English Electric Lightning | The British supersonic fighter and interceptor aircraft | Upscaled

The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It remains the only UK-designed-and-built fighter capable of Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric, which was later merged into the newly-formed British Aircraft Corporation. Later the type was marketed as the BAC Lightning. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Kuwait Air Force (KAF), and the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF).
A unique feature of the Lightning's design is the vertical, staggered configuration of its two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engines within the fuselage. The Lightning was designed and developed as an interceptor to defend the V bomber airfield from attack by anticipated future nuclear-armed supersonic Soviet bombers such as what emerged as the Tupolev Tu-22, but it was subsequently also required to intercept other bomber aircraft such as the Tupolev Tu-16 and the Tupolev Tu-95.
The Lightning has exceptional rate of climb, ceiling, and speed; pilots have described flying it as "being saddled to a skyrocket". This performance and the initially limited fuel supply meant that its missions are dictated to a high degree by its limited range. Later developments provided greater range and speed along with aerial reconnaissance and ground-attack capability. Overwing fuel tank fittings were installed in the F6 variant and offered an extended range, but the maximum speed of the configuration was limited to a reported 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h).
Following retirement by the RAF in the late 1980s, many of the remaining aircraft became museum exhibits. Until 2009, three Lightnings were kept flying at "Thunder City" in Cape Town, South Africa. In September 2008, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers conferred on the Lightning its "Engineering Heritage Award" at a ceremony at BAE Systems' site at Warton Aerodrome.
The specification for the aircraft followed the cancellation of the Air Ministry's 1942 E.24/43 supersonic research aircraft specification which had resulted in the Miles M.52 programme.W.E.W. "Teddy" Petter, formerly chief designer at Westland Aircraft, was a keen early proponent of Britain's need to develop a supersonic fighter aircraft. In 1947, Petter approached the Ministry of Supply (MoS) with his proposal, and in response Specification ER.103 was issued for a single research aircraft, which was to be capable of flight at Mach 1.5 (1,593 km/h) and 50,000 ft (15,000 m).[8]
Petter initiated a design proposal with F W "Freddie" Page leading the design and Ray Creasey responsible for the aerodynamics. By July 1948 their proposal incorporated the stacked engine configuration and a high-mounted tailplane. As it was designed for Mach 1.5, it had a 40° swept wing to keep the leading edge clear of the Mach cone. This proposal was submitted in November 1948, and in January 1949 the project was designated P.1 by English Electric. On 29 March 1949 MoS granted approval to start the detailed design, develop wind tunnel models and build a full-size mockup.
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)
Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)
Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m2)
Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel
Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two Red Top missiles, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel
Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines, 12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)
Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km
Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius
Ferry range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) internal fuel; 1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)
Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)
Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m) Zoom climb 50,000 ft/min
Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m2) F.6 with Red Top missiles and 1/2 fuel
Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)
Armament
Guns: 2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon
Hardpoints: 2 × forward fuselage, 2 × overwing pylon stations , with provisions to carry combinations of:
Missiles: 2× de Havilland Firestreak or 2 × Red Top (missile) on fuselage
Other: 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks on wings
#englishelectric #lightning #electriclightning

[@Dronescapes]

Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes and their stories, missions: kzbin.info/aero/PLBI4gRjPKfnNx3Mp4xzYTtVARDWEr6nrT

[@moreheff]

The Lightning was always my favourite jet. I have a treasured memory of standing on a beach on the South Coast of England one sunny day in the early to mid 1970's of suddenly hearing an incredibly loud roaring sound and looked up to see a pair of Lightnings streak across the coastline above my head at no altitude at all, both banked hard left and then just roared off up the coast briefly and then streaked back off inland making the most incredible noise. I was awestruck. The memory of the sunlight glinting off the pair of beauties and the sound they made has stayed with me ever since and is still one of my favourite boyhood memories. Still have to pinch myself to believe it actually happened. Amazing stuff and the most beautiful of airplanes. Have stood next to the one they have at Hendon. Standing there looking up at it, I was that little boy all over again. One of a kind

[@georgejob2156]

I always thought the Lightening was such a beautiful aircraft ,pity we never developed it further, British technology....🇬🇧

[@sixtyshippee]

The Airshow perfomance of these fabulous machines was second to none and if you saw a virtualy vertical take off which you always did if conditions were right it will live with you forever.

[@charles1964]

England had an impressive aircraft industry post war. The Canberra; Victor; Vulcan; Hunter; and Lightning were all outstanding designs...

[@sichere]

The Harrier

[@andrewoates85]

Keyword there being , had

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

The UK is the country you are thinking of, England hasn’t been a country since 1707. 🙄🙄

[@andrewoates85]

@@Jabber-ig3iw so picky

[@sichere]

@@Jabber-ig3iw England is still a Country and the Vulcan was built to Keep the Scots out.

[@jimdieseldawg3435]

Magnificent aircraft. I’m proud that my grandfather was a small contributor to the Lightning as he worked for EE at the time. The F6 was always awesome at airshows; the noise and the seeming ability to teleport from a 250ft runway pass to a small dot in the sky left a lasting impression on this Cold War kid. Hoping that dedicated restorers can share that experience with later generations 🙂

[@Dronescapes]

👍👍

[@DaveFiggley]

Back when we led the world in making stuff. Awesome plane. Great video.

[@Dronescapes]

Thanks. Those were the greatest generations

[@nervo6321]

My childhood memories of going to airshows are always dominated by the mighty Lightning.

[@Tigerblade2002]

Until I saw this documentary, I had no clue how important the role of the British Electric Lightning was in aviation history...a truly amazing aircraft! Until now, I hadn't realized my only perception of this aircraft was purely visual, which told me absolutely nothing about it...well done and thank you!

[@sahhull]

My uncle was a QRA Lightning pilot for most of his RAF carrier. He converted to the Jaguar a few years before his retirement

[@theflyingfool]

I can well remember sitting in the canteen at the Dinorwic powerstation construction site in 1982 watching a pair of Lightnings that had appeared from the direction of RAF Valley, travelling up the Llanberis ridge over the top of Snowdon in a rolling scissors fight in full reheat. The roar was immense and shook the whole valley. It was an incredible sight to see them disappear high into the ether continuing to maneouvre until out of sight. I often wonder if they got a bollocking for upsetting the hillwalkers or a pat on the back for the recruitment work they did that afternoon.

[@MayheM_72]

The English Electric Lightning was such an iconic plane. It's easily identifiable with it's extreme wing sweep and twin stacked engines. I didn't realize til about 15 years ago that it was such a hot rod.

[@anthonyorafferty5632]

My dad was ground-crew in Cyprus & worked on the Lightning. I was born there & my birth cert. is signed by the bases colonel.

[@normie8895]

Our company used to buy printing equipment from a company in Islington, the owner was a very tall ex RAF pilot with a fine handlebar mustache, he informed me he was at the time the tallest pilot in the RAF and English Electric designed the Lightning cockpit fittings and seat to accommodate him, as he was the most extreme example. He then went on to fly them.

[@petersaupe7455]

A flight and there tanker came through Gan when I was there in the early 70s. Made the ground shake when they took off UK bound. Magical aircraft.

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

Eric ‘winkle’ Brown is an absolute legend, holds all the records re jet carrier landings and takeoffs, taught the Americans how to operate jets off carriers and was offered a place on the x-15 program but declined as he would have had to become a US citizen.

[@dogbadger]

Is it true that has also holds the record of flying the most aircraft types of anyone in history?

[@SISU889]

@@dogbadger That's true .

[@chrismac2234]

Great to see Eric Winkle Brown. The greatest pilot we ever produced.

[@claudebylion9932]

Sorry, slight change, the greatest test pilot ever produced. 🌟🌟🌟🇬🇧

[@chrismac2234]

@@claudebylion9932 both really xx

[@johnmalin1676]

I had the pleasure in sitting in one of these beasts while in the Air Cadets, on our annual camp at RAF Coltishall in 1971. Fantastic experience.

[@Dronescapes]

👍👍

[@billyblunder9592]

I am shocked this has so few views! This is a great plane and a wonderful documentary

[@Dronescapes]

KZbin's algorithm...Share it if you can, that helps the views :)

[@57beanyboy]

Most people would rather watch a tiny kitten do something cute, unfortunately!

[@BMW7series251]

Brilliant! Saw the EEL P1 in the mid 50's. Blew my mind when it climbed!!

[@stephencrummett8927]

As a norfolk boye they are part of my childhood. Trips with my parents to raf Coltishall (mums a big plane fan, her uncle was a tail end Charlie in a Lancaster shot down in the war over France) and I can still remember those silver streaks in the sky as I watched them go over my primary school playground. Can't wait to show my kids one when we take them to the UK later this year. My favorite!

[@jbmatey3072]

As always great info ... when I was in the air cadets ( a long time ago 😁 ) I stood at the edge of the runway and retrieved the drag shoot from a couple of lightning’s ... a great experience ... there was also phantoms at this airbase in Scotland

[@johnjephcote7636]

As an air cadet I recall polishing a 74 Tiger sqdn. Lightning from a huge can of Duraglit. It had been foamed so we were detailed to do what we could. The Avons had been removed and some of my mates were playing cards in the engine bay. Coltishall probably 1963.

[@serendip1690]

@@johnjephcote7636 : 6 Z

[@chrispearson3333]

RAF Coltishall home of the Lightning, then the Jaguar just up the road from me. As a kid during the cold war they were constantly over our skies.

[@evryhndlestakn]

How awesome. The stuff of dreams.

[@davidgrainger3431]

Thanks for the video, brought back some memories of my time working on F3's as part of 111sqdn including a stint on QRA at Wattisham in the early 70's

[@Dronescapes]

👍🙏

[@philipupton1464]

There is an amount of adverts that is good for the advertiser and the viewer . When that ratio becomes to high it is not good for either and advertiser need to assess whether they are paying for people to switch off

[@richardmarsh1332]

I was lucky enough to spend a week up at RAF Leuchars in the sixties with my local ATC squadron (2030) on an annual camp and had a wonderful time there. I can only say that my memory of the Lighting and it's sheer performance can only be described as breathtaking The way this aircraft could accelerate from brakes off was truly amazing and within no time at all would go vertical on full reheat and just disappear. Although a young teenager then, I now feel so proud to have been part of the "Lighting experience" at the time and have never forgot my week at RAF Leuchars and proud to be British. Happy days.

[@steveclark5357]

why should anyone not think that the british as the cutting edge of aviation ,good job , very well done brits

[@sahhull]

back in the days when we had industry before we out sourced and relied on everyone else.

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

Thanks for the film.

[@d.cypher2920]

The English Electric Lightning was a fantastic piece of engineering technology. One particularly 'hot' running jet, even was capable of catching up to, and tailing the SR71 Blackbird during a flyover of the British controlled airspace. That's no small feat indeed. Yet, the Canberra is also a really superb design in it's own right! In fact, the S and R version of the Canberra which has a longer wingspan for flying much more high than the other version, is still used by NASA. Easily one of my personal favorite aircraft, the Martin built (on license) Canberra is the pinnacle of aircraft design in my humble opinion. (Yet, I'm no carpenter. Lol) 🇺🇸😎🙏

[@davidpeters6536]

The Lightning was also the only plane of it's time to fly above a U2 and catch Concorde at full throttle.

[@rmanMMVII]

yet

[@myriaddsystems]

I confess I didn't know that

[@d.cypher2920]

@@davidpeters6536 indeed, excellent comment! *i believe I learned all the above facts, in one or two documentaries. Sadly I don't remember which one. If you do? Perhaps reply and remind me, as others will be sure to love that video as well.* Thanks! 😎🇺🇸

[@d.cypher2920]

@@rmanMMVII 😐😐😳😂😂😂 Brilliant! 😉

[@alexandrec9372]

Muito bom, mais um excelente documentário, obrigado por compartilhar! Excelente 👏👏👏

[@jonofalltradesmasterofnone832]

My late father was on the lightnings at wattisham as an avionics engineer in the RAF in the the late 60’s then at ferranti and I am incredibly proud that he served these magnificent aircraft.

[@jakobole]

You were in complete control of it.... Until you let go of the wheel-brakes.

[@likklej8]

Saw one in mid sixties doing low level beat-ups at Farnborough Air Show great sound like heavy metal concert. It was painted the RAF black-blue night fighter colouring,a great airplane. I had the Dinky Toy Lightning sadly long lost

[@seumasnatuaighe]

I went in the Leuchars 11 Sqn. simulator for about 90 min and straight after in the right hand seat of the T3(?) in 1966. A stupifying acceleration and quite easy to fly if you only used the trim switch. My last flight was in a RAFO, (Oman,) SAAB in 2014. Memories for a lifetime.

[@gort8203]

Actually, the Me-262 wing was not swept to delay compressibility. Wikipedia: "Because the engines were slow to arrive, Messerschmitt moved the engines from the wing roots to underwing pods, allowing them to be changed more readily if needed; this would turn out to be important, both for availability and maintenance.[13] Since the BMW 003 jets proved heavier than anticipated, the wing was swept slightly, by 18.5°, to accommodate a change in the center of gravity.[13]"

[@hinglemccringle5939]

I always liked the extreme wing sweep on this jet

[@shelleibach20]

Excellent video...very interesting history of an unbelievable aircraft.....tks

[@Dronescapes]

🙏🙏

[@Sluf7]

The Greatest compliment was Thunderbird 1 was designed straight from the Lightening.

[@Dronescapes]

👍🙂

[@MartinWillett]

Lightning. Noun. Electrical discharge in the sky. Lightening. Verb. To make lighter.

[@aderrrt]

A superb aircraft in its day...way ahead of its time...and thoroughly British.

[@dfedko]

Great video really enjoyed it

[@Dronescapes]

Thank you

[@karlhoward2737]

Proper jet plane from my childhood…bloody noisy…lots of smoke….incredible reheat…..looked damn good…..and I guess was at the time our very sharp end of protection from our enemies…..what times…..British engineering at its best….where and how did it go all wrong….chapeaux to all those pilots and engineers for coming up with this beast……I saw them many times, from Yeovilton to Akritiri …….wonderful

[@franzschneider9765]

Ich hab diesen Jet in AKKROTIRI RAF AIRBASE IN CYPRUS 1974 gesehen Wow Wahnsinn. Ebenso den VULCAN BOMBER 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍💪

[@gordonclifton2694]

Excellent video but for the KZbin astonishing infestation of ads.

[@Dronescapes]

Dear gordon, perhaps you do not know that if you have KZbin Premium, among the many other perks, you will also never see an ad again. You might want to check it out

[@robhavock9434]

The aircraft is the most radical in history that is the lighting.

[@ianwoods8593]

Just wonderful!

[@bertiewooster3326]

Never had a full fry English breakfast in the mess if I knew I was flying my F3 in the early morning !

[@Dronescapes]

Oh no!

[@utrinqueparatus4617]

Good to see Roly Beamont, a brilliant wartime fighter pilot and post-war test pilot.

[@bobeden5027]

saw one up close and flying at the Greenham air show.

[@briancrawford69]

As an American most of my favorite planes are American and not just because my home nation. I have to say the lightning is definitely up there though along with some of the British WW2 stuff. British and American aircraft are just amazing machines

[@DavidHey-vd5wn]

I saw a documentary some time ago where we were going to attempt the the sound barrier and an aircraft had be built for this purpose but they were stopped from doing so by the government.

[@nyttag7830]

First time i saw it I was surprised how enormous it was.

[@petervare]

What an aircraft

[@peterturnham5134]

I saw the Lightning at airshows in the 70s, loved to see it go vertical with reheat. Also watched one test firing it's missiles. I was in a Shackelton, OMGWD the Lightning pilot was bored, getting down slow enough for us to watch. Now I had a long chat with an ex lightning pilot over a couple of beers.About all he did was intercepting Russian Bears over the north sea. Their game was to sneak in at high level over the north sea in International airspace to prove they could nuke us. Now supposedly GB was protected by Ground to air missile systems, but what would they do to the bears? Radio bang bang we shot you down? To which the bear would answer "we shot down Gary Powers, what have you shot down?" The answer was the lightning, two approaches both intercept, either a Mach 2 flyby which would rattle the teeth of the most dedicated Soviet crew, or the lightning would formate on the bear and pilot to pilot show a Playboy centerfold. Well that's what I was told

[@arturoeugster7228]

3:39 The term compressible flow is used to express that the density changes due to the local pressure, in the case of a wing the local speed above the critical mach number exceeds the speed of sound locally on the top of the wing, at that low pressure the air expands, NOT compresses, accelerating the flow due to the increased volume. approaching the trailing edge the flow pressure must increase, the transition to subsonic flow happens along a weak shock, (called lambda shock) creating a sudden unfavorable pressure gradient, where the boundary layer separates, and turbulence occurs, which is felt as it would under stall conditions. If the local supersonic flow distance is short, the separated flow may reattach, not perceivable but associated with an increase of drag, and a pitch moment. The pressure distribution changes, so that the center of pressure changes modifying the pitch moment, on the upper side a weak nose up moment is created, on the lower side a noticeable pitch down moment, which may not be controllable, until at lower altitude warmer air, with corresponding higher speed of sound the mach number is reduced reducing this nose down pitching moment, returning control. That is what happened on the P-38. At the leading edge near the stagnation point only is where higher pressure caused a slight compression, but not any where else. The term compressibility is confusing when in reality an expansion is at play, again due to the volume increase leading to higher local velocity, past the speed of sound.

[@davidshattock9522]

I seem to recall the lightning being referred to by people as the English electric frightening due to its performance and its ability to catch the so thought uncatchable aircraft

[@ahmadtheaviationlover1937]

I love that classy British accent, so soothing

[@salvagedb2470]

Next time I re-heat my dinner in the Micro for 1.30 it could have done 30,000ft ! , Always luv the Lightning it was just the Bee's knees of an Aircraft ..great Vid.

[@Dronescapes]

Thank you!

[@frasermay7825]

I have read that the Mies project had something that the x-1 vitally lacked, an all flying tail plane....without which the X-1 might not have been a succes. Later, a large scale model of the Miles 52 was tested and shot straight through Mach-1 with no problems at all. Also, it used a jet engine, not a rocket!

[@bobroberts6155]

Yes this is true, the government of the day pulled the plug on the M52 and sent all the blueprints and test results to the Americans in exchange for their data on supersonic flight, not realising that they didn’t have anything to share. Nothing was ever sent back but the flying tail proved key to the success of the X 1. My father worked for Miles at Woodley and the sense of betrayal was palpable and of course this innovative company eventually went to the wall. Government bungling and short sightedness as with the TSR2.

[@petercarroll5874]

A very interesting photograph of an early P1 prototype at 15:45. Note the inboard leading edge droop panels. The Russian Sukhoi SU-57 uses a very similar concept.

[@mike.47]

British engineering at its best!

[@mike_skinner]

It was pretty bad engineering really. Rolls sent a team down to try to work out why the upper engine didn't last very long. Putting one engine over another was bad design because if a fire started in the upper engine it would kill the lower one. The aden gun was supposed to be gravity fed but because of the lack of space it had to drag the rounds up causing jamming after a few rounds. The mk3 didn't even have these. The refueling probe was added as an afterthought reducing the max speed at sea level. The fuel lines were designed in the 50s and had no tolerance and had to be x-rayed after fitting and if found to be out in one place you had to re-fit the whole lot. The radar was off-set so causing the pilot to lean to one side to use it. If the pilot pulled around 7g it bent the airframe and the pilot had to pull negative g to stop the ventral tank from leaking. Our instructor died when flying without the missiles. They gave aerodynamic stability. The iso propyl nitrate starter sometimes exploded. One pilot pulled the stick back on take off while his wife filmed him. He pulled back too sharply stalling the airflow over the intake. She had a record of his death in a ball of fire.

[@sadwingsraging3044]

Magnificent aircraft. In the top three list of "If you could fly anything which would it be?"

[@myspark3486]

An amasing jet,

[@jaybee9269]

Do you know if the Lightning took advantage of the transonic area rule? Also, I know you didn’t write the thing but the first Soviet supersonic aircraft was the MiG-19. MiG-21 could get to mach 2.

[@Dronescapes]

I actually don't know about the transonic rule Jay.

[@jaybee9269]

@@Dronescapes >> It came about in the 1960s to help aircraft designers go supersonic easier. It’s easy to see on the F-106 coke bottle fuselage.

[@paulqueripel3493]

No, the sides are straight. There would have been no way to put a waist in around the wings, the fuselage was only just wider than the engines.

[@jameswatters9592]

couldnt help but notice the misspelling on the planes nose, 'FLIGHT TEST DIVISON' @ ABOUT 1:35 was that deliberate

[@Dronescapes]

Interesting question!

[@conroypawgmail]

26:34 - The first Soviet supersonic fighter was the MiG-19 (NATO code name: Farmer), not the MiG-21 (NATO code name: Fishbed).

[@philliprobinson7724]

Hi. Does anyone know what its single engine performance was up to? Cheers, P.R.

[@mikepj67]

One of my favorite cold war aircraft,think the brits could’ve been leaders in supersonic flight. Political shenanigans you know.

[@Kit_Bear]

Yeah. Fat brown envelopes. Just like what happened with the TSR2. It was too good and the Americans didn't like that. Bad for business.

[@evryhndlestakn]

Absolutely agree with your "political shenanigans" comment. Unfortunately those shenanigans are the norm & standard political business I believe.

[@griffg55]

The TSR2 What a bloody massive mistake the Labour Party made in the cancellation!

[@Paul-hl8yg]

Concord?

[@russellhamer8690]

Classified even to this day some aspects of this aircraft..U.S keep a couple flying also I believe..

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Colouration of Lightning at start - Empire Test Pilot School, at RAE Farnborough, Hampshire. (RAE - Royal Aircraft Establishment)

[@alangentry6295]

Purely life of the modeler but we will like to see the airplane fly again MC Captain BLAZ fly again

[@robertcovell2787]

I've heard it said that the wings on an EL only served to keep the nav lights apart.

[@simonhanlon7518]

My father knew a test pilot that flew one, he said the same thing. He also said the damn thing will go faster than you can dare to fly it. One time he returned to base and the nav lights had melted from the speed.

[@robertcovell2787]

@@simonhanlon7518 Wow!!!🙂

[@myriaddsystems]

British pilots had already unofficially broken the sound barrier in downward flights some time before Jeager

[@davidwallin7518]

I'd heard that .

[@redvelvetshoes]

See my reply just now

[@michaellooney1089]

Spitfires in dogfights??

[@anthonywilson4873]

Lightning took UK from subsonic to MACH 2 in one aircraft. It must have used the area rule. It was designed to takeoff quickly, climb quickly and get out over the North Sea quickly to shoot down Russian Nuclear armed bombers. Very short flight times and limited fuel capacity. Twin Avon engines two missiles and two 30 mm cannons.

[@sahhull]

My uncle was a QRA Lightning pilot for most of his RAF carrier. He converted to the Jaguar a few years before his retirement

[@andywilliams949]

Doesn't that Bell X1 look uncannily similar to the miles M52 ?

[@alanwitton5980]

Great aircraft made bac in the day when Britain had an aircraft industry

[@duanephillips2343]

Excellent info on this great aircraft but the ad interruptions are incessant and extremely annoying.

[@Dronescapes]

perhaps you are not aware that you have options. You might want to take a look at KZbin Premium, among the many perks, it also eliminates all ads. More of less 20% of our KZbin users have it, and appreciate the benefits it comes with. It’s nice option that gives you a choice, unlike most other popular social platforms. By the way, you can also download an ad blocker if you really do not want to contribute to the YT community 😉 that will do as well

[@jaybee9269]

The stealing of B-29 technology by the Soviets was a epic story in itself.

[@charles1964]

@Jay Bee Careful....Com-Symps will come out of the woodwork if you mention the TU-4's glorious achievement of Soviet design...

[@shortbus794]

That it was. 100%

[@CrstnJdiKnight]

It was not stolen but given to them. The main reason the Russians had the technology to produce such advance aircraft and caught up to the West was due to the leftist members of the Labor party and political motives of being so naive arrogance that it just gave away such information and methods of making the engines is near treasonous in hind sight.

[@CrstnJdiKnight]

@@shortbus794 Stolen you say. More like it was given to them by the naive and dimwitted leftists of the time.

[@turninwrenches8127]

I was like wait what did he say?? No way in hell did we give the Russian a major new weapons system of anykind let alone a B29 state of the art bomber. And they still couldn't make it as well as we did

[@theohlinsguy4649]

Must have had Lucas electronics!

[@andrewpickering5180]

Supper sonic, the preparation for the nuclear revolution

[@bobeden5027]

I had an Airfix model of the lightning.

[@Dronescapes]

👍

[@stevedunningduckinggiraffe6296]

In Tabuk , Saudi in 1986 they came to take the lightnings home to replace them with tornados. As each one flew off they got lower and lower until the last one roared across the airfield swerving round lamp posts and causing the maintenance crew on the flight steps to a VC10 tanker aircraft to duck! Always loved them as a child growing up in the 1960s.

[@greyjamiesod4989]

Lived near Warton, often chaced by security. Well worth watching this and the TSR.2. BAe are the worlds best if the #### government would give the clearance and funding!

[@blueycarlton]

Used some ideas from the cancelled CAC CA-23.

[@alexhayden2303]

The Germans, way ahead, had supersonic wind tunnels and knew all about it!

[@PurpleRecords1972]

Saw this once as a flyby at RAF Mildenhall, noisiest jet I've ever seen.....

[@johnarmstrong7729]

At 13:15, "B29 bombers, 'provided' by the U.S.A, to the Soviets, became the basis of the modern Russian bomber force" - hardly 'provided'!

[@chitlika]

Whenever I pass the E 28 at Lutterworth I think how many aircrew died because of the short sighted ignorance of the Air ministry

[@arturoeugster7228]

4:53 the speed of sound al lower altitudes is higher because the TEMPERATURE increases, not because the air is thicker. Standard atmosphere: 6.5 °C per 1000 meters altitude change. ss = square root( 1.4 × R × Temp ) R = 287 J / kg K gas constant for air Temp in deg Kelvin K ss speed of sound m/sec, at 15C, 288K ss = 340 m/sec

[@firstnamelastname-ys3mz]

Nope

[@arturoeugster7228]

@@firstnamelastname-ys3mz 😀

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Most of the bang of a gun, as well as the crack of a whip, all due to going through the sound barrier.

[@arminmoller9927]

Im shure the English Elektric Lieghtning has outclassed the Starfighter F104. Both good Jet Fighters.

[@sahhull]

The Starfighter F104 killed more pilots than it ever shot down

[@johnjephcote7636]

Was there not an instance where a Lightning and a late mark Spitfire employed to see how capable the former was of dogfighting?

[@ctykckcktyvc7558]

I believe there was an insurgency risk in Africa (can’t remember what country) and the insurgents had p51 mustangs, the raf put spitfires agains lightnings and spitfires always won unless dive attacks were used by the lightning

[@markparry63]

I thought the MiG 19 was the Soviets ' first supersonic fighter? MiG 21 was first Mach 2 fighter?

[@michaelstaines5962]

It also came to belize

[@mark211257]

When Britain was great 🇬🇧

[@myriaddsystems]

Canberra was also the world's best high altitude spy aircraft

[@kristensorensen2219]

Even this was slow compared to the Concorde!

[@jeffslade1892]

How much ground the British had lost? The Bell X-1 was based on the Miles M52 cancelled in 1946 and passed to USA. Although the M52 funding was cut, its proposed engines were already obsolete, give it to the yanks and build something better. First aircraft over 1000mph was the Fairy Delta 2. Think why - delta, droop snoot, Concorde. Lightning's Avon engine. Britain had a dead simple method of finding out about stuff the USA kept secret - go and ask their scientists. Actually we didn't need much from USA development, we'd given them the Miles with the thin wings and all-moving tail. Britain had the edge with jet engines. Aircraft under development had trouble keeping up with jet development, many planes never left the drawing board because of this. Blank space, fit new jet engine here. Britain perfected the subsonic and supersonic delta wing. No other country ever built a fighter that could catch Concorde level from behind, they tried in trials, the Lightning did.

[@Johnketes54]

We hadn't lost those grounds but gave them to America from Miles aircraft factory

[@TONYPARAMOTOR]

there are gaps in knowledge. while the British were working on the jet to pass through the barrier. and a few mods to the rear tail planes they were told to cancel. and at the same time, the Americans had the design prints from the British. and they used that to move forward. if the British were left to carry on. then the British would have won. and not yeager. captain eric brown told the truth. he had plenty of wartime experience and in combat.a very knowledgeable pilot. RIP. AND THE HAWKER TEST PILOT did he ever fight in the war??? in combat? captain eric brown was one of the best..

[@jerryg53125]

There are gaps in knowledge alright.The plane you are talking about is the Miles M-52.There was no Miles M-52 ever.The closest Miles got was a Plywood mock-up.The project was cancelled because Power Jets did not have an engine ready.Neither Eric Brown,Chuck Yeager or anyone else could fly a Plywood mock-up pass the sound barrier.Eric Brown was one of the best pilot's who ever lived.

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

It could be argued that the British officials dismissing the jet engine in the 30s was actually a good thing, would Britain have won the Battle of Britain with fewer highly complicated meteors and the resources they used and inexperienced pilots than large numbers of Spitfires and Hurricanes? Of course if Britain had Jets at the beginning of the war would Germany have even tried to invade Britain?

[@fleefisher]

Only broke the barrier do to the brits sharing tail design.

[@uingaeoc3905]

Another case of the UK not exploiting a good design in the way the US does. BAC proposed a Swing Wing variant with a very large underbelly tank and more hard points for the Royal Navy which could have been ordered instead of Phantoms. Both of those innovations would allow single engine working so that its endurance would increase by a factor of four with a true multi-role capability. This would have had a two crew arrangement and a bigger radar with a solid nose and side fuselage jet intakes.