In all honesty Andrew,I think Lightnings flying in the UK will now always be nothing more than a memory.The problem is that the Lightning doesn’t have much in the way of back up systems. If the hydraulics in the flight control curcuit fails,the controls jam,with no manual reversion.The only thing to do is eject and watch helplessly as a good few tonnes of fully fuelled Lightning goes plummetting into a residential area.I know this is a nightmare scenario,but it’s POSSIBLE,and with the UK being so densely populated,the CAA are not willing to chance it.
The only reason Lightning are allowed to fly in places like south Africa is because they have huge areas of open space to play in/over,so should the aircraft come down,there’s little chance of it causing death and destruction on the ground.

I understand and agree with what you say David,poorer examples of some types (eg SeaHawk,Hunter,Gannet etc) could be cannibalised to make a few excellent examples,but are you saying this should apply to ‘275? Personally I would have to disagree as I think she is unique in herself,and is therefore worthy of saving as she is.There is also the question of what other project 275 could donate to,considering her peculiar Mk.4 and a half status.
By the way BC,there are currently only 3 complete Swifts rather than the five you mention.There is a fourth,an F.7,under restoration,allegedly to airworthy condition,but this is looking ever less likely and the project is currently up for sale.This is one seriously rare aeroplane!

..nosewheel bay again…

I realise that alot of what has been said about the Swift is true.She’d need one hell of a restoration effort to bring her back to her former glory,but to me,it would be worth it.I wouldn’t mind if I was 70 before she was finished,so long as she was saved for posterity.As for the idea about donating bits to the NEAM example,this is a possibility,however WK275 has numerous bits which really belong on the FR.5,including the wings,so there might not be as much comonality between the two as would appear at first.To my mind,’275 should be preserved as she is,rather than being thrown to the four winds as a spares source,although this would be better than scrapping her.
I’ve seen some more detailed pictures of her internal components,and she’s in really poor shape in many respects.What occupies the engine bay would now barely pass as an engine,and just about every nut,bolt and rivet is corroded beyond redemption.It doesn’t take an expert to realise that she’s the restoration equivelant of Mount Everest,but then that’s been climbed,so who knows.I prefer to think positively on this one for the time being,although time will tell whether she’s actually saveable.
Here’s a few pics of her emailed to me by Plazz a few days ago…

Was thinking about going to Biggin,and having sen the list of participants I’m definately going! 🙂 Legends is another must for this year too.Not decided on any others yet,although I’d like to go to Shuttleworth to see the LVG flying for the last time.