Saudi/Kuwait Lightnings

Only 257 hours on the airframe too, she’s not even broken in yet!!!.

John.

Really John as few hour’s as that !! WOW

She does appear to be in very good order !!!

Only 257 hours on the airframe too, she’s not even broken in yet!!!.

John.

Here’s a few I took at the Royal Saudi Air Force museum a couple of years ago.
There’s a thread on here somewhere about it…

That F.52 looks pretty complete and in fine nick…..and originally as ex-RAF F.2 XN770 is possibly the last of it’s type still existing as a complete a/c.
There was supposed to be another of the ex-RAF F.2/F.52’s still extant on a pylon somewhere in Saudi but I’ve not seen any photo’s of it or even know if it’s still extant….??

Have a look on the Lightning photo thread. I posted one there just the other day taken at Farnborough 1966.

These help?

Here’s a few I took at the Royal Saudi Air Force museum a couple of years ago.
There’s a thread on here somewhere about it…

If you want any larger, let me know.

John

I recall, there was one Lightning as the door guard exposed just infront of Ali al-Salem Sabah AB in Kuwait back in 2005.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=29.362756,47.532145&spn=0.001611,0.001953&t=h&z=18

Pity, no photos were alloud 🙁 … but, luckily, seams Mr. Miller was there last year 🙂 http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/lightning/survivor.php?id=372

a rumour chaps. It was an aesthetic tart up of a an airframe 53-418 for display at Kuwait city museum. There was an aiframe that recieved a lot of attention in Saudi a couple of years back for display in a museum too. It received lots of new parts from the Saudi parts bin, but was never considered for ground running. The last mint airframe did remain in a hangar at Riyadh storage I believe until 1992-93, when it was pulled out and dismantled to be transported. I think it now resides at King Faisal air base in Tabuk.

The last 2 potentially runable 53’s were destroyed in Gulf 1 by the yanks from the air. they thaught they were migs:p they also destroyed the last nice condition complete kuwaiti t55 in gulf 2, after bombing it and then troops lobbed a grenade into the cockpit, to finish it off. Again, they thaught it was a mig. This one didn’t die in vein though, as it gave up a few parts for a restoration on our side of the pond:)

It’s the first I’ve heard of it – as far as I could determine, they’ve mostly been destroyed or abandoned… unless anyone knows otherwise….

well certainly not going to have suffered from corrosion out in the desert 😀

No, just sand-blasting.

well certainly not going to have suffered from corrosion out in the desert 😀

Yes i’ve heard that some of the Kuwaiti Lightning’s are in pretty good order being hangered since retirement. There was even a rumour a while back of one of them being a potential ground runner !!

There must be some pics about

there are several on our lightning site, you may use them, but the original copyright names need to remain on the photos.

Hi

Yes I did drop him a line (twice) ages ago but didn’t hear anything from him.

Chox

I’m sure you will be aware of this but there are some nice photos of Saudi and Kuwaiti Lightnings on the Lightning Pilots website.

If you don’t have them already it might be worthwhile dropping an e-mail to Ed Durham.

Peter

Keith, I did, back in September. Sadly, I picked a foul day so I didn’t stop too long. Nice museum though – made a change from my more local haunt at Newark!

Taken at Abdullah Al Mubarak Air Base Jan 09

well certainly not going to have suffered from corrosion out in the desert 😀

Tim, Should you visit City of Norwich Aviation Museum, you can almost touch one, and parts of another ! Keith.

Taken at Abdullah Al Mubarak Air Base Jan 09