Lightning on the A1

Wasn’t sure whether to post this in this thread, the Balderton thread or the XN728 thread (thread merge!):

Nevertheless, early 1990s photo of the A1 Lightning, taken by me as a kid using an old instamatic.

A piece of 20th century art?

Well, if they can stand a helicopter upside down in a public square (in Austria?) and call it “art”……

Roger Smith.

Got to be better thanTracy Emmin’s ‘Unmade Bed’

I think the whole thing has made an ideal ‘hands on exhibit’ for generations of vandals!

re:

I remember an irate member of the public having a go at the Newark stall, at Waddington a few years back. He said why didnt they do somthing and they replied that they had offered to remove it and even clean/refurbish it where it is and still the owner wouldnt budge.

surely the cockpit could make a hands on exhibit?

The graffiti is not the issue with this airframe, it was all the souvineer hunters that robbed, stripped, tore and dismembered as much as they could without any respect for her.

This is common theft and is a damn site more disgracefull than a bit of spray paint, lets not forget that if any of this mindless vandalism hadn’t happened in the first place then maybe she wouldn’t be the lost cause she is now.

John.

Although some of the “souvineer hunters”, will also be responsible for the graffiti as well, in all probability.

I would like an airframe in similiar condition to restore as a gate guardian , in my view the real crime is to have allowed this deterioration to happen, but as in the case of the Swift , its the owners perogative to do so.

If I could buy it I would, and I would remove every last piece of graffiti from it; anyone who would consider this air @rsehole form of vandalism, as art is beyond me, (God I’m getting old).

The graffiti is not the issue with this airframe, it was all the souvineer hunters that robbed, stripped, tore and dismembered as much as they could without any respect for her.

This is common theft and is a damn site more disgracefull than a bit of spray paint, lets not forget that if any of this mindless vandalism hadn’t happened in the first place then maybe she wouldn’t be the lost cause she is now.

John.

If I could buy it I would, and I would remove every last piece of graffiti from it; anyone who would consider this air @rsehole form of vandalism, as art is beyond me, (God I’m getting old).

She has always belonged to the owner of the land – therefore ownership is not in dispute.

The ‘ownership’ I think by now would be quite disputable, when A1 Comercials went bust they would have claimed all assets when they went into receivership, who was she sold onto then?.

Does she go with the land? and does the current owner/user of this land also own her?.

I quite agree that scrap is all she is worth but like I have chimed before, she needs to be sympathetically dismantled as there are a lot of usable spares and display items that can be salvaged.

Once finished the fin complete with graffiti should be saved as a monument to the history of this machine, an exibit that would go well at a local museum.

Regards,

John.

John- the council much as they might like cannot gift other people’s property away . The Lightning has an owner and he was been determined in resisting other people’s efforts in buying her! I cannot think of one museum who would seriously want this corroded and stripped hulk. You cannot save everything
and with a little sensible spares recovery the rest of this machine could quite happily provide Coke tin material.

What does the future hold for her now?, the council should hold some common sense and see that she is gifted to a museum close by that will at least keep her safe.

John.

A1 Lightning Update

Update from the Newark Advertiser website today re the A1 Lightning

“A scrap yard at Balderton must be cleared within two months, councillors have decided”

But…

“The county council said that the Lightning did not form part of the application and would remain on the site.”

See full story below – Scrapyard must go:

http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/

hi
with regards to 728 remember there isnt many complete f2a complete in the uk in fact there is only 1 xn776.
she still deserves to b preserved i know i wud take time but thats what preservation is all about.

Lost cause mate – I climbed over her a couple of years ago to take photos, and she is well gone. There’s not a thing on her that is easily removable that hasn’t been taken. By all means preserve the tail, but the rest of it is so knackered it’s not worth it – time for scrap.

I’ve attached a couple of photos I took with some black and white film (not into digital that much – it’s too easy!) although I do have photos somewhere of the cockpit.

hi
with regards to 728 remember there isnt many complete f2a complete in the uk in fact there is only 1 xn776.
she still deserves to b preserved i know i wud take time but thats what preservation is all about.

Like I have always said, the tail fin should be save and mounted at Newark Air Museum as a piece of ‘modern art/monument’ to her.

The rest is only good for scrap.

Regards,

John.

strip it, scrap it and spend the money on more deserving Lightnings. Buy the one on ebay at Doncaster, it’ll cost less in the long run.

Support the LPG’s efforts etc.

J man

A piece of 20th century art?

Well, if they can stand a helicopter upside down in a public square (in Austria?) and call it “art”……

Roger Smith.

I have to admit the thought of her being preserved as is would be different as she has become historic in her own way as she is now.

🙂 Thanks for the replys ive gained a little more knowledge about the area i frequently pass , just one more question about the A46 a couple of miles south of newark .Its the airfield which is used for gliding , is there a couple of jets parked up on one of the runways, or are these decoys . thanks

I think you may be talking about RAF Syerston, which is 5 miles south of Newark. Yes, there are currently two Jaguars parked up on the airfield, something to do with Cadet Training for the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.

Newark Air Museum is north-east of Newark and the Newark & Notts Gliding Club stopped flying from there during the summer.

That sounds like the well-known collection of decoys otherwise known as the Newark Air Museum!