Lightnings Thunder - LPG Lightning 'Scramble' Bruntingthorpe
Vložit
- čas přidán 4. 11. 2017
- The Lightning Preservation Group, based at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire, held a 'twilight run' at their base on Saturday 4th November 2017, with a pair of English Electric Lightnings. The setting for the main event was at the opposite end of the airfield from their 'Q Shed' base, due to ongoing groundworks on the old airfield; so instead of a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) scenario, much the same 'mission' was accomplished from the hardstanding at the opposite end providing an Operational Readiness Platform (ORP) scenario. This is a film of the 'main event', which was an Operational Readiness (ORP) scramble re-enactment by both aircraft followed by ground runs of each aircrafts paired Avon jet engines and taxiing of the aircraft for added entertainment and spectacle.
Added authenticity was provided by two Historical Re-enactors dressed in appropriate period RAF gear, and seen at the beginning of this film, though obviously not in the aircraft.
More detailed coverage of the event can be seen here :-
• Lightning Double Twili...
For more information about the Lightning Preservation Group see here:-
www.lightnings.org.uk
Video and Audio content is
Copyright © High Flight
This video and audio material may not be reproduced in any form (except as the videos CZcams embedded video option on any other website), without written permission. - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Served on 74 squadron in 60s .have visited Log and the AIRCRAFT are in better Nick than when in service.Well done the volunteers
Very well done. So sad that they can longer 'fast taxi run' them at Bruntingthorpe. 😞
I remember when Arnie glass bought these and were at cranfield and sandy topin with venoms and vampires jet provost,good old days
Bloody brilliant loved big thumbs up thanks for sharing👍👍👏
Brilliant , big thank you for these folks keeping these superb Cold War jets going , 👍👍👍👍
Although still capable of running, sadly the sites owners have leased the airfield to an international automotive company who will no longer allow the old airfield to be used for what it was designed. So they're now 'landlocked' in a small area, but at least they're hangared and looked after for the future. Hopefully the team who own and cherish them will realise that they need to cut and run with them to another site where they can spread their wings again.
They look amazing in grey
Them birds were built to fly, not to taxi
Do you have big money.!! 😃
Really nice to see these still alive, sad that none of these will fly in UK due to the CAA rules, it would be nice if the RAF could fly at least one of them as a memorial of their past service, we seem to find money for other, much less deserving causes. Many thanks for posting this.
A pleasure and glad you enjoyed. Sadly I think that just one of these would probably be more expensive for the RAF to fly than both The Red Arrows and The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight combined?
Absolutely beautiful, many thanks for posting this. Speaking as a pilot, the temptation to rotate must be incredible. All that thrust under you and a clear sky above you. Heavenly. Teddy Petter did such an amazing job with the Lightning design, all credit to the memory of him and his team.
Thankyou. I'm glad that you enjoyed the film. If only they could still fly these superb jets?
@@HighFlightOh tell me about it. My Grandfather flew them in the 60s, to say I'm jealous is the understatement of the year. While it was no dogfighter in the true sense as an interceptor he said it not only had no equal, but was at least a generation in front of anything on the drawing board; much to the consternation of our American friends. Nothing got you point to point, higher and faster than the Lightning. Absolutely nothing.
I like to think in an alternative universe somewhere there is a historic RAF Flight that includes not only the Lightning but that other stillborn legend, the TSR2 but in their reality the latter had a long and illustrious career behind it. What a beast from the same stable that was, a thoroughbred against the horrendously hobbled F111 of the era.
Ah well. What could have been eh?
@@bigbill74scots I agree regards the Lightning. It was designed purely to intercept Soviet bombers in the event that they attacked us during the Cold War. I believe that the most difficult part of flying them - certainly the earlier models - was fuel management. I recall they had something like 20 minutes fuel reserve? Now, the TSR2 - another amazing aircraft. A 2 seat Lightning was used as a chase plane on all of its test flights, so they both flew together on just about every flight that the TSR2 made. As you rightly say, what could have been - if only?
@@bigbill74scots only thing close at the time was the MiG-21
Beautiful muscle bound machine.
THE VERY BEST
Excellent footage, reminds me of my time in the R.A.F. I really hope that a Lightning could return to the skies, thanks for posting the footage.
A pleasure. Thankyou. It would be nice to see a Lightning in UK skies again, but I doubt it will happen. Maybe in South Africa again or in USA with any luck?
They're restoring a T-5 in Mississippi to flying condition. They taxied it last year but I believe they're looking for more funding. Look it up, XS422.
You brought me back to the Cold War era...,..Dear Steve ,I know from the firsthand that the forces of Warsaw Pact are afraid especially by EEL.
I'm sure that they were very well respected by the TU-95 crews. Mmemories of the 'Cold War', when I recall the world seemed safer in many respects, but was not necessarily a better place?
Good point Steve, Mr. Colt democratized the world by inventing Colt's revolver ... sounds ugly but unfortunately it's true.
It would be great to see these fly again. I think they went out of service when I was just a year old!
Stephen - They were retired by the RAF in 1988. I think one will eventually fly again in the USA and possibly elsewhere if the ex South African 'Thunder City' airframes are sold to a good home?
Taxiing isn't enough, its time for these veterans of the Cold War to FLY!!!!
The only thing that spoils the full effect is that you can't "feel" the noise
Ah, but if you had a powerful enough sound system could you then 'feel the noise' in almost the same way? All I know is that I'll always remember feeling my ear drums vibrate as I realised that I'd forgotten to put in any ear plugs!😊
@@HighFlight no, it's more the deep vibration you feel in your chest right through to the spine when both engines go into full reheat when you are stood directly opposite ☺️
Is it okay if we use this video on our new website? - Scott LPG Bruntingthorpe.
Scott - You are welcome to do so and it would be an honour for me if you would. Steve - (High Flight)
Did u film this on the day u posted it
No. I shot the film yesterday and posted it today!
any ideas who the pilots were on that day?
Chris, unfortunately I don't know.
I saw lots of FOD on the ground.
Sadly that's what happens when you open an old airfield to the general public for racing car experiences, events like this and vehicle and aircraft storage etc. and despite the fact that people were specifically briefed not to drop FOD. Lucky its not an operational airfield.
So, they don't fly these beasts anymore?
Unfortunately not. There were a few flying in South Africa at 'Thunder City' until about 5 years ago. They were temporarily grounded after a fatal accident and then at least one briefly flew again I believe, before they and other aircraft in the collection were put up for sale. They failed to sell and since then the owner, Mike Beachyhead, sadly passed away. I presume that the collection is still for sale. Elsewhere, a group in USA are in the process of restoring one with the intention of flying her over there. The UK CAA will never give permission for any of these to be flown on the civil register as they are too complex. The only way one would be able to fly in the UK is if it was taken on by a military operator here, which is very unlikely.
@@HighFlight
Very unlikely, but certainly not impossible, maybe? More a case of it ain't what you do but the way that you do it?
The main problem would be costs to the MOD and the RAF, costs to buy back a few examples such as those in South Africa, costs to house them, costs to insure them, costs to service and maintain them, and costs to fuel them, so what if the RAF didn't have to worry about costs and only had to supply in service pilots to fly them?
You seem to have all of the above covered so why not donate them to the RAF for one (or a few) days only per year so that they can be flown by the military in memorial flights, you just keep ownership for the days that they do not fly.
It would be nice if you could get your hands on the other two also to see four fly in formation "under the wings" of the RAF, pun totally intended! Plus you could still do regular taxi runs on other days as you do now.
@@redlioness6627 It's a nice dream to have. Unfortunately there's no need in today's world for the RAF to fly the Lightning any more. The whole purpose of the Lightning was to act as an interceptor to protect the nuclear V bomber force from enemy fighters and to prevent enemy bombers from getting close to the UK. Once the UK's nuclear capability went to the Royal Navy and fast fighters with longer range were available - the Lightning's 'achilles heel' was its fuel consumption and capacity - the Lightning was redundant. If it were of use to mimic the type of aircraft attacks that the Royal Navy would face from say Russia, then it could be used to act as an 'aggressor' aircraft for training, just as old Hawker Hunters are used by a private company in the UK - Hawker Hunter Aviation - to act as aggressor aircraft. Even though the company is private and they own their hawker Hunters, the aircraft remain on the military register and are regularly flown. They even have a fully airworthy Buccaneer and a Sukhoi SU-22, so maybe they could also have a Lightning or two? - hunterteam.com/aircraft/
The second jet failed to fire up its 2nd engine aborted take off .
Yes, although no take off was ever actually intended.
Yes I realised after watching the full clip, lesson learnt don't comment too soon haha. Thanks.
Thanks for watching. It would be good to see these fly again, although sadly I doubt that they will? Up close to these was probably the loudest thing I have ever heard. I forgot to put ear plugs in until it was too late and could feel my ear drums bouncing about. A friend who I was with was literally knocked over by the noise!
These are old ladies maintained by volunteers. They deserve to be cut a little bit of slack.