ENGLISH ELECTRIC LIGHTNING - PICTURES

ENGLISH ELECTRIC LIGHTNING

PICTURES - FUSELAGE

ENGLISH ELECTRIC LIGHTNING
PICTURES - FUSELAGE

NOSE & INTAKE

A close look down the intake of the Midland Air Museum's T.55. You can just about see the compressor face of the lower Avon engine. The upper one is located further back and out of sight. On the edge of the picture at the right you can see the gun camera which is buried in the support for the radar bullet. The upper part of the support (not in picture) extends forward further and has a small probe sticking out too.
Hendon's F.6 XS925, looking up at the open canopy from the starboard side.
Duxford's F.1A XM173, with the silver finish showing off the various panels etc. quite well.
Newark's T.5 XS417, the contours of the nose are very different from the single seaters but the position of the various stencils etc. is generally similar. The two holes below the canopy are attachment points for the access ladder.

BELLY AND SPINE

Looking down XS904's starboard fuselage. XS904 is an F.6 but has no cannon installed in the belly tank; accordingly it doesn't have the cannon ports, or the bulges further back. In this picture you can also see the kink in the leading edge of the F.6 variant.
XS904 again. Good view of the underside of the wing (kink much more visible here!) and the outboard undercarriage door.
T.5 XS417. The small belly tank of the earlier variants differs not only in size but also in the number of strakes fitted - a single one in the middle instead of the two large ones positioned on each side of the big tanks of the F.2A/6.
XS417 again, more detail of the port fuselage side and belly tank plus the drooped port flap.
XS417 once more, showing more of the port fuselage side and spine. Also good view over the port wing's upper surface - note straight leading edge. The port aileron is slightly deflected; note how the wing tip is part of the aileron and goes up in opposition along with the arm further inboard. The navigation light on the straight wing variants is inboard; on the kinked wing variants it is on the corner and curves out to form a teardrop shape.
Sticking with XS417, here's a view of the rear of the belly tank. Note the blunt edge at the aft end - I've seen several machines like this, but have photos that appear to show a smoothly faired rear edge to the tank as well. Optional accessory?

REAR FUSELAGE

XS904 at Bruntingthorpe - port airbrake, showing the distinctive shape of the brake itself and the recess in which the ram lies when the brake is shut.
XS904's starboard airbrake bay. As you can see the bay is pretty blank - the door is very tight fitting! The top and bottom edges do have a slight lip and the edges of the brake itself lie not within the bay but overlapping it slightly. My thanks to the Lightning Preservation Group's ground crew and Wing Cdr. (retd) Brian Carroll, XS904's pilot for the opportunity to take these pictures - leaving the brakes open after a run is not normal practice and it takes some effort to pump them back in manually!
Here's a small detail for the insane super-detailers out there. The small exhaust on the port side of the rear fuselage, below and back from the airbrake edge, has a pipe within it attached to the exhaust pipe itself by a strake. The exhaust also has the distinctive lip visible here. You can just about make out the interior pipe in this shot.
Lower rear fuselage of XR728 at Bruntingthorpe. This is after a fast taxi run, the brake chute having been used on the run. Central in the picture is the open brake chute bay with the brake chute pack housing visible. The arrestor hook and rear light housing also show up well here.

TAIL & ENGINES

The brake parachute line is a loop of steel cable that leads from the brake chute bay door underneath the bottom engine, back along the fuselage, around the tail bumper (in the grooves visible on the bumper in the previous picture) and then up around the jetpipes, following the figure of eight shaped channel. This is not something you'll see in any model kit but is easy enough to do with a bit of thread. The cable joins at the top into a steel insert which plugs into the hole at the top; the brake chute jettison lets it pop out and the chute then falls away. The yellow arrow on the right points to one of the many retainers around the channel that holds the line in place.
XN776's jetpipes. You can see the brake chute line retainers here too.
XR771's port rear fuselage, not a wonderful picture but shows the standard Lightning tailpipe cover at least.