End of an era?
 

I believe I am the last serving ex-Lightning pilot still in the RAF. In about 10 minutes, that was my last working day in the RAF. Did I ever tell you WIWOL ................

Well, since everything I flew is now in a museum also, go on then.
A dram of Dalwhinnie is now poured and I am waiting with baited breath.........

Congrats, by the way :ok:

Yup, every type I flew is in the Museum; hell 5 airframes I flew are at Cosford.

So please, do tell....

:ok:

Which Cosford airframes? - I got laid by a nurse in the Comet on a UAS summer camp :E

Bulldog (XX654 'A' the first Bulldog I ever flew in), Jetstream (XX496 'D' I flew as a METS student and later as a QFI), Nimrod (XV249 was an MR2 when I flew her), Hercules (XV202 flew that during the Bosnia conflict), Dominie (XS709 'M' the first Dom delivered and, by the time I was on Doms the one with the highest ZFW and bugger all use for beer runs!).

Hendon is where my airframes rest. The Tornado F3, the JP5A, and I did my first solo hover in the Harrier GR3.

I have 15 minutes stick-time in the mighty Lightning, so eagerly look forward to a WIWOL tale or two..where's he got to...?

The JP5A at Hendon is the one I did my first solo in - I believe it was Chid's (Sean Chiddention - sp?) jet later?.

I have some WIWOL time from the early '80s as a pax - I still have my 1000 mph certificate signed by CJ. :D

The aircraft is which I did my first solo has been in continuous RAF service for 62 years and is still on charge, but it's a lot less interesting than the Lightning so, like Fox, I look forward to a WIWOL tale or two.

A fabulous aircraft -

RP-E tells me it's the finest aircraft ever built.
Is he right?


ExAscoteer
I'm envious.
I was due to have a flight at the end of the 1983 display season with Mike Thompson, then the RAF's Lightning display pilot - and probably the best in my (amateur) opinion.
Tragically, Mike didn't make it the end of the season.


FL

A quick search reveals my first solo JP, XW358, still exists in a dark corner of Cosford. I remember that trip well. It was around sunset, directly into sun on the very short Rwy 29 (prohibited to studes you will recall after someone bounced their wheels on a furniture van going up the B-road), and out of crosswind limits.

Wonder if my instructor was trying to let me kill myself? ;) Not that I'd have blamed him!

The first Vulcan I ever flew in, XH 558, is of course the only one still flying. The captain was Joe l'Estrange. I do hope he's still with us.

Plenty of WIWOL stories every year at the WIWOL pilots reunion!:ok:

Ali,

Not sure if he's gone now but Harry A (went onto F3's), was still doing the rounds as a 1* at HWY last time I saw him. Maybe some old boys from the Con/Lee/Leu can chip in on Harrys provenance?

Congratulations on your retirement, don't drink to much :ok:

I would heartly recommend this month Flypast Magazine as it has some superb articles all about the Lightning in it, including the tragic tale of the USAF exchange pilot kiiled during a Taceval exercise intercepting a Shackleton, which is sadly a true "we learnt from that".. the guy should never have been in the position he was put in, and the more you read the story, the more you could understand the chain of events that lead up to his ultimate demise. :(

Flying Lawyer ... So that'll be WK518 then :ok:

Just been reading they trialled an unguided nuclear air to air missile on the. Lightning. One does wonder what happened if they missed.

Boeing: MB-1/AIR-2 Genie Missile

1.5 kilotons...I think a prox fuse would probably do the job! Wouldn't want to hang around after letting one loose though!!

The Lightning was the aircraft I joined up for. Never got near one....

Thirty five years ago the RAF were discussing a replacement for the aircraft type on which I began my first tour........ they entered service in 1971.

They have recently upgraded them instead to a Mk 2 spec. Must be one of the longest serving Mk1 types they've had.

I witnessed Mike doing a superb display at the BAe Hatfield families day a few weeks before that fateful August day at Scarborough, and he'd won the solo trophy at RIAT that year too IIRC.
The solo display at Hatfield was the best Lightning aero's display I'd seen since the legendary displays of Pete Chapman in the white tailed F.3 in the last year of the OCU.

From 10,000 ft away,it might potentially look like this

ISTR that Mike Thompson was identifiable as the pilot of the aircraft in a well known poster of the Lightning climbing vertically.

What are those crease like marks that cut through the wing roundels please?

Have a long and happy retirement , Mr Barber.

While we're reminiscing:

How I wish I'd had a camera with me in 91: there was a Victor tanker, Buccaneers one side, Phantoms the other, Harrier GR3s jousting. All gone within a couple years.

I've had a few Alpha Control GCIs from a Shackleton whilst flying a Tornado F3, which was quite a bridge in terms of capability (1989 I think); and had one drop a dinghy to me -actually, the b@stard tried to bomb me with it, but that's another story :ok:

newt,


I must listen to a WIWOL story one day! Are there books available?

Talking of Lightning display pilots, I hadn't realised until coming across this fact today by accident, that one of the coffin bearers for the Queen Mother's funeral was the last RAF Lightning aero's display pilot.

Ali, old mate, many happy years of retirement to you and the missus. Binbrook seems more than a lifetime ago.

And the memory of escorting you into Coningsby with no wheels (on purpose) still makes me smile - who needs foam?

See you at the next reunion...

cuefaye,

newt can tell you his WIWOL story about flying the cabriolet version of the Lightning!;)

Ffossip 1.3:E

What are those crease like marks that cut through the wing roundels please?

You won't believe it (not sure I do) but I understand the wings were cut for shipping.....:ugh: then repaired at Thunder City.

Tommo won the Embassy Trophy 1983 at Greenham fair & square despite stiff oppo from Mike Bebo's F-15 and a couple of naughty but nice NATO F-16 displays but Pete Chapman's was the real showstopper.

Well done, Ali. Nice thread.

Blimus!
Thanks for that.

None of the Lightnings that ended up at Thunder City had their wings cut for shipping, cutting the wings would have grounded them...

-RP

crease like marks
 

looks like it could be some form of speed tape or did they remove the paint to crack detect near the rivet heads along the rib?

None of the Lightnings that ended up at Thunder City had their wings cut for shipping, cutting the wings would have grounded them...

-RP

I did say I was cautious in my belief of the explanation but you seem to have neglected to attempt to answer the gentleman's question yourself.

I haven't neglected to attempt to answer the gentleman's question myself at all, because I don't know the answer. I simply stated that the wings were not cut, as your reply suggested may, or may not have happened, prior to them being shipped to Thunder City. To add a little more info, XS452 was split at Cranfield, XS451, XR773 and XP693 were split at Exeter, by Barry Pover and his team.

-RP

Possibility is they req a NDT procedure in that area so are devoid of paint.

CoffmanStarter
It was indeed.

Happy days. :)

Flt Lt Mike Thompson - XP753
 

Re. Mike Thompson - he was indeed a superb pilot - watched him at the IAT 83 & again shortly after at St Mawgan. I think at SM he departed later in the day together with Simon Lloyd-Morrison in his F4 - a truly wonderful & noisy experience!

Sadly, of course only 2 weeks later he was killed @ Scarborough. This event has always intrigued me. I've read on here about him having an argument with higher authority and taking off in a bad mood, but surely he must have been aware that displaying as he did and defying an order would have probably led to a Court Martial?
Remember it happening as if it were yesterday, although 'yesterday' will be 31 years ago in a couple of months! :eek:

NickB-me too. Was serving at Binbrook at the time and had known Mike as a cadet at the Towers. I still remember the funeral......what a sad day that was.

IIRC the unauthorised display was because he had some family members present on the beach?
Briefly knew him at Binbrook, but had moved on by the time of the crash.

Wander00 - do you have any more info on reasons for his actions on that fateful day?

Please PM me if you would prefer not to post.

Best,
NickB