T.55 55-713 at Baginton, 11th May 2002; author	T.55 ZF597 at Olympia, February 2003; Bill Proffitt

Now a rather unusual beast - a T.55. This ex-Saudi machine is a much-improved T.5; with the large belly tank and kinked and cambered wings of the F.6 variant, it's basically a two-seat F.6 with ground attack capabilities. The aircraft underwent a restoration sponsored by Glynwed (an aluminium company) to put it into Saudi colours (one of only two Lightnings preserved in Saudi colours in the UK).

Originally bought by the Anglo American Lightning Association as a possible spares ship, as they acquired the 595/596 composite, ZF597 was sold to raise additional funds for the restoration to flight status of XS422, and has moved on to the Olympic Flight Museum in Washington state. She was quickly reassembled after transport to the museum, and I have heard there are plans afoot to ground-run her! Information current as of 13/02/2003.

NOSE/COCKPIT/OTHER SECTIONS

F.1 XG325 at Southend Airport, 26th May 2003; Garry Lakin	F.1 XG331 at the Jet Age Museum, 2nd November 1997; author

One of only two remaining F.1 cockpit sections is XG325, seen here on a rare public outing at the Southend Airport Open Day (held over the same weekend as the annual airshow). Information current as of 26/05/2003.

It might not look like much now, but the Jet Age Museum's Lightning F.1 cockpit section was once part of one of the development batch of F.1s. Now it's not much more than a shell unfortunately, with most of the interior of the cockpit missing. Hopefully it will be restored to its former glory and if they do a job even half as good as on their Canberra, it'll be superb. Unfortunately the museum has been forced to shut its doors by the airport authorities who want to demolish the hangar that the museum use, so for the time being this aircraft is not accessible.

F.1A XM144 at Booker, 27th March 2002; author	F.1A XM169 at Chop Gate, 25th March 2002; Bob Lawson

Intended to be used as a travelling exhibit by Parkhouse Aviation, XM144 was basically an empty shell and was to be restored using XM172's cockpit interior. However as has become clear the plan for putting XM172 on a roundabout has come to naught, and XM144 moved on to a new owner in Pershore... then to Leeds... then finally to Neil Airey in Cumbria! Information current as of 14/01/2007.

XM169 came from Leuchars where she had ended her life as a decoy airframe. While her exterior is a little faded, the cockpit interior is complete - and immaculate! The previous owner, Ken Ward, had rigged up a small hand operated hydraulic pump which raises and lowers the canopy, after a brush with death in the past when the canopy closed on him, cutting off his air supply while he was working in the cockpit. Thankfully he managed to move himself around and use his legs to push the canopy open slightly to allow some airflow until he was rescued! Ken sold off much of his collection in 2004 and XM169 moved on to the Highlands Aviation Museum in June. Information current as of 23/07/2004.

F.1A XM191 at North Weald, May 1994; author	F.2 XN769 at Ta' Qali, 26th September 2005; author

XM191 is one of several nose sections held by the RAF's exhibition unit who cart them around to airshows and fairs as recruiting aids. Masquerading as a 5 Squadron F.6 in this superb shark mouth scheme, this is actually an F.1A nose section. Some panels have been replaced with perspex to give an indication of the construction. In recent years XM191 hasn't been out much - well, can't be getting kids' hopes up, they'll never fly a Lightning if they join the RAF!

First flown in 1962, XN769 served with 92 Squadron until 1973 and was then retired to gate guardian duties at RAF Leconfield in December of that year. In 1976 she moved to the London Air Traffic Control Centre at RAF West Drayton and was the gate guardian there for many years. Unfortunately following the closure of RAF West Drayton in 2002, XN769 got the chop, and was scrapped. The nose section was saved by Russell Carpenter who placed it in his garden where it hid for some time until he donated it to the excellent Malta Aviation Museum, where it is now on display. Information current as of 26/09/2005.

F.2A XN726 at Boscombe Down, 1st July 2000; author	F.3 XP703 at RAF Coltishall, 2nd October 1998; author

A fairly recent acquisition at Boscombe Down's excellent museum is the rather battered nose section of XN726. On a sliding scale from perfect to knackered, this one is definitely edging past the mid-way point towards knackered! However the future looks bright - DERA Boscombe Down's commanding officer apparently has some connection with this particular Lightning and a bit of official approval never hurts when it comes to restoring anything! XN726 entered service as an F.2 with the AFDS at Binbrook, was later converted to F.2A and went back into service with 19 Squadron at Gutersloh. Damaged by lightning, after repair she served with 92 Squadron until they disbanded in 1976, and XN726 was retired. She was part of the extremely short lived and little known Lightning display team - the Green Marrows (5 Lightnings that performed 92's final Lightning flypast) - and still bears a faded 'Fly Marrows' logo. In 1977 she was flown to Farnborough (her last flight) and the next year she was delivered to PEE Shoeburyness to be used for weapons testing and after a great deal of punishment what was left was to be scrapped in 1993, so the nose was saved by Nigel Towler. In the end the rest wasn't scrapped until 1996. Hugh Trevor then acquired the nose and has loaned it to the Boscombe Down museum, who were keen to have a Lightning exhibit with some sort of DERA history - PEE Shoeburyness now being part of DERA, it fits the bill! Hugh has a wants list: Lower part of control column, starboard instrument panel (RPM/JPT), ILS/UHF control panel, IFF/SSR box, TACAN control unit, spine panels 22P, 22S and 23. If you can help with any of those, email Hugh (not forgetting to remove the .no.junk.mail from the address) or phone him on 01243 827266.

This cockpit section was converted to a ground procedures trainer and has been restored at RAF Coltishall to the superb condition you see it in here. It is now in use as a travelling exhibit and is often found away from base, though normally located at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum. Information current as of 21/04/2007.