This is the type of programme the BBC used to broadcast routinely. It would typically go out on BBC 1 at nine pm on a Wednesday evening for an hour and the producer wouldn't feel the need to obscure the words of the pilots or narrator with intrusive music. It might surprise the reader to learn that programmes of such subjects are still broadcast in his country but the Corporation has eschewed them in favour of repetitive cookery, dance and quiz shows
...not forgetting the overwhelming emphasis on diversity & inclusivity that totally eclipses everything else- no longer anything to do with entertainment. .
@@bertiewooster3326 Thanks for the reply. If you were flying it in the mid 80s it is quite likely that we talked to each other over the R/T, I was a controller at Staxton Wold.
0:20 The instructor is Tim Allen, later went on to be a test pilot for BAe Systems. Had the pleasure of sharing many a test flight with Tim. Great sense of humour, fabulous pilot.
I remember being glued to the television when Test Pilot was first screened. To this day, the EE Lightning remains a firm favourite; echoes of a time when Britain was truly Great!
I recognise Les Evans. Was at university with him. He had money because he was on an RAF scholarship. He flew at weekends at Woodvale with the Manchester University Air squadron.
I watched this on its hot weather trials in the Middle East. Unforgettable, especially in a vertical climb, with the accompanying double boom. Not a pretty aircraft, perhaps, but fuelled on raw testosterone. Superb.
The muscle car of jet fighters, basically two massive engines with wings and a seat bolted to it, an amazing aircraft of a bygone era, shame there are so few flying today.
Great airplane indeed, but it does not have a mission in modern days. Today is hard to survive an attack at low level, nobody will attack England commin high... so the Lightning does not have "customers" unless it could be adapted for low level work.
The ONLY fighter aircraft operated by NATO in 1985 that achieved a stern intercept of Concorde offered up by BA as a target after it was refitted was a Lightning. Absolute rocket ship.
it was a set up for the press... with 135 NM range, all the Concorde had to do is turn 5° right or left to avoid interception as the Lightning was balistic and had no fuel for another run...
@@Yosemite-George-61 Inflight refuelling would have kept it flying. According to a Lightning pilot they would take off from Lincolnshire, reach height , refuel and be across the Norwegian coast in 6 minutes from scramble.
The Lightning excelled in its intended bomber interception role. Nothing else could get up so high so fast. Yes it had short legs but that was all part of the trade-off to achieve its design criteria. Later development and flight refuelling kept it relevant into the 70s and beyond. Also, we must remember this was against a background of very tight defence spending and political chaos in procuremet policy.
Everyone's idea of beauty is different. To me is it similar to the slab sided P-47 which because of all the turbocharger ducting had a fuselage thick top to bottom but more graceful when view from on top or upward at the bottom. Compared to the contemporary F-106 ...
I remember the Test Pilot series back in the mid 80s.. I recorded the whole series on vhs! At the time I was around 15 years old & in the ATC. I did 2 AEF flights in the De Havilland Chipmunk. My 2nd flight was 55 minutes with plenty of aerobatic manoeuvres! Good days.
Limited range and maybe in those early days limited weapons offerings, (i.e red top), but it could sit on its tail and go straight up, very quickly. This aircraft was years ahead of its time and could still out climb many modern fighter jets. One of the last great all British fighters.
Loving the 'banter'. I just appreciate it for what it was. A glorious interceptor. The aircraft of that era were built with such inherent flaws. Much more romantic than modern computer driven excellence though. How far we've come!
I was privileged to see the last very tight and low level Diamond 9 formation made by Lightnings at Binbrook - the guy in the tower commented, "Eat your hearts out, Red Arrows!" - :grin:
Interesting to know that in the early days there were no two seat lightnings and every pilots first flight was solo. That must have been quite an experience 😮
As an American I was very impressed by the achievements of the postwar UK aircraft industry with comparatively little in the way of resources. It seems as though government interference destroyed it
Tragic to see what has become of Boscombe Down now, a pale shadow of it's former self. I count myself lucky that I got to see the last of the good years there but it was painful to watch it wither on the vine. And boy was that a young Dave Southwood!
after 200 km the Lightning run out of fuel... it could be surpassed by a Piper Cub... useless as a weapon when Soviet bombers could release a K-20 400 km from England...
@@chrisburnby62 I know the stories... one was shot by a Mig but continued on its mission only to find out that the vibrations caused by the shell impacts ruined the photos. Courageous men. But... if they were carrying bombs they would have flown a lot lower...
I loved seeing this aircraft when they tested it out of Warton. They used to fly straight and level till they got out to sea, and then went vertical! Epic
Awesome, seen them at raf Finningley air shows early 70s through 80s,best Air Shows ever, promotions giving free stickers/flying ✈ over crowd /access in and through aircraft all parked up close with staff explaining /demonstrations/all very up close and personal before the phoney War on Terror and mass control via surveillance.
Of all the planes in the world- i want one of these to go to the shops in! Wow! Certain given stats are still classified, but pilots knew the facts. What a blast-rethink em and soup em up cos why on earth would one bother with the toys they use now! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hermosa aeronave, cuando era pequeño la primera vez que lo vi (en un libro) pensé que se trataba de un caza ligero similar al MiG-21 tanto prestaciones como tamaño (en especial por su cono en la toma de aire) pero resulta que nada que ver al MiG. Saludos.
Save the twins, son and go back even further and fly some truly wonderful planes like the Spitfire, Mosquito and the original Typhoon. Those are truly thrilling airplanes to fly.
Have to agree with Jackyeahwoo - I was at Leuchars last Saturday, for the first time in 30 years, and Typhoon definitely has far superior agility. Still wish there'd been a Lightning flying tho....much louder!!!
That’s saying something. The typhoon does a display on Wednesday afternoons at conningsby during the summer months staying within the airfield boundary , it’s mental and will make your ears bleed.
The Lightning strikes and strikes and strikes - the ground that is en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_English_Electric_Lightning
Actually, I originated this video and stitched the episodes as you will know. I still have the letters from the BBC archives to prove,..but hey! Enjoy.
@@ClassicAviationTV “Where this clip came from” was a referral to the Test Pilot series, not your channel or mine. I recorded the original series on VHS when it first came out and transposed it on DVD as separate episodes. They are on my channel as separate episodes and with copyright permission.
86 lightning crashed ,the last happened in 2009.most were caused by an engine catching fire resulting in the aircraft being "abandend".The loss rate of lightning over 50 years was less than 25%.
That's not the one at the entrance to Boscome Down now is it? I did my school work experience there in 1997 and remember cycling past one. Was working on the the Hawk and Hunter for the Empire test pilot school. They still had the nimrod there at that time plus harrier, tornado and tuccano. Was almost death by the second week spending my lunchbreaks sat on the apron watching the jets start up.
I used to work on the Lightning in the clip when I was at Boscombe Down and there was a different one as a gate guard. As far as I know XS422 eventually ended up in the USA after it was retired and the owners intend to get it airborne again.
Ian, went to Binbrook last weekend there is a lightning there with a few spare engine parts kicking about. Was sad to see it almost complete and covered over FLT LT MACLACHLAN was the name on the side. If only it could be made air worthy, saw my first ones at Greenham Common they took off and just went vertical....................never to been seen again.
Now that there is additive manufacturing (3D printing,) the possibility of making high strength ceramic engine parts for legacy aircraft is growing all the time. It will never be _inexpensive,_ but once the plans are digitized who knows how many generations will be able to see this technology fly. The speed of sound will remain a practical barrier so these craft will be impressive for a long time.
The modern Typhoon would eat it for lunch. It's also likely that the American F-15/F-16/F-22 would also use if for target practice. Even the F-4 Phantom "Air Defense Diesel" would likely best it. This is not to slam the Lightning at all. It's just that the advancements in avionics, weapons and capabilities in the last 40 years greatly exceed the abilities of the Lightning. The F-15 climbs between 30,000-50,000 ft/min and is highly agile with advanced radar and BVR missile systems. No contest.
