Lightning from the Cockpit: Flying the Supersonic Legend

The author has gathered together 16 personal accounts of what it was like to fly the Lightning, the only single-seat supersonic interceptor designed and manufactured in the UK. These stories convey the immense brute power of the machine, its reputation for speed and phenomenal rate of climb, but also its many pitfalls.

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The English Electric Lightning was the only single-seat supersonic interceptor fighter designed and manufactured in the UK. It saw service with the RAF in the sixties and seventies and gained a worthy reputation for its speed ( in excess of Mach 2 ) and phenomenal rate of climb. It was, however, a not entirely reliable aeroplane and over fifty were lost during its operational career. In this book, the author has gathered together 16 personal accounts of what it was like to fly the Lightning, thrilling stories that convey the immense brute power of the machine and also its many pitfalls. It will enthrall the enormous following the aircraft still enjoys. Since the accident in 2009 there are currently no Lightnings in the air anywhere in the world but there is a two-seat Lightning T.5 under long-term rebuild to fly in the USA however.