LIGHTNING OVER BRITAIN

摘要

The English Electric Lightning was an interceptor that looked the part. Advanced technology when it first entered service, its unique design nevertheless cried out for further development from the start. The reality was that the UK Government only ever saw it as a stop-gap aircraft and so it was largely starved of substantial funding. Once in service, it was almost constantly earmarked for 'imminent withdrawal' and the modest developments that were approved were generally insufficient. Entering squadron service in 1960, it remained an integral part of the UK's air defences for nearly 28 years. The Lightning was a radical aircraft from the outset. Born of a 1947 Ministry of Supply study, English Electric designed the P1 with twin, vertically mounted engines. The first official P1A flight, with WG760, was on August 4, 1954 in the hands of Roland Beamont (during a previous fast taxi run this aircraft had briefly got airborne). A few days later it broke the sound barrier on only its third test flight -Beamont unaware he had done so until back on the ground.