Yes indeed it is true, once it was made known that the Lightning would be retired around 18 months or so from the actual due date, the crews were largely let off the hook with regard to fatigue conservation as it was no longer nessecary, i do recall an 11 Sqd pilot saying that once it was set in stone that the Lightning was going away nearly every mission flown was ACM, both because there was the intent to use up the remaining fatigue life on the aircraft but also “just because we could”.
talking of hours, the first F-104 delivered to the German airforce was used for ground instruction and only has 19 hours in total, even thought its the oldest one they have! i had heard that towards the end of the lightnings time in service the pilots regularly took them to their limits to use up the remaining hours. was this true?
thanks for that 🙂 i never really took the time when i was at school there for two years to have a look round for aviation related road names, though it is odd about harwell considering that it was basically the birthplace of the uk nuclear industry, built on an old raf station. ill ask my dad, he lives not far from there.
I have a ground running Welland, built in December 1943, so, I believe, the oldest running jet engine in the world.
Terry
is that the one that was at legends last summer alongside the merlins and next to the griffon? fantastic job, i was amazed at how easily she started, a quick wind round of the turbine spool and that was basically it. beautiful 🙂
i thought waddo was all torn up at the moment? though i suppose we arent talking immediately. it will definitely be interesting to see where she goes. surely there must be somewhere that would take her for free? or is this unrealistic lol 🙂
well i wouldnt have thought there would be much of a problem with the vixen, the rudders are mounted on top of the rudders and aren’t directly inline with the exhaust, also the airframe could probably deal with the surge from reheat thought not without damage i would have thought. not so sure about the vampire, considering that the airframe is wood (wooden cockpit pod) and metal. though the tail booms are angled up slightly so that the horizonatal surfaces are above the effulx, i would have thought that an afterburner would still almost certainly compromise the tail structure.
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