"Unfortunately, it has gone too far to cancel."
- Duncan Sandys, Minister of Defence (1957).

Lightning F.53 ZF584; author

None of your weedy American Lightnings to be found here! That P-38, well... it ain't noisy enough, it doesn't have flames coming out the back end and it just doesn't compare, full stop. That F-35... well, it's ugly as hell, and completely lacking in charisma. English Electric made the only Lightning worth talking about. If you never saw a Lightning come off the end of the runway and immediately go straight up like a rocket making more noise than was believable, then you have my sympathies. You missed one hell of an experience!