Thunder & Lightnings - What's new?

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What's New?

WHAT'S NEW? (image from Your Spectrum) 25th April 2008 The Swift survivors section has switched over to the new format, and the Links section has had a revamp too. Out in the real world the Vulcan has flown a couple more times with another test flight expected very soon; noted test pilot Jimmy Dell (of Lightning, TSR2, Jaguar and Tornado fame) sadly passed away on March 25th. RIP Jimmy - there is an obituary well worth a read on The Times site.

27th October 2007 Thunder & Lightnings is beginning a change over to a new format (and a new look in some areas) which will enable me to maintain it with less manual work. The TSR.2 section is the first section to switch over to the new format; the others will follow as I get the time to do so.

I'm researching the TSR.2 in some depth at the moment and would appreciate hearing from anybody who worked on the project - please contact me if you did.

Previous Updates

20th October 2007 Well, the 18th of October was a pretty damn fine day here in the UK. Under blazing blue skies, the world's only airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber taxied out at Bruntingthorpe, backtracked down the active runway... and took off! Yes, test flight 1 for XH558, back in the air for the first time in over 14 years. Well done to all at TVOC!
30th August 2007. So much for my plan to update the survivor tables... unfortunately a bit of a database meltdown put that plan on hold. However I now have the database working again and am able to once more carry out updates. These will happen as and when I get the time! To start with the Buccaneer and Lightning survivors listings have been updated to reflect a few movements and changes in condition of various aircraft - as always, updates are welcome and I'm working through the other types slowly but surely!
20th February 2007. Well it's been quite a while since any notable updates have been made to the site, hasn't it! Some of the airfield viewing guides have had minor changes made to them; the Coningsby one has had a more substantial revamp which is the start of a rolling programme to revamp the others. However all relies on my free time, which is limited these days. The survivor tables are all a little out of date and I'm hoping to go through these over the next few weeks to bring them up to date. In the mean time, we have a competition to win a copy of Rowland White's superb book on the Black Buck Vulcan missions - Vulcan 607. Just answer two simple questions and you could win a signed copy - good luck!
17th July 2006. Sadly another loss to report - Bob Guilford, owner of Hunter F.58 J-4061, was killed when the aircraft crashed on departing the Hillsboro Air Show in the USA. Bob and I had corresponded a few times by email regarding his Hunter, which I know he loved dearly. Bob co-founded WarBirds of America, one of the USA's leading vintage military aircraft organisations (now part of the EAA), and owned a selection of vintage types including a Spitfire, Mustang and of course his Hunter. A tribute in more detail can be found on the front page of his law firm's website. 12th January 2006. Vulcan XL391 was scrapped at Blackpool today, after 23 years of neglect - an ending that will surprise nobody who had visited this airframe and seen the state she was in. Still, sad to see the number of survivors go down by one.
6th January 2006. Happy New Year to all my visitors! Some survivors and other minor updates have been made recently. I'm researching the TSR.2 in some depth at the moment and would appreciate hearing from anybody who worked on the project - please contact me if you did.
9th December 2005. Hawker Hunter Aviation at Scampton today made this announcement: "HHA were today granted approval by the Civil Aviation Authority Management Committee to operate their BAe Buccaneer Aircraft (G-HHAA / XX885) on the UK civil register. This is the culmination of almost five years worth of effort and in excess of 3250 man hours of design verification work. This does not include any engineering work on the aircraft at all! As such it will be the first Complex category aircraft to fly in UK airspace and is a testament to the excellence of the HHA engineering and operational team. Major overhaul work and lifed component replacement on the aircraft will commence shortly, with a first flight target currently envisaged for 2006." What brilliant news - congratulations to all at HHA - can't wait to see the Last British Bomber airborne again!
4th December 2005. Added news of the Duxford TSR.2 rollout to the front page. Also, sad to report that on 2nd December Ray Hanna, first leader of the Red Arrows, passed away. Ray was undoubtedly Britain's foremost display pilot and could put on the most superb displays in anything from a Spitfire to a Gnat. You can read a tribute to Ray on the OFMC website.
25th November 2005. Well it's been a while... again! As with the last entry on this page, this is more a "We're still going" message than a particular list of updates, as there have been many small updates over the last few months. The most noticeable is probably that the airfield guides have been modified to make them easier to print out - now the first page of any printout will include the map and frequencies. Other updates have mostly been cleaning up errors and updating survivors information. I doubt any large updates will be made until next year. One thing I have been asked to add on a number of occasions if a discussion forum. However, I've resisted doing so as I don't really have the time or inclination to administer it. Well, as you may notice there is now a 'Forum' link in the navigation bar at the top of each page. This links to the forum at PlaneTalk - it isn't run by me but please feel free to join me there and talk about all aspects of aviation and the preservation scene.
15th May 2005. Well it's been a while. The more eagle-eyed will have noticed occasional minor updates throughout the site, but I never felt that any of them warranted a mention here. Anyway rest assured the site is still being - slowly - worked on (most recently the Buccaneer and Gannet survivors sections have been brought up to date) and I haven't just abandoned it all. Yet!

20th December 2004. No site update but I have today been informed that Brian Carroll sadly passed away on 2nd December. Brian was a big help in producing the Lightning and Javelin sections of this site - a true gentleman and a genuinely witty and laid back character, with an endless number of - often hilarious - stories about his flying days. Often to be found at the controls of the taxiable Lightnings and Hunter at Bruntingthorpe, Brian is a big loss to the aviation world and I for one am proud to have considered him a friend. He will be greatly missed.

You can read more about Brian's flying career here and also on the Lightning Preservation Group site.

26th November 2004. The site has been moved to new hosting; you will notice the quiz and events sections have disappeared but otherwise there should be no differences. Over the next few weeks/months there will be some significant changes made to how this site is constructed so please bear with me while work is underway. The end result will be a site that is easier for me to maintain and update which should be good news for us all!
21st September 2004. Various survivors updates, notably two more flyers with the return to the air of Sea Hawk WV908 and Hunter XL577!
8th May 2004. Some survivors updates. If you sent me mail between 11 August 2003 and 1st May 2004 that I have not responded to, please accept my apologies and try again - it's all been lost in a horrific email accident, total carnage...
18th March 2004. Added the Gnat to the site! Also piles more survivors updates (too many to list, many courtesy Warbirds of India), and some new pictures (well, old adverts) in many of the aircraft gallery sections.

I have a massive email backlog which I am slowly working through and I am aware there are a substantial number of survivor updates I have yet to incorporate - I will get round to them - honest! Sadly though I can no longer promise an answer to every email I receive - the volume (particularly of requests that require research) is just too high and my free time is no longer what it once was.
12th March 2004. Ha, you guessed it, more apologies! The excuse this time is that I was busy getting married, going on honeymoon, starting a business and deciding whether to keep this site going at all now that I have so much less free time. Anyway, I have decided to keep it going but I'm afraid the photo quiz has to go - a decision prompted by the time required to keep updating it, and the loss of most of the entries for the last one due to the ISP responsible for that email account having a bit of a problem - sorry all.

All this time since the last changes to the site mean I have a bumper survivors update for you all, but there have been so many changes I can't list them individually - you'll just have to hunt around! Some examples are that Bucc XV332 has been scrapped, Hunter XL614 crashed (sadly killing the ferry pilot), a pair of Gannets (XT752 and XL500) are to be returned to the air in the UK and Vulcan XH558 is having some good luck with National Lottery funding (fingers crossed, stage 1 has been successful but there's still a long way to go).
24th June 2003 Many apologies for no updates recently - I've just been hugely busy. However this does mean we have a bit of a bumper survivors update: Buccaneers XK532, XN979, XT272, XT280, XT284, XV165, XV344, XX888, XX889, XX892, XX894; Gannets XA434, XG888; Hunters 500, E-402, E-421, E-424, ET-273, J-4083, 'XF506' (WT746), XF516 (unfortunately crashed), XG160, XG225, XG297, WT711, WV322, WV383; Javelin XA564; Lightnings XG325, XP706, XR713, XS456, XS897, XS932, XV328, ZF579, ZF583, ZF592; Phantoms XT907, XV409, XV582; Scimitar XD220; Sea Hawks IN240, XE368; Sea Vixens G-CVIX, XJ494, XN647; TSR.2 XR220; Vulcans XA893, XH537, XH563, XL388, XM605; Victor XH672. Spotting guides updated: Barkston Heath, Coningsby, Kemble, Lyneham. Events updated: some piccies from the Queen's Birthday Flypast and the Abingdon Fayre.
1st April 2003. Just a photo quiz update I'm afraid.

9th March 2003. My friend Dick Clements was a long standing contributor to this site, indeed he was instrumental in it taking the direction it has, after he introduced me to the delights of Vulcan XM655 and her fast taxi runs, and sent me pictures he had taken at various museums. Dick battled long and hard with cancer, and I'm afraid on February 28th he finally lost that fight. Thanks for all your help Dick, we'll miss you.

Photo quiz updated. Updated viewing guides for RAF Brize Norton, RAF Coltishall, RAF Cottesmore, Cranfield, RAF Waddington and RAF Wittering. Survivors updates: Buccaneers XK532, 'XN972', XT272, XX895, XW547; Hunters 831, XG154; Lightning XS925; Phantom XV424; Sea Hawk WV838; Sea Vixen XJ571 (saved!); Valiant XD818 and finally Vulcans XL318 and XM655.

History before 2002 removed to save space.

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