By: wessex boy - 10th October 2005 at 08:47
Kinda like the Canberra PR pilot flying over Libya after the Tripoli bombing raid being a tad surprised to find the unmistakable shape of an SR 71 below him when the pics were developed…
When I did my Aeromed course at N. Luffenham we had a session on the effects of High altitude and were told that PR9 pilots have been known to get the bends or creeps….being streamed onto egg-beaters I listened keenly to these lectures….not (more interested in how many of the 52 pubs in Stamford we could get around in 4 nights!)
By: ZRX61 - 9th October 2005 at 16:59
I heard a story about a U2 pilot cruising at 70,000 ft over the Med, smug in the knowledge that he was in the highest flying aircraft, only to have 2 Lightnings from Cyprus fly over the top of him…..
Kinda like the Canberra PR pilot flying over Libya after the Tripoli bombing raid being a tad surprised to find the unmistakable shape of an SR 71 below him when the pics were developed…
By: Firebird - 9th October 2005 at 14:18
U2 baiting was a popular Lightning pilot pastime given the opportunity… 😀
By: wessex boy - 8th October 2005 at 20:07
I heard a story about a U2 pilot cruising at 70,000 ft over the Med, smug in the knowledge that he was in the highest flying aircraft, only to have 2 Lightnings from Cyprus fly over the top of him…..
By: mjr - 7th October 2005 at 18:32
Nice to see some Americans who don’t think that the F15 is only aircraft to stand on its tail and accelerate Home-ward!
Surprisingly, the yanks are always awe struck at the lightning, when they get a close look at it in the Hangar, jaws normally drop when they are given the performance specs, They find it hard to believe that the old tub can equal, if not exceed the F15 climb rate, in its standard guise, ie not stripped out.
😀
By: wessex boy - 7th October 2005 at 17:26
Nice to see some Americans who don’t think that the F15 is only aircraft to stand on its tail and accelerate Home-ward!
By: andrewman - 7th October 2005 at 17:21
Nice to get an update on this project, plus a couple of bloody good links 🙂
By: Peter - 6th October 2005 at 15:08
Thanks MJR I didnt know there was two sites? I have added the supporters one to the favourites! Good to hear 422 survived the HUrricane with nil damage.
By: mjr - 6th October 2005 at 12:50
HI all,
appologies for the website, I will escalate up the line. I do believe that our administrator is revamping the whole site.
422 is unscathed, as is the hangar. We and sponsors had a very worrying time during a 5 day comms black out, with Katrina, we had no idea if 422 was strewn across the airfield or not! NASA space centre next door was hit very hard, as were some of the neighbouring hangars, AALO hangar was blessed though, in fact the national guard used it as an HQ for 11 days, and provided a security blanket for us, at least for peace of mind anyway. Stennis airfield was basically saved by all the surrounding pine trees, which were all flatened.
As mentioned Katrina, wiped out all local infrastructure and manpower, infact several of our local supporters lost their homes and business premises, literally gone. Manpower has been hit very hard this year, and as such work on 422 has stopped, with myself and another UK team member going to Stennis in 3 weeks, to kick start work again, whilst our American counterparts struggle to re-build their lives.
422 is progressing very well though, with the majority of all subsytems now re-installed, and fuel introduced to the aircraft. No engines or pipes yet, as you can appreciate, 422 was taken apart in much the same way as the Saudi machines, i.e down to every last nut and bolt, so there is a couple of years to go yet, however she is definately well over the hump so to speak.
Dont hesitate to ask any questions if you require, rest assured the web site will be updated shortly. Dont know if all are aware but there are two websites, the supporters site. http://www.lightning422supporters.co.uk/
and the main site http://www.lightningusa.org/about.html. The supporters site is kept up to date far more regularly.
Regards to all
MJR.
By: EN830 - 5th October 2005 at 17:17
The aircraft escaped unscathed though.
By: Dave T - 5th October 2005 at 17:13
According to the ~other~ magazine, they were hit pretty hard by the hurricane in terms of the manpower.
By: 320psi - 5th October 2005 at 15:16
Has anyone heard any updated news on this project? The website is outdated by a year!
Hi Peter, we have very close links with these guys I have put your question direct to my contacts, maybe MJR could give us some news ?
Are you out there MJR ?
Andy B
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October 5, 2005 at 2:50 pm