English Electric Lightning
 

Some photos of my Lightning taken yesterday. I built it from the Mick Reeves kit. Wren 160 engine, Flite-metal coating, weighs about 31pounds dry, plus a gallon of fuel. Has 21servos, valves, controllers, etc.

I know those Reeve's "kits" can be a *****....and I'm not a fan of the Lightning, but your model looks amazing! Very well done, I hope it flies as great as it looks. Very unique.....

Nicely done Harry!! Very unusual jet. Nice to see something different!

Jack Holland

Nicest MR Lightning I have seen so far Harry. I know you said never again, but the flightmetal was the right choice for this aircraft.



John

Very nice indeed how long did it take you to build that from the MR kit

Harry

Very nice model and with a builders kit 'done the hard way'. I bet that with that weight and power it flies with real authority. Well done.

John

Great stuff Harry. It looks even better in the flesh - great to see it in the air
Bob

Harry,

Very nice indeed, always good to see this British classic, you have chosen a great scheme too.

Very nice, is the belly tank functional?

Love it, I want one!

Sort of. I moulded my own tank for the model and it curves down into the belly tank bulge.

It's been a project spread over a long time with big gaps of nothing happening. I started building in 2010, first flight was 2012 in bare finish, occasional flying sessions through to June 2014 trying to sort handling issues then once it was flying nicely I started on the flite-metal and painting which was complete in Oct 2014 and it has been waiting since then for the right connditions to fly again now that it is complete.

double post

It has always been one of my favorite jets. Wish I could have seen a real one fly. I used to live in Key West and worked on a commercial boat that moored in a fish house marina near Boca Chica Naval Air Station. This facility is the home of one of the combat training programs that attracts large numbers of jet warbirds for tactical training from nations that partner with the US for defense. I would get to see a variety of fighter and attack aircraft along with their support aircraft every day in the pattern for landing. They all would fly right over us as they made their landing approaches, usually below 300 feet. I got to be pretty good at identifying the different types by their outlines, markings and sounds. It was like a year round airshow because of the good weather and prevailing winds that blew straight down the runways and right over us. I once spotted an F-4 Phantom at about 20 feet altitude going really fast, afterburners blazing. About a half mile back the water was whipped up into a giant spray that rose 75-100 feet in the air. He was out of sight in seconds leaving a trail of water vapor that hung for a couple of minutes. The captain came out of the flying bridge saying "What the hell was that?". He didn't believe a plane could do that to the water, too bad he did not see it go by. I had felt the thump of the sonic boom after the jet was over the horizon but, standing next to a 600 horse power supercharged diesel I didn't hear any jet noise.

Magnificant!

Very nice,Congrats!

Beautiful job Harry.

If there are any masochists in the US looking for an MR Lightning kit I have one I could be persuaded to let go of.

Looks great, Harry! Nice color scheme - and good job whoever took the photos!