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BAC English Electric Lightning

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Description

Lightning Background
Lightning F.3A (Interim F.6) / F.6

Last Revised: July 1, 2004
Written by:Greg Goebel

The F.3 really did little to address the endurance issue, and so in 1963 BAC began work on an "F.3A" or "F.3 Extended Range Aircraft (ERA)", the primary feature being a much larger and longer ventral tank that gave the aircraft something of a "pregnant" appearance. The tank could be removed on the ground, but not jettisoned in flight. The larger ventral tank had actually been prototyped on P.1Bs several years earlier. It featured twin dorsal fins instead of the single dorsal fin of earlier Lightning variants.

The F.3A also featured a new wing that featured a leading-edge camber and a "kinked" outer wing panels with slightly increased sweep, providing better low-speed handling. The kinked wing had actually been demonstrated on a P.1A in 1957. The F.3A retained the Avon 301 engines.

Initial flight was on 17 April 1964. There doesn't appear to have been a specific F.3A prototype, though an F.2 was fitted with the kinked wings on a trials basis. A total of 16 "F.3As" was built. There were 14 upgrades to F.3A specification as well, including 12 F.3s that hadn't been delivered to the RAF yet; an F.2 that was upgraded before its first flight; and the single F.2 that had been previously upgraded to an F.3.

Production then switched to a further improved variant that could actually use the overwing tanks and featured a few other minor improvements in avionics kit. This version was known as the "F.6", with initial flight on 16 June 1965, with Jimmy Dell at the controls.

39 production F.6 Lightnings were built. There doesn't seem to have been any specific prototype as the F.6 was basically a simple production change of the F.3A. The F.3As accordingly were given the redesignation of "Interim F.6", though all but one of the 16 F.3As built were later upgraded to full F.6 specification. Seven F.3s were also upgraded to F.6 specification before their entry into RAF service.

The F.6 suffered from the "weight creep" that often afflicts aircraft over their evolution, with an empty weight 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) greater than that of a F.3 and 1,045 kilograms (2,300 pounds) more than that of a F.1. This affected its handling somewhat, and of course full afterburner had to be used on takeoff.

The RAF liked the F.6 very much, and so beginning in the late 1960s 31 F.2s were brought up to a partial F.6 standard and redesignated "F.2A". It featured the airframe improvements of the F.6, but armament remained as before, with twin Aden cannon in the top of the nose and two Firestreak AAMs.

There were also no significant changes in avionics and the Avon 210s were retained. The upgrade was surprisingly cheap, and since the F.2A was cleaner and lighter than the F.6 RAF pilots found it one of the most agreeable Lightning variants to fly. In an unaggressive high-altitude flight, they could get two hours of endurance out an F.2A, which no other Lightning variant could touch.


Dimensions

Wing Span: 34.84 ft. / 10.62 M
Length: 55.25 ft. / 16.84 M
Height: 19.59 ft. / 5.97 M
Wing Area: 473.61 Sq ft. / 44.00 Sq M
Aspect Ratio: ---
Weight Empty: 31,001 lb. / 14,062 Kg
Weight Takeoff: 39,941 lb. / 18,117 Kg
Max. Takeoff Weight: 41,700 lb. / 18,915 Kg
Power & Performance

Powerplant(s): 2x Rolls-Royce Avon 301/302 turbojet
Max Thrust: 16,300 lb.
Military Thrust: 13,220 lb.
Internal Fuel: ---
Fuel Fraction: ---

Max. Thrust Loading: 0.78
Combat Thrust/Weight Loading: 0.82

Maximum Wing Loading: 88.05 lb. per Sq. ft.; 429.89 Kg / Sq. M
Takeoff weight Wing Loading: 84.33 lb. per Sq. ft.; 411.75 Kg / Sq. M

VMax High Altitude / VMax Low Altitude: Mach 2.14 / Mach 1.06
Operational Ceiling: 57,000 ft. / 17,374 M
Armament

2 x 30mm cannon, 2 x Firestreak or Red Top AAMs, (F.53 - 1000 lbs. External ordinance)
Users

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UK
Image size
1193x1152px 90.86 KB
Comments1
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A supersonic fighter that never got battle-tested in the Vietnamese air war.  But would give these MiG 21 jockeys, a real run for their money.