First published in Great Britain in 2020 by
PEN AND SWORD AVIATION
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Copyright Martin W. Bowman, 2020
ISBN 978 1 52670 564 8
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Acknowledgements
J. Adams; Captain A. M. Aldridge; Brian Allchin; John Arnold; Diana Barnato Walker MBE; Rex Barrett; Group Captain Antony I. Barwood OBE; Richard C. Basey; Chris Bassham; Mike Baxter; Captain Martin Bee; Squadron Leader Dick Bell; Anthony Bugs Bendell; John Bexfield; Ray Biddle MBE; AVM George P. Black AFC; Steve Bowes; Alan A. Brain; Roly Bray; Wing Commander John Bryant; John Brindle; Colin W. Brock; Ray Brooks; Flight Lieutenant Peter Brown; Trevor Brucklesby; Squadron Leader E. H. Bulpett; Wing Commander Ken Burford; RAF Flight Safety Magazine ; Dave Bussey; A. G. Calver; Denis Calvert; Squadron Leader the late Brian Carroll; Edwin Carter; Mick Cartwright; Derek Chilvers; Martin Chorlton; John Church; Roger Colebrook; AVM Peter S. Collins CB AFC BA; Mike Cooke; Bob Cossey; Ray Cossey; Alec B. Curtis; Squadron Leader Dick Doleman; Tony Dossor; John Dunnell; Group Captain Ed Durham; Barry J. Dye; Eastern Daily Press; East Anglian Daily Times ; J. Malcolm English; Kevin C. Farrow; Nigel Farrow; Daniel and Tony Fishlock; Mike Flowerday; Dave Freeman; D. E. Freeman; John Fuller, 432 (Woodbridge) Squadron ATC; Caroline Galpin; ACM Sir Joseph Gilbert; Ron Godbold; Tony and Brett Goodyear; Air Commodore Ken J. Goodwin CBE AFC; John Hale; A. L. S. Les Hall; Joan Hammond; Ken Hayward; Peter Hayward; Ken Hazell; Group Captain Tim Hewlett; Mike Hillier; Group Captain Mike Hobson CBE; Del Holyland, Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd; J.R. Robbie Honnor; Group Captain W. B. G. Hopkins AFC; AVM John Howe CB CBE AFC; Mike Indge; Mick Jennings MBE; Squadron Leader Jimmy Jewell; Ken Johnson; Robert Johnson; Ronald Johnson; the late Roy Johnson; Tony Kemp; Brian Knight, Prospect Litho Ltd; Douglas Knights; Jim Lilley; Paul Lincoln; Squadron Leader Jack Love; Barry J. Madden; Steve Masterson; Nigel McTeer; Alec Michael; Vernon Miller; Captain Bruce Monk; Squadron Leader Gordon Moulds MBE; Captain Ted J. Nance; Pete W. Nash; Group Captain Hans Neubroch OBE; Air Marshal Sir John Nicholls KCB CBE DFC AFC; Flight Lieutenant R. E. Bob Offord; Wing Commander George Parry DSO* DFC* OBE; Simon Parry; Tony Paxton; Gerald Pearson; Squadron Leader Henry Ploszek AFC; Bill Povilus; Pete Purdy; Richie Pymar; Wing Commander Alex Reed OBE; Richard Reeve; Jeremy Richards; Captain Mike Rigg; Ian H. R. Robins; Mike Rigg; Squadron Leader Derek Rothery; Ray Reed; Gary Revell; Graham Rollins; Rolls-Royce Magazine ; Group Captain Dave C. Roome OBE MRAeS; Charles Ross; the Lightning Association Chairman and Secretary who amongst many courtesies, kindly obtained permission from Mrs Carroll for me to showcase her late husband Brians fabulous stories, Squadron Leader Clive Rowley MBE; Adrian Savage; Group Captain Dave Seward AFC; Group Captain Mike J. E Shaw CBE; Kelvin Sloper, City of Norwich Aviation Museum; Patrick and Lionel Snell; Steve Snelling; Laury Squibb; Jean Stangroom; Peter Symes; Geoff Syrett; Air Commodore M. J. E. Swiney; Flight Lieutenant Andy Thomas; Eric Thomas; Hugh Trevor, Lightning Preservation Group, Bruntingthorpe; Vic Yorath; Graham Vernon; S. Wade; John Ward; Sid Watkinson; John Watson; W. H. Welham; C. A. Wheatland; David Williams; Peter Winning; Andrew Woodroof; Group Captain P. T. G. Webb OBE DL; Arthur Wright; Ian Wright, 222 (Broadland) Squadron ATC; A. Yates.
LIGHTNING! Yes, the mighty English Electric P.1B fighter - probably the most advanced interceptor now flying in the western world - was so christened by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Dermot Boyle at an official naming ceremony held on 23 October. The choice of a name that has already graced a distinguished warplane of another nation has, as was to be expected, met with widespread criticism. We also would have wished to see a more original name allocated to the RAFs next fighter, but we must admit that, as the Lightning sizzles across our line of sight, its twin afterburning Avons trailing in their wake a thunderclap which stuns the aural sense for long after its originator has disappeared into the distance, the name is not inappropriate! Anyway, for better or for worse, Lightning it is and within little more than a year this tremendously potent weapon will be joining the squadrons of Fighter Command, its contours, possessing all the powerful ugliness of the veteran pugilist, contrasting sharply with the lithe, sleek lines of the Hunter that it supplants.
The single-seat Lightning will be joined during the early summer months by the first P.11, a two-seat trainer variant. Retaining the full range of operational equipment carried by the Lightning, the P.11 will differ principally in having a wider forward fuselage to accommodate two seats side by side. Precise performance figures for the Lightning naturally remain secret, but it may be revealed that during routine test flights speeds considerably in excess of 1,200 mph and altitudes greater than 60,000 feet have already been attained. The Lightning hardly transcends the heights of aeronautical elegance, but its powerfully ugly lines will become an increasingly familiar sight over the British countryside in the months ahead and who knows, it may yet be seen bearing the insignia of the Federal German Air Force now that the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter appears to have been ruled out of Germanys future plans.
Lethal Voltage, RAF Flying Review,
November 1958.
Preface
Tiger Or Pussycat?
The English Electric Lightning
It was a Squadron reunion in June. The speeches had been funny and mercifully brief; the meal - first rate. The afterdinner gymnastics had produced no serious injuries (I was unbloodied) and the traditional piano-bashing competition, won by the mid-50s delegates, was now a mound of dying embers in the car park. I was listening spellbound to the survivors of the mid-40s delegation describing how to win a war with style, when the senior raconteur swung to face me, jabbed a war-worn trigger finger into my chest and said: Young man - you are sitting up-sun, with four of the other team cold turkey, three thousand feet below and in front of you. Whats the first thing you do?
