Introduction:
This website has been created by English
Electric Lightning enthusiasts with the aim of centralising the most
useful and definitive web-based information available. By visiting this
page you should easily be able to find just about anything you might want
to know about the Lightning. It is a labour of love and strictly non -
commercial !
“We must remember the Lightning quite simply because it was a
magnificent and unique aircraft. It was our first and only British
supersonic aircraft and it was the only one in the world (as far as I know)
with one engine on top of the other. But more importantly it was a real
pilot's aeroplane, although I suspect its engineers will have a different
view!”
Air Vice-Marshal Sir John Severne KCVO OBE AFC DL
English Electric Lightning
Database:
This spreadsheet started off as
a simple way of seeing the number of hours/sorties flown by individual
aircraft, but as things do, it snowballed into what it is now, hopefully a
one-stop source to take you to further information.
The database has been expanded further by David Harvey of Robertsbridge
Aviation with links to his English Electric Lightning Survivors Google map
and the English Electric Lightning Losses Google map.
This is an ongoing work and will be updated as and when new information
becomes available. There are
discrepancies that have been found when going through the available
information, but hopefully they will be resolved with the passage of time.
We ask that if you do see glaring errors or can update any of the
information as to airframe locations etc. then please let us know.
The information used to put the database together has been sourced and
cross - checked from many sources, mainly books and websites. The main ones
can be found elsewhere on this page.
English Electric Lightning photo
albums:
We have assembled what we
believe to be the largest collection of
Lightning photos
on the World Wide
Web. Nearly every airframe has its own album which is best accessed via
column
‘B’ on the ‘All Marks’ worksheet. We have gone to some trouble to
show the source of each photo and give proper credit where known. If you
see a picture of yours that is not credited or wrongly credited then do
please let us know and we can either remove it or credit it to you. Also
if you have photographs of individual tail numbers that are missing from
the albums, and are willing to let David use them then please email him
using the "Contact Us" tab in the navigation bar.
English Electric Lightning
Survivors Map:
This
Lightning Survivors Map
shows the locations of surviving English Electric Lightning airframes and
cockpit sections around the world. For any airframe or cockpit section
where the exact location is unknown or confidential, a marker has been
placed in the middle of a field or lake in the general vicinity of the
last known location. All corrections and additions are most welcome.
Please respect the privacy of the owners of such airframes.
English Electric Lightning
Losses Map:
The
Lightning Losses Map shows
the locations where Lightnings were lost. Some locations are approximate,
especially those involving the sea. All corrections and additions are most
welcome.