English Electric Lightning - Cape Town - South Africa
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- Опубликовано: 11 окт 2024
- The Ex 56 Squadron English Electric Lightning T5 is the only aircraft of it's type flying in the world. We were there to film each step of the restoration of this supersonic jet fighter of the Cold War era.
We speak with Chief Engineer Johann Rosenstrauch about the process of restoring ZU-BBD to full flying condition.
Pilot and owner Mike Beachy Head flew his Lightning on the 14th January 2014 making it the only airworthy Lightning currently flying.
Post the flight Mike had the following to say, "The aircraft flew perfectly in every way."
Filming commenced on the 25th October 2013.
1st Engine installation happened on the 7th November.
2nd Engine installation on the 11th November.
On-board footage: • English Electric Light...
Special Thanks:
Mike Beachy Head
Andrew Barends
Johann Rosenstrauch
William Scheepers
Camera / Edit: Hilton Mundy
Camera 2: Rory Alexander
Cameras: Canon 5D Mk III & GoPro Hero 3 (Black editions)
Edit: Premier Pro CS6
Join in the conversation by following us on FaceBook: / shortfinaltv
The Lightening.... The Beauty and the Beast... Beautiful Beautiful Aircraft
There is just 7 years between the end of Spitfire production and the start of Lightning production - Amazing machine
And the US were way behind until they coerced Britain to give them the results of the Miles 52 project
Oh and stopped Britain from going ahead with it Great Allies my arse they are
Now now boys
@@markmcculloch2570 Why? it is about time that the American viewers realise that in 1945- 1950 the UK was ahead of the US in jet and trans-sonic technology
That's a serious leap
The Lighting is such an awesome looking aircraft. Painting it in gloss black just makes it evil and awesome. Well done to the restoration team.
The lightning is still one of the most beautiful pieces of engineering in my opinion
Agree completely
Jip.Mate you are spot on. 👋
I used to dream of flying one of these when I was a schoolboy. They look just as good now as they did in 1962. British engineering at its best.
It would look so much better without it's saggy fuel belly. Once seen it cannot be unseen.
While, I loved watching hem fly, the Lightning was a maintenance nightmare. Many long hours of hard work to.keep it flying.
One of the most superbly engineered aircraft and very underrated for its advanced design
I was fortunate to witness 2 of these wonderful aircraft putting on a display a few years ago, at an Airshow at Ysterplaat. This was when Thundercity was still in operation before Dave Stock's fatal accident at Bredasdorp. There were a number of British tourists, that flew all the way to Cape Town, just to see the Lightning perform. The smiles on their faces when the 2 went supersonic over Cape Town is something I'll never forget.
I remember that. There were so many complaints about the Sonic boom. I also remember him taking off, getting to 400 knots where the old cooling towers were and then going vertical with afterburner, to break the climb record. What a sight
I remember watching 16 of them flying in formation at RAF Coltishall in, I think, 1968.
@@RB28v It was 600kts!
The greatest jet fighter ever made simples.🇬🇧
I have to say that, as an ex 56 Squadron techie, the aircraft looks in better condition now then when we used to work on it. An amazing result for all concerned well done!
I know nearly all jets that ever existed, this is my favourite
I saw one doing a display in the 1960s doing a display over RAF Stafford, when it did its fly past over the crowd and the pilot stood it on its tail the heat on our faces in the crowd was incredible, i will never forget that day, well done GB.
Well done to the team, for getting the Lightning back in the air again.
It's amazing what you can do with money.
Vince Smith That's what I would spend my money on if i won the Lotto, a Veyron just can't compete with a English Electric Lightning ;)
Wonkabar007 mind you it does make the Veyron appear thrifty :-)
Wonkabar007
veyron does 0-200 mph in 20 seconds
lightning does 0-200 mph in 12!!!
It would be my choice out of those 2 options as well; but have to admit that a veyron might be a better option for popping to Sainsburys :-)
So sad to hear that Mike Beachy Head passed away on Sunday (21st May). He brought so much pleasure to so many people.
I wonder if we will ever see a Lightning in the air again ?
Damm thats sad
Wow what a shock
I was in the Cardinal at 3.11, saw, heard and felt the Lightning go by on the take off roll. Now everyone rushes out of the office when we hear it to watch it fly past. Incredible machine.
Please send it over to the UK for the airshow season.
Fly below the radar, so that the CAA don't see you ;) I wouldn't mind that.
LeFookoffs are you sure i saw one at elvington air show maybe 6 or 7 years ago and its funny you mention the plane hurting your ears my dad said exacyly the same thing when he saw it parked up bought some ear defenders for when it did its fly by
Hell....., NO!
Get all the taxiing Victors, Vulcans, Shackletons and Nimrods to bomb the CAA so they don't bother us anymore.
Shure fall whithout fuel 30 minutes after TO.
English Electric Frightning ! I can remember as a young kid . seeing the 9 ship formation team "the Firebirds " at Farnborough .
Somethings to be proud off, 7 years after the last Spitfire! What an awesome accomplishment
Our best jet fighter ever
I first saw the Lightning in the 1959 Observers Book of Aircraft and it utterly fascinated me , even up to today. It completely outperformed the expectations of the designer and manufacturer . Legendary aircraft !
Brings back memories. Used to work on these.
My father was an aeronautical engineer specialising in the design, development and testing of landing gear and the Lightening was the first military aircraft he was involved with and it is still my all time favourite fighter plane.
She is beautiful. 3 cheers to the crew that got her back in the air.
A fabulous, ear splitting machine which I was privileged to spend a bit of time with in the 60's (F3's). Standing on the flight line at R.A.F. Valley and watching one disappear vertically into oblivion is probably my best aviation memory.
Beautiful aircraft, love watching take off then go into a vertical climb.awesome.
Stunning aircraft. 2 x 30mm cannon to thirty thousand feet in seconds. Awesome.
Thank You for uploading the vid, and a massive Thank You to the team for keeping this beautiful piece of functional flying artwork in the air where it belongs! She looks absolutely stunning in that colour scheme! Long may she continue keeping everyone who sees her happy!
The video was from 2014
""Man what a fine beauty. ♥️ 💪
Overlaying and syncing the in cockpit to ground flyby views and sound is a really nice touch
Raw performance and power. Awesome bird.
I used to live near RAF Coltishall. One day my dad and I cycled there to watch the planes take off. There were a couple of Tornadoes getting ready to take off. I stood behind them (a couple of hundred yards back, outside the fence, obviously!). Every time the Tornadoes increased their engine speed I thought my eardrums would explode. Eventually I thought I'd have to move as I couldn't cope with the noise. Then, a Lightning swooped down, almost touched the runway and then climbed away steeply. After it had done that, the two Tornadoes sounded almost quiet!
Yup. I do that at RAF Coningsby watching the typhoons. After watching a F.6 Lightning do a fast taxi at Bruntingthorpe the typhoons sound quiet.
You should hear the F135 in an F-35. Easily the loudest thing I have ever heard. Im including F-18's in full afterburner and F-111's in Dump and burn. Both quite loud but the F-35 is just another level.
Kind of Ironic for a LO aircraft but I guess sound doesnt really come into it. By the time you hear these things theyve already done what they need to do and are on the way home.
Get yourself to Bruntingthorpe and watch a taxi run. They come past about 50 yds away on full reheat.
I can only imagine the conversation when someone suggested stacking the engines on top of eachouter.
As a recent song says you can't beat this
So ahead of it's time, another gem we British let the rest of the world have.
I was on 11 Sqn in the mid to late 80's. Amazing jets to work on and a great Squadron also. Miss those days.
My Dad was at Binbrook around the same time.
Well done in my opinion one of the worlds finest fighters of its time
Beautiful
Thanks for saving her and getting her airborne once more 👍🏻
We need to have one in the uk air shows!
Absolutely fantastic that you've restored her, I was lucky to fly in her when she was our squadron T bird on 11 Squadron when I served with 11 Squadron air ops at Binbrook prior to the phasing out of the the Lightning. I was very lucky to get a couple of flights and nothing could ever get airborne the way the Lightning did. Thankyou
My dad is ex RAF, my dad used to take me to RAF Binbrook when i was a kid to watch these awesome aircraft take off, Memories.
Nice
@@mickemms1085 What a great memory that must be! I envy you.
Great to see and hear the Lightning flying again, living near BAe Warton I used to see these regularly in the 80s after they were retired from RAF service. Beautiful aircraft and a proper engine sound! It's a long way to travel to see it though, shame we will never see it in the UK again.
Hi Andy, I too live close to BAe Warton. In my lifetime I have seen the Canberra, TSR2, Lightning, Jaguar, Tornado and Typhoon flying low over my house - all of them great aircraft - but the Lightning stole my heart (and made me slightly deaf) Kindest regards.
William Rance must be noisy at yours ?
Jim Taylor Hi, Jim. Especially on Thursdays when BAe seem to do most of their flight tests. Although we get the civil flights going into Blackpool International as well. We get to see a few veteran aircraft flying air shows at Southport. Most of the noise comes from two local helicopters' - one, the Lancashire police helicopter, the other the air ambulance taking cardiac patients between the Royal Preston Hospital and Blackpool Victoria's Cardiac unit. We are on its flight path. For aircraft enthusiasts its a great place to live - not quite the exciting place it was a few years ago when the likes of the Nimrod and VC10 tankers came to 'town' for modifications - now its all history. On the bright side I guess we can look forwards to seeing the F35B and Taranis flying locally in the not too distant future, though we still get the Hawks, Tornado's and Typhoons - bye for now + Bill
Very good looking plane. Unique design of twin jet engines put on top of each other.
Now we need one in the UK, and a Buccaneer to go with our Vulcan. Dear Santa.....
But seriously, massive congratulations!
Would love to have a BAE Lightning in the skies over Britain, but the CAA won't allow it. The TL:DR is we don't have anything fast enough in service anymore to catch her if the pilot goes rogue and opens the taps.
Paul Gamble the typhoon could but thats about it lol.
eatthisvr6 And even that is close call. Both around Mach 2. But Eurofighter is said to be "Mach 2 class" whereas we know the Lightning could actually do Mach 2
Lee Butterworth top speed isnt the issue, there are quite a few mach 2 planes around but very very few could match a lightnjng in a drag race, typhoon su27 and probably f22 could but very little else!. Even to this day more than 55 years after it entered service its STILL 1 of the most brutal airplanes ever to fly!
eatthisvr6 Wouldn't doubt it for a second fella. Never flown in my life. Yet this baby is one of my favourite aircraft. Wasn't trying to dump on your comment. Just join in the conversation.
Awesome! So good to see a Lightning back in the air...where it should be!
The full story of this aircraft from its service in the RAF is in the documentary, Thunder and Lightnings. A small number of DVDs are available in the UK.
Great
Love how you have some duct tape holding things down in the cockpit very British indeed! :D
It's great to see old jets like the EE lightning flying again
Well done that the Lightning is back in service! Congratulations!
Always my favourite British Jet. Awesome takeoff.Remembering in the late 80s watching her outpace a Tornado over the North Sea,big style.
@Shaun Mclaren England is part of Britain - what are you talking about......?
@@alexkay2026 Liebour say no!
Great to see ZU-BBD Lightning back in the air...... nice little vid - well done.
It looks so good painted black...
Fantastic aircraft great to see one flying again Thankyou
Awesome time piece, a slice of history, I would imagine the cost if keeping it flying is off the chart
She to me is the most adorable thing ever gotten airborne ... even on the ground sublime elegance and almost smiling .. the E-Type of the Jetage . although I prefer less black along her lines :)
Marvellous. What a great job, guys. A BIG thank you.
Amazing aircraft. I was based at Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Hatfield Herts UK. We originally had two lightnings based there for air to air missile testing. To watch them take off left you in awe.
Epic to all you guys. The best of the best.
Still thee best till this day. Forever thunder City.
British classic. Saw one at Gaydon Airshow in 1975 - it was stunning with the way it soared. Never forgotten it
worked with these beautiful aircraft while in the RAF fire/rescue service in binbrook/akrotiri. massive soft spot for them!!!!
What a beauty ... and a total BEAST.
I used to see the Lightening at English air shows! I just love this aircraft! I wish I could say to you all!! Well done for looking after it and for still keeping it flying! Fantastic!! Effort by you all!
Good on you guys. Looks and sounds beautiful.
what a beauty! i didnt know there where 2seaters in this configuration!
What a fantastic plane that is.
😊🙏 First learned about the English Electric Lightning Jet Fighters from the Airfix model catalogue in the 1970s ... Still a command respect old Jet Fighter indeed! 🙏🌷🌿🌏💜🕊🇬🇧
Awesome airplane, i remember the raw power, one of our best interceptors, love it.
Used to watch them leaving Binbrook. Lovely aircraft. Saw my first one heading out to sea over the East Yorkshire coast when I was about 10. Aaah. Nostalgia.☺️
The Braveheart of 1971 war. I salute those brave Pilots of our Mother nation.
What an incredible aircraft. And to think of it's age is just astounding.
Yes we have all kinds of computers and sensor fusion , DAS, high off boresight missiles, AESA and all of that now but it seems weve not gotten any faster. Perhaps its not needed now I'm not going to pretend I know why but as an interceptor there wasnt much ( except perhaps the Mig 25) that could out run it then and as far as I know there's nothing now.
Really impressive.
Lucky enough to see one of these fly back in 1986...walking around Bishop Thornton I heard a jet engine and looked up to see a Lightning passing overhead.
i grew up these as a kid in Germany cracking plane and great to still see it airborne
Awesome, so happy to see it fly again!
Fascinating to see this project underway. Classic warbird.
Nice looking jet!
Great nickname from squadron pilots. They called it the "Frightning".
Well ahead of its time! 😊 UK
Absolutely awesome aircraft. Is this not the one featured in the BBC documentary "Earth : The Power of the Planet". Big Like!
Amazing team. All in for the pilot. My hats off to all of them.
3:55 Russian IL-76
On its Wikipedia page it is detailed how, in an 1984 NATO exercise the Lighting beat the pants off an F-104 in 17 of 18 flight performance results (the low level supersonic speeds were "a dead heat"). Also, the Lighting performed ground controlled intercept's on a U2 at 65,000 ft.
A marvellous aircraft a bitch to work on wonderful to fly in. Welcome back
Great stuff. One ride that will never need pimping...!
WHAT an aircraft....!!!!!!!!!
Stunning.
...a thing of beauty and wonder.
Legendary aircraft !
There was once a RAF Airfield named Binbrook which had Lightning a/c operating there. There was a Royal Air Force, with aircraft which were manufactured in the UK! Now German or American!
Wrong, Eurofighter Typhoon is made in UK and collaboration countries. All RAF ones are made in UK. The Typhoon is based on the British Aerospace EAP.
Beautiful!
Besides being such an elegant and kick-arse aircraft, I like it because it is probably the only plane with engines stacked one on top of the other and where the auxiliary tanks are on top of the wing rather than below it. I wonder-did they go inverted when they dropped these tanks?
+Tubetopfan1 I never flew one with the tanks fitted but I seem to remember that they did not jettison. If you needed to get rid of the fuel you pulled a lever which fired a detonating cord which blew the back of the tank off and the fuel vanished. However a Lightning didn't need to get rid of that weight even if it suffered an engine failure, so probably the above never happened.
From last update online:
“Hangar 51 Aviation, which operates some aircraft in South Africa at Port Elizabeth, purchased a handful of the ex-Thunder City airframes in late 2021, however, ZU-BBD remains unsold”.
love the light ning its nuts
I had a feeling those motors would be holy hell to install. Imagine doing this in a wartime setting. Ken Rudder of south Florida (English) flew the Lightning, said it was ahead of its time. Believe it. Later versions hit Mach II.
the prototype hit mach2+ and supercruised too, they limited the speed operationally because of heat problems with the radar nosecone.
i suspect the later mks could comfortably exceed mach 2 but i dont know for sure
@@Scoobydcs F Mk 2A/ F Mk 3 / T Mk 5/ F Mk 6 and Export models all cleared to do Mach 2 (had a radome that didn't melt) Max speed dependant on model (and build quality of actual aircraft), some could run out of puff short of Mach 2, some could reach as high as Mach 2.2 / 2.3. Depended on what lumps, bumps and vents were dotted around the aircraft.
fantastic job
Really amazing fighter !!! And it was veeeeery fast
Flew the lightning, buccaneer and the hunter!? What a career.
Still looks wicked by today's standards!
Cant wait to see more of this plane
What and amazing Jetfighter from Carlos Portugal
Beefy looking jet. Belongs right up there with the F-4 Phantom II.
It gets up there much sooner too.
EE/BAE lightning the best in the world, still today 2022
Don't give up
Всем самолетам был самолет и я,не сошел с ума.
Such a handsome beautiful aeroplane, great video. May I ask what the music is