English Electric Lightning F.53 – ZF580 / XR768
Specification
Technical Specification
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Speed: Mach 2 +
- Max. altitude: 65,000ft +
- Armament: 2 x heat seeking missiles and 2 x 30mm cannon or internal rocket packs (The F53 version added 6 x 500kg bombs plus up to 4 underwing rocket pods and the facility for a reconnaissance camera pack.)
Description
The English Electric Lightning holds a place in the heart of many aviation fans as the fastest all-British aircraft ever built. Developed from the English Electric P1 experimental fighter project, the Lightning was the RAF’s first truly supersonic aircraft, able to not just exceed the speed of sound in level flight, but to double it!
The Lightning you can see on display at CAHC is actually an F53 version, an F6 built for export with additional ground attack capability and operated by the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force.
