AFTERBURNER RIDES IN LIGHTNING XS458

摘要

Every so often the more muted tones of light aircraft and business jets at Cranfield Airport in Bedfordshire is broken by the raw power of two Rolls-Royce Avon engines with afterburners engaged, as a two-seat English Electric Lightning T.5 jet fighter roars down the runway. The event is not a time warp into the Cold War era, but a regular occurrence, intended to keep alive one of the most iconic British aircraft designs ever to grace the skies. The aircraft involved is Lightning T.5 trainer XS458, which served the RAF from February 2,1966, when delivered to RAF Coltishall until being flown from RAF Binbrook to Cranfield and retirement on June 29, 1988. There, a small group of dedicated enthusiasts headed by Tony Hulls restored the Lightning to full airworthy condition, after she had languished in open store for almost a decade.