There's one (T4/T5?) parked near the A52 at some cross-country snooker club just outside Wainfleet All Saints. All you need is a tractor and a towbar and a quick dash along the A52, A17 and A15 (although Boston could be a bit tricky). Pretend it's a caravan and no-one will notice. :ok:

There was one in a HAS at Wattisham some years back?

What about the sad derelict one on the East side of the A1 South of Newark? Might need a bit of work but it should be a great addition to Harry's flagpole!

LJ:E

Yes, Leon; you're right!

Please will someone rescue F2a XN728 (ex-92 Sqn) from that field at Balderton? Once upon a time she was someone's pride and joy and now look at her!

Why don't you see if you can raise some funding for this endeavour. As an ex 5 Sqn Lightning pilot (66 - 68) I would be happy to contribute. Anyone else? Perhaps the lottery might help?

There are 2 at Doncaster. F3 XP706 (although she seems to be ex-5 Sqn) is not in as good a condition as F6 XS897.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...g?t=1213991316

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...g?t=1213991551

Is that the one in a field by a crossroads? If so, I was a tad surprised to see it there as I hurtled past one afternoon. Isn't there another jet there as well, identity forgotten?

Clarksons is out

I am reliably informed he hasn't got it anymore, and it graces a roundabout in Hampshire.

Jeremy Clarkson didn't actually have Lightning F Mk 1a XM172 in his garden for very long.

An ex-Coltishall gate guardian, it then went to Booker; subsequently there were plans for it to be displayed on a roundabout in Farnborough, but those fell through.

The last I heard, it had been bought by a private owner, Neil Airey, and is now in Cumbria having been reconstructed. Neil hopes to restore the aircraft to museum standard in the future, it seems.

Mrs C was apparently very against the idea, and only agreed to its temporary placement for the programme.

It did a lovely job of ploughing her lawn.:E

Still think that you could ask him for a sub though. His prog has had a lot of mileage from the RAF.

Quote
Yes, Leon; you're right!

Please will someone rescue F2a XN728 (ex-92 Sqn) from that field at Balderton? Once upon a time she was someone's pride and joy and now look at her!

Reply

Heard that the owner of the service area is to have the aircraft restored to it's former glory??:D

Think he had heard the same question too many times - when is the lightning getting a lick of paint??:zzz:

The vandals even took the nose cone.:ugh::=

There used to be a good 111 Sqn example in the now defunct museum at ex RAF Hemswell north of Scampton. Museum only shut down a couple of years ago. Anyone know what happened to that? :8

The Hemswell Lightning is now at Thorpe Camp near Woodhall Spa.

... and it looks pretty good sat there...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarpu...88639/sizes/m/

Quite a comprehensive list of what is where here:

http://www.demobbed.org.uk/aircraft.php?type=679

Clarksons ex lightning is on static display along with other a/c at Farnborough Airfield

Thank you for your input!
 

Wow! I'm quite surprised as to the level of feedback over such a short time. Thank you all for your ideas and inputs.

I'll give you a quick update on how the hunt is going so far...

Firstly, I would like to re-emphasise that the aircraft will be sat outside 5 Sqn HQ. It is NOT to be a station gate guard. Thank you to all those that helped clarify this point.

The squadron's intention is not to get it flying or even taxying, but simply to inspire the current generation of serving personnel posted to the squadron.

I have a full list of the whereabouts of Lightnings in the UK. The difficulty I'm having at the moment is in finding contact details for the owners. Many of the aircraft that have been mentioned have been confirmed as unavailable.

The aircraft I am currently seriously chasing up:

XP706 in Doncaster - One of the owners has contacted me and it looks like the other owners may consider a sale or loan. Pending.

XR770 in Gainthorpe looks to be available, but once again, I am having trouble getting any contact details. I may need to take a trip up to the museum to make further enquiries.

XS919 at Wonderland Play Park in Notts also looks to be available. I think they simply want to be rid of it and I am currently awaiting a Director's decision (likely to be next week).

The suggestion to chase up a Vampire or even an F3 has been taken on board. However, I'll go down that path if I fail to secure any of these Lightnings. As a side note, it took 23 Sqn about 2yrs to acquire their Phantom, and alot of hurdles along the way! I am in touch with the chap who managed to achieve it, and have had a few offers of help in physically getting an aircraft here.

I'd like to thank Andy B of LPG and Scott C for their help in identifying the available Lightnings.

I will keep you guys posted as to how I get on. Cheers!!

No worries is good to know we can help out.

Great news, on 770 and 919 they desparatley need saving soon, 770 would be nice to see 'brought back' as she was a 5sdq aircraft and donated to the people of Grimsby at the end of Binbrook, she was presented by John Spencer and painted up as XR728 JS for a while, then back to the red fin AA 770 livery.
Here she is in 87

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...inbrook/41.jpg

919 is in a real state, but with some TLC she could be made to look respectable again.

Here she is in Aug 87 at the last 'wet wet' Lightning show

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...inbrook/11.jpg

Good luck with it and all the best from the LPG, 20 years old to day :ok:

Andy B

For the physical relocation of the ac, why don't you speak with 'Crash and Smash' at St Athan. I am sure the WO, with his team, would relish the opportunity of moving such an iconic ac.

Just a word of caution! I spoke to the guys at Dumfries who acquired their Lightning from Ferranti and had a devil of a job moving it by road. They ended up cutting the wings and fin off!! Mainly because of new restrictions on the size of loads allowed on the road these days! It still looks very sad and will never look good because it has been butchered for the move. Maybe the RAF can get around the restrictions??

Agreed, '770 would be most appropiate, as the last 5 Sqn 'flagship' a/c. IIRC it may have been the last to fly a 5 Sqn Lightning sortie..?
Seem to vaguely recall Furz Lloyd flying '770 on his last Lightning flight as well....?

lightning
 

Hi
there is an old lightning parked at the end of the runway at Cranfield airfield with a tarp over the cockpit,it flew in with 5 others some years ago now but stayed,I think it was brought by a collector but I haven't seen it move now for some time.Its been kept outside which makes me think its not taken seriously anymore.
If you call 01234 750111 and ask for airfield security they could probably point you in the right direction, if you like I could take a photo and mail it to you ,you can see it clearly from the road.
Good luck

JARTS are a pretty heavily tasked team - suggest they would be contacted soonest as the experts on such loads.

Anna, my friend Russell Carpenter might have some objection to you calling his pride and joy something that's "not taken seriously". He's repainted XS458 more than once, keeps it in running condition and it regularly blasts down the runway at Cranfield.

A quick google found this: http://www.airsceneuk.org.uk/oldstuf.../cranfield.htm

As for crash n smash, they'll want to cut any Lightning for transport based on previous efforts. Best off contacting 11 Sqn to see how they moved theirs... properly... from Leeming to Coningsby.

GeeRam wroteahh yes I seem to remeber working my nads off changing the engine a few days before so he could grace the linc's skys in the said ac.



As for chopping the wings off, Andy B and the boys will tell you you can just unbolt em , its not an easy job however they do come apart !!!

They do your right, but its one hell of a job, on two corrodied airframes.

770 and 919 have been cut and regrafted together at the fin and inboard of the oleo's before, so I think thats the best route, if this is a goer.

If you need any help or advise just shout

Good luck chaps :ok:

Lightning Update
 

It seems like a suitable time to update you all on the progress of getting our very own Lightning. I apologise for the lengthy delay.

We have a couple of potential Lightnings available to us, however, the issue of funding is seriously degrading our chances of success.

The station has held a siting board and the plans have been approved with the understanding that the sqn will finance any costs arising. Initially, this didn't seem to be much of a problem, however, we expected to achieve certain tasks within the RAF to save money. It seems the days of getting things done for a few beers are long gone, and now everything must be auditable.

The aircraft offered to us will be as a loan. Our main concerns at the moment are with financing:

- transport of the aircraft
- painting of the aircraft
- landscaping on site (to include gravel area and concrete plinths)

We have tried to get crash and smash to help us with transport, and although they are willing to help, we would be the bottom of the priority list. If any incident occurred like the Hawk crash at Cranwell during our planned move date, then we would be left to our own devices. The contingency plan of paying a company to move the ac for us will cost us in the region of £1000.

The cost of painting the aircraft will vary with the level of quality we would like to achieve. It could be in the hundreds for a basic roller job, to the thousands for a gloss finish over anti-corrosion undercoat. Obviously with the aircraft sitting outside for most of it's time, we would want the latter.

Finally, landscaping will require a gravel area with three concrete plinths to support the wheels. The estimate for this is approx £2000.

As you can see, the numbers add up quite quickly to far more than is available in our sqn fund!

We are still hoping to complete this project, but are quickly coming up against certain timescale deadlines. Any ideas for potential sponsorship with any of these tasks would be much appreciated.

Thanks for all your help so far!

With regard to funding, is there not a 5 Sqn Association that could help, run fund-raising events etc? As to moving it, here is one seen earlier :)

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f8...tning_Move.jpg

It was spotted trundling around the M25 earlier this month.

Hello there, just been reading your thread. I was involved with the 47AD Dakota, To finance our project we had a lot of help from the AD association.
But to get the rest of the money we sold shares in the aircraft. this gave enough money to complete the project and left some for repainting and repair work.
crash and smash moved it for us. we had a full police escort from Coventry to Lyneham.
As for painting we rolled ours and it looks good. loads of photo's on line if you use google.
pm me if need help.

One would have thought that the prime contractors for ASTOR would feel guilty enough to cough up the cash for you... I am sure that they have not lost money due to the delays of getting the system into service.....
I seem to recall that the contractors for the Sentry were not slow in paying for the 90th anniversary tail flashes for 8 and 23. A suitable plaque on the Lighning plinth should suffice.

To Lyneham Lad and others-

There is a 5 Sqn Assoc'n, but the funds avail would only stretch to getting the tyres pumped up !
The annual fee is only a couple of quid, so funds aren't great obviously.
5 Sqn ATC would love to come and dig the land out & gravel it perhaps ?
And then a simple roller paint job till funds permit a proper shiney job ?
Or a simple appeal for funds from any ex 5 Sqn mate and/or lightning jockey ?
I'd be happy to cough up for such a good cause.

As for moving the aircraft, have you thought of asking SHFHQ at RAF Odiham?
It would make an interesting load and some good training for JHSU.
The aircrafts weight and distance to be flown would be factors but we should be able to save you the hassle and expense of cutting off the wings/tail for road movement.

How about an update from the thread originator (or nominated deputy if that person has moved on). The airframe for 5 AC sqn has been outside today (great to see as I walked past). What are the current and future plans?

Not sure what's happening next - last weekend's sudden spurt of effort was mainly due to an upcoming 'elf n safety inspection of the hanger (and the expected questions from the inspectors about the large pile of Lighting parts in one corner - a positive trip hazard :bored:)
No sign of 5's most serviceable aircraft this afternoon - rumour had it she was on a P Sortie :)

.. if an undercoat for the ally and possibly the best anti corrosion treatment going is needed, I might be able to help. The terms would be at cost price and not foc (in all probability), but it could be of help.

Drop me a PM if you need more info.

Currently 5's Lightning is parked up behind the air ambulance hangar, should be easily visible from the A15.

Further to my last of yesterday, the offer of the anti corrosion and metal treatment has been confirmed by my colleague, who will be more than pleased to help. By happy coincidence, a close family friend of his has XR755 in his front garden.

Lightning Rebuild
 

The Lightning took a significant step toward readiness for the Waddington Airshow last weekend. Having been re-assembled, it was towed out to Waddington Airfield's Bravo Dispersal on its own wheels. The work was completed thanks to the efforts of a select few of our riggers. Even a few pilots got their hands dirty!

The plan is to have it restored over the coming months leading up to the Airshow. The painter will begin restoration work soon and is aware of our time constraints. If the aircraft is ready in time, we plan to have Gp Capt Andy Williams unveil it at the Airshow. The owners and the LPG are likely to have stalls alongside the aircraft.

This project is going to cost a significant amount of money and any offers of funding can be PM'd to me. We have thus far raised approx £400, but are far from the goal of raising £3000! It would be nice to see the aircraft back to its former glory.

To help with fund-raising, we are planning a run of Lightning die-cast models at 1:72 scale. The models will be in XR770's flashy red/grey livery and will be available from me by the end of April. This would allow people to make a suitable donation and receive something back for their generosity.

The aircraft is in reasonably good condition, although there are a few items I am still trying to source. The probe is currently missing, a new port flap section would be beneficial, and engine tail-pipes would make the rear look more complete. The station workshop may be able to help 'manufacture' these for us, but we would be grateful if some original parts were made available to us.

Offers of cadets to help with plinths and anti-corrosion primer for the aircraft are appreciated and I have PM'd you. Thank you all for your help so far.

OIC 5 (AC) Sqn Lightning

Will details of how to purchase the die cast model be posted on this thread in due course?