Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

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TheGreenGoblin
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Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

#1 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Jun 17, 2022 2:42 pm

Quite something to see such a big formation of the venerable Lightning (from Aeroplane Monthly) ...

No 226 OCU.JPG
No 226 OCU.JPG (35.38 KiB) Viewed 839 times
I cannot say I particularly enjoy scanning colour transparencies, of which I have quite a few, but doing so can jog the memory. It was very recently that I sought out a Kodachrome slide of a 16-ship of Lightnings, taken at RAF Coltishall’s Battle of Britain ‘At Home’ Day on 19 September 1970. Coltishall’s open days were always well worth the trip, both for a varied line-up and for the chance to see Lightnings of the based No 226 Operational Conversion Unit in the air. atnyear’s 16-aircraft diamond formation, a mix of F1As, T4s and T5s, represented maximum effort for the OCU and required the engineers to produce 20 serviceable aeroplanes, this number to include spares and a ’whipper-in’, for the three pre-open day rehearsals and the show itself.

On the day, the routine went well and provided the highlight of the display, the formation seemingly filling the sky as it passed over the airfield to the sound of 32 Rolls-Royce Avons. Or, more accurately, it all went well until the end, when the aircraft formed into sections of four to recover. Eleven Lightnings landed safely before F1A XM180 touched down as the final aircraft of the third section and burst a mainwheel tyre, temporarily blocking the runway. final four were forced to divert to Wattisham, where they were refuelled and made ready for the return to
Coltishall later that day, once the display had concluded and visiting aircraft had been able to take off and head for home. The four Lightnings thus arrived overhead Coltishall’s runway 04
in the early evening, to break into the circuit. One of the pilots of T4 XM990, both OCU instructors, were on the downwind leg when they discovered they had a control problem, the aircraft
exhibiting a progressively stronger desire to roll to the left, a tendency which could not be corrected even with full aileron defleection. They had no option but to put the aircraft into the best situation for the now inevitable ejection, courtesy of their Martin Baker seats.

Pointing the Lightning away from the metropolis of Norwich, they climbed to 4,000ft over a suitably sparsely populated part of Norfolk before ejecting, each at a suitably upright position as the aircraft rolled uncontrollably. Both landed safely, XM990 coming down near the village of Little Plumstead where it hit the ground and broke up, the tail section narrowly missing a car
winding its way along the B1140.

Both pilots were picked up by the base’s SAR Whirlwind and lived to tell the tale, although one suffered injuries from the ejection requiring a period of hospitalisation.
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Re: Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

#2 Post by Boac » Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:03 pm

My memory of 1973 is understandably a little hazy, but on one memorable day 65Sqn (F1/T4) and 2(T) Sqn (F3/T5) both put up 9-ships for some reason I recall not - an amazing achievement. For this balbo, muggins was 'Duty Pilot' in ATC. The vis worsened and the two groups split up. I recall an anxious call from one lead to the other - "Where are you?. We are at 1500ft heading south over Bacton" A cautious pause when the other lead said "Er, we were at 1500ft over Bacton heading north". D. Pilot at this stage taking refuge. They never saw each other...................

The recovery to Coltishall then got even more exciting as one Lightning took the barrier, closing the runway. We distributed the 'remainder' in customary 'short of life-juices' format to Marham and Wattisham as I recall. Exciting days.

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Re: Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

#3 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:10 pm

Boac wrote:
Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:03 pm
My memory of 1973 is understandably a little hazy, but on one memorable day 65Sqn (F1/T4) and 2(T) Sqn (F3/T5) both put up 9-ships for some reason I recall not - an amazing achievement. For this balbo, muggins was 'Duty Pilot' in ATC. The vis worsened and the two groups split up. I recall an anxious call from one lead to the other - "Where are you?. We are at 1500ft heading south over Bacton" A cautious pause when the other lead said "Er, we were at 1500ft over Bacton heading north". D. Pilot at this stage taking refuge. They never saw each other...................

The recovery to Coltishall then got even more exciting as one Lightning took the barrier, closing the runway. We distributed the 'remainder' in customary 'short of life-juices' format to Marham and Wattisham as I recall. Exciting days.

What sort of endurance would your "remainder" have had by the time you sent them off to "nest" elsewhere due to the runway closure?
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Re: Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

#4 Post by Boac » Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:25 pm

800lbs a side, known as a 'crash diversion', and enough for about 15 mins to empty I seem to recall (memories fade!). Div normally flown on 1 motor if that short. Military airfield normally preferred (hence Norwich not used), but at Leuchars, Edinburgh had to be the 'crash diversion'.

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Re: Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

#5 Post by llondel » Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:30 pm

I assume a Lightning had the glide performance of a brick if it flamed out.

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Re: Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

#6 Post by Boac » Fri Jun 17, 2022 6:19 pm

EDP driven hydraulic flying controls, so the opportunity to explore the brick's aerodynamics was limited. :))

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Re: Lightnings en masse! Big formation.

#7 Post by 4mastacker » Sat Jun 18, 2022 1:08 pm

I recall the day at Gutersloh when 19 Sqn put up two 19-ships on the same day. It was the final party piece of the sqn WO Eng (Jack Lawrence) who was retiring after goodness knows how many years service - he did have some WWII ribbons in his rack.

19's neighbours were going through a difficult period, serviceability-wise, at the time having had a blue-on-blue mid-air plus a one-legged landing so the line-up on their bit of the apron that day was a bit "sparse" - ISTR they managed three, although they probably had another three over on t'other side of the airfield as it was their turn on Battle Flight.
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