EE LIGHTNING will fly at uk airshows again

Take a reality check Merlin. Its one thing flying a prop driven warbird, and quite another flying-safely-a highly complex supersonic capable fighter. The CAA is the organisation that ensures a red hot Avon engine doesnt come hurtling through your roof, and they seem to do that rather well.It may be frustrating for folks like us, that we cant see our pet fighter up in the sky where it belongs, but thats the way it is, and the way its going to be.

Originally posted by Der
Scenario 3; Wake up and smell the coffee. It aint gonna happen.

Hi Der,

You or I cant say that for sure now can we. The only people who can say this for sure are the CAA. Surely we should support the cause until the end even if it seems to be a lost cause.

Andrewman id like to know just who this company is as a lightning owner ive had no aprroch from anybody about parts or anything the only people who have made any contact with me or through aeroventure is the AALO. Is this info you have acurate or did you here it down the pub.

Te speling isue is won of my pionts to , iF weere gong to hav sensibble debeight could we tri hardon to uz corect speling and grandma. Tanks .

Dyslexic ,me? , no , why , eh ??

I agree with you on the spelling issue. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read about airframes being “scraped”.
Nothing wose than bad speling. Or gramer

!:)
Der

Lightnings

Of course it would be wonderful to see a Lightning flying again in the UK, but with the greatest respect it simply is not going to happen.

For my part, I wish half the effort put into schemes such as this could be spent on saving other aircraft which are clinging on to life by their fingertips. I am thinking here in particular of the poor old Swift at Upperhill – we have lots of Lightnings preserved in museums around the country, let’s consider other valuable types on the verge of extinction before we duplicate any more effort.

I agree……..

I would think the only UK T.5 capable of seeing air under the wings again would be Tony Hull’s XS458 at Cranfield.

But it’s not just a CAA/BAe problem……

I mean…..tyres, jet pipes, engines, AVPIN (hugely expensive and now only produced in India..!!),…..etc.,etc.

I seem to remember when Barry bought the 2 airworthy F.6’s from BAe at the end of the MOD contract he also bought for spares the grounded XS928 (?) and all BAe’s stock of Lightning spares, of course this is all went out to SA….so I’d imagine Thundercity would be the only option for a source of many lifed components needed to operate an airworthy Lightning.

Scenario 3; Wake up and smell the coffee. It aint gonna happen.

Andrew – I should imagine the T.5 would be the first choice for many operators. If your going to spend a large amount of money
on maintaining and flying a Lightning you might as well have the opportunity to fly in it yourself as well as be able to carry out conversion training.
Regards seeing one fly I have no doubt that it can be done but also I am a great believer that the press can report something is going to happen but the actuality often takes somewhat longer!

Hi dhfan

Rest asured “Scenario 2” is the way the caa are going to be approched.

I have said enough on this one the fact is I carnt name the company due to the fact that I have been asked not to but if I get any news on this I will post it here.

I just hope this project is a full succses.;)

I’d like to think it’s true, but like Robbo, I won’t hold my breath.

I’ve heard that if the CAA are approached in the right way, they’re very helpful, they just don’t like being taken for granted.
Scenario 1. “We’ve restored this and we want to fly it.”
Response – Bums rush.
Scenario 2. “We want to restore this and fly it, what have we got to do?”
Response – Give us some details and we’ll have a look.

David

It dosent have to be a T5 that is just the first choice dont ask why I have no idea.

Your right the Caa would permit a lightning to fly if they thaught it could be flown safely and maintained to their high standards.

Also the company that are doing the project would not have done all this preperation if they felt they had no chance of getting anywhere.

This is going to happen just wait and see In fact they have looked at one airframe in the last few weeks and have said It would be sutiable but as I have said they want to look at others first.

No offence to those who think this is a joke but your gonna look very very silly when you open your a copy of flypast ect later this year sept/oct time and see that a T5 has been sold to a well know airshow operator who will be makeing a serrious atempt to get it flying again.

Andrew – how many Lightning T.5’s remain in the U.K which havn’t had their wings cut for road transportation? – I suspect very few !
Anything is possible and the CAA isn’t the insurmoutable problem that people think it is – it’s not so much a matter of them moving the goal posts but rather them being in the Premier league with the expectations that you reach that standard.
A great many people like to criticise them – in reality a machine
like a Lightning has a far greater mass than a Spitfire hence the reluctance for it to get into the hands of the less gifted operating companies.
On the matter of control systems – how many piston warbirds
have crashed in the U.K because of control rod or other linkage problem? Simply put a Lightning is massively more complex and when hydraulic power is lost it’s time to eject. There is no comparison.

This is a fact

Well let me clear up my first post in this thread.

1 A uk based company are planing to contact several T5 owners over the summer to ask for permision to inspect the planes to see if they are sutiable for a rebuild to fly.

2 The comapny in question has funds to pay for and rebuild the plane to flying condition.

3 They hope to begin talking with the Caa and Bae very soon about getting a permit to fly.

4 They have been looking for spares and ground support equipment this has alredy resulted in spars being obtained.

5 a serch of pilots and ground crew will begin soon.

My first sentence in my first post was based on the fact that I have this info the rest was my thaughts on what might happen next.

If anyone wants proof of this send me a p/m of e-mail and I will be happy to prove it.

lightning

The only chance of a lightning ever flying again in the UK would be if the south african aircraft or the aircraft belonging to the Anglo American lightning project was allowed to come over for the airshow season…….

Hey guys why so negative. If someone is willing to give it a go to restore an aircraft then surely we should be supporting them. Lets all just wait and see what transpires and if and when the thing gets turned down let all the negative comments come out there. Isnt it possible that the much beloved spitfire could break its mechanical control rod and cause much death destruction and chaos because it lands on a very busy airshow crowd and in the middle of a busy motorway. If the world was full of what ifs then I doubt we would leave the front door in the morning. I think that if the CAA were willing to give the Vulcan a go and as I have heard it they were. That was 4 engines and the Lightning is 2 isnt it possible if the operators can convince them of the safety and ensure the mechanical well being of the aircraft then surely the would give it the go ahead. Also another thing that is not our problem is the insurance cost. If someone wants to pay it to fly the beast then hey who am I to say oh no you cant do that.

Lighten up a little guys. Its only a possibility not a fact.

Barry Pover tried unsuccessfully for years to get a T.5(forgot the serial) back in the air and every time he met the requirements set out by the CAA they simply added more obstacles until he eventually gave up and sold his airframes to Mike Beachyhead at Thunder City, the Lightning Association at Binbrook airfield also tried to get F.6 XR724 back on the airshow scene with the full backing of BAe, but this also proved fruitless, as regards the OFMC I read somewhere of a rumour(can someone confirm/deny?) that Mark Hanna had tried to get permission to fly XV474, an F-4 he flew during his service with the RAF, and even a organisation with such a fine reputation as this was refused permission, so sadly the chances of ever seeing a U.K. owned Lightning flying again is pretty remote.:(

Regards, Dazza.

Definitely.

Given the problems and costs of getting WW2 aircraft back to flight status, the relative complexity of a Lightning makes it virtually impossible (and that’s before you look at the noise and safety regulations nowadays).

Pie very much in the sky I think.

Aside from legality, can you imagine the insurance costs? 😮