Lightning II

[sharpend]

Originally Posted by GlobalNav

So what did you think of the Buccaneer? The A7? The F-117? etc. I too am attracted to attractive aircraft such as the Spitfire, The Sabre, the Hustler, the F-15, etc. But the truth is found in their mission performance. Too early to say for the F-35, but here's hoping.

I love the looks of the Bucc, not so sure about the A7 or the F111, but they were good aeroplanes. Getting off topic slightly, but the Gnat gets my vote for looking good

[GlobalNav]

Originally Posted by sharpend

I love the looks of the Bucc, not so sure about the A7 or the F111, but they were good aeroplanes. Getting off topic slightly, but the Gnat gets my vote for looking good

Well, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, I guess.

For sure, though, the X-32 was as ugly as they get and could only have been selected as a naval aircraft on that basis. 😏
At the time leading to the down select some folks, myself included, could not deny the striking resemblance between it and the Boeing Company CEO. Pictures of both, side by side, adorned many aviation related offices, then. Ugly as sin.

[newt]

Me flying my aircraft on my first Squadron! Now that IS a Lightning! Retiring to my bunker!

[dook]

I wondered how long it would take for Newt to appear here.

[newt]

I have tried to stay away! But the sight of that “Thing” makes me so depressed! I hear they want to join the WIWOL association!

[2 TWU]

Newt, whatever you do, don't tell them we're meeting at the Marlborough Head, North Audley St on Oct 4th.

[dook]

I might be there too - for the first time.

[Buster15]

Originally Posted by stilton

One thing I’m not clear on is the planned
role for the F35 in RAF service, if it’s to be used primarily as a strike aircraft with the Typhoon taking care of the air to air mission that seems like a fairly potent combination

Typhoon is being updated to take on the vital air to ground role from Tornado GR4 when the latter is retired next year.
I agree that a Typhoon & F35 combination should be quite potent. However, while F35 with its stealth and sensor fusion is likely to be fairly advanced today, in years to come the benefits of these will be eroded. This is my concern in that the basic aircraft itself is quite limited in terms of pure performance. The so called 5th generation attributes will become less relevant with age and unlike Typhoon which remains extremely capable in terms of pure performance F35 limitations could well become exposed.

[megan]

I can understand calling it the Lightning but not the II suffix. We don't do that.

Anorak here. By rights the F-35 should be the Lightning IV. The very first Lightning was the P-38, though an American aircraft the name was bestowed by the British, in British service to be known as "Lightning Mark I", and a one off P-38, "Lightning Mark II". For the US the F-35 is indeed a Lightning II, as they never enjoyed newt's Lightning Mk. III except by way of exchange.

[Audax]

Newt, there was a good reason the MK2 was yours, if we gave you a 2A it simply meant you had more fuel per sortie with which to get into trouble!

[dook]

And mine above was an F3, the highest performance version of them all with the 301 Avons.

Standing by...…...

[Audax]

Wasn't the F3 upgraded to Avon 302s (the GT) and then the so called tuned jet pipes (the GTS)? Dook, I've flown both the aircraft pictured by yourself and Newt.

[dook]

It might well have been 302s - memory and age and all that.

Since you have flown both types pictured, I'm now wondering who you are.

PM me if you so desire.

[F35Driver]

Originally Posted by megan

Anorak here. By rights the F-35 should be the Lightning IV. The very first Lightning was the P-38, though an American aircraft the name was bestowed by the British, in British service to be known as "Lightning Mark I", and a one off P-38, "Lightning Mark II". For the US the F-35 is indeed a Lightning II, as they never enjoyed newt's Lightning Mk. III except by way of exchange.

In UK parlance the F35 is known simply as ‘Lightning’. All numbers have been dropped. Interestingly, the USAF are now calling it the Panther (same vein as they renamed the Fighting Falcon the Viper)

[2805662]

Originally Posted by megan

Anorak here. By rights the F-35 should be the Lightning IV. The very first Lightning was the P-38, though an American aircraft the name was bestowed by the British, in British service to be known as "Lightning Mark I", and a one off P-38, "Lightning Mark II". For the US the F-35 is indeed a Lightning II, as they never enjoyed newt's Lightning Mk. III except by way of exchange.

Wouldn’t it be [Name][Role/s].Mk[x] in modern RAF/RN use? By incorporating the WW2 P-38, your example mixes two naming conventions; the early WW2 type/name + iteration (e.g. “Spitfire Mk.IIa”) with more modern type/name + role/s. Just deriving conventions here, going from “Phantom FG.1” or “Tornado GR.1” and similar. As this is both a new aircraft type with its own role/s, “Lightning GR.1” or similar would seem fit the logic. Between the UK and the US, only the latter seems to incorporate numbers into the aircraft name, not the role/designator (e.g. C-17A Globemaster III).

[glad rag]

Originally Posted by F35Driver

In UK parlance the F35 is known simply as ‘Lightning’. All numbers have been dropped. Interestingly, the USAF are now calling it the Panther (same vein as they renamed the Fighting Falcon the Viper)

I don't think the F16 was "renamed"


https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-16.html



A service nickname perhaps...

Interestingly ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_panther

[ORAC]

User nicknames always win out over official titles - The Bone/Beak for B-1 Lancer/B-2 Spirit; Warthog for A-10 Thunderbolt etc.