumably most of the other exhibits) was destroyed.

[Tim McLelland]

Yes indeed, the Hemswell collection just suddenly closed a few weeks back - no warning, no attempt to save the aircraft. It was a miracle that the Lightning survived, but a disgrace that the Canberra didn't. The Hemswell museum was never exactly a huge success, partly because few people even knew it was there, and those that did, found that it was closed virtually all of the time. I guess we should sympathise if they couldn't manage to keep the museum running, but why didn't they at least try and save the aircraft?
Poor old Hemswell is now nothing more than a site for crappy flea market stalls - somehow, Richard Todd walking down that entrance road wouldn't look quite so convincing if they tried re-shooting the Dambusters movie there again (yes it was Hemswell they filmed the end scene at, not Scampton)

[SirToppamHat]

I agree about the Station, but I suspect the Officers' Mess is in better condition than it ever was before (believe the Dambusters Movie also used that as a set). The Air Commodore's (Air Cdre Lancaster Force?) House recently came up for sale for a cool £550K. I wonder what that was originally sold-off for?

STH

[STANDTO]

Hemswell Court looks nice. I was meant to be going to a wedding there in March but it is a logistical nightmare trying to have a short weekend in Lincolnshire from Fraggle Rock

[Pontius Navigator]

Tail and wings were almost glued back on today.

It will look like a jet tomorrow.

[Green Meat]

The Hemswell collection gone? Spent a very happy afternoon there a few years ago. Yet another shame.

Incidentally I thought I'd just pop my head up to see if I can join the 'colours club' even though my moniker came from an apocryphal story!