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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
-- Cheers Dave Kearton |
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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
G'day Dave
This is a Lightning F.6 from No. 23 (F) Squadron based at R.A.F. Station Leuchars, Fife. Cheers...Chris |
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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
C Charland wrote:
G'day Dave This is a Lightning F.6 from No. 23 (F) Squadron based at R.A.F. Station Leuchars, Fife. Cheers...Chris Indeed it is, Chris. I have some further details. XR753 was one of sixteen aircraft ordered from BAC to contract KD/2T/079. The aircraft were ordered as F3s but were delivered to interim F6 standard - officially designated F Mk.3ER/6(Int). First flight 23-6-65, piloted by RP Beamont. Service with: CFE, 16-11-65 5 Sqn 23 Sqn BAC Warton, 21-3-68, where it was converted to full F6 standard. FCTU, 18-7-69, coded T and later U 23 Sqn, coded V 5 Sqn, coded B 23 Sqn, during early 1975, coded A 5 Sqn, coded F and later A 11 Sqn, coded A and later BA. The BA code application would have coincided with the application of air defence camouflage scheme. 5 Sqn, during 1984, coded AG (although possibly AC) 11 Sqn, Feb 87, coded BP. Withdrawn from use in early 1988, it was delievered to RAF Leeming on 24-5-88 where it was used for BDR training. -- Enzo I wear the cheese. It does not wear me. |
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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
Hi Enzo
Thanks for the informative gen. Cheers...Chris |
#5
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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
In article ,
"Enzo Matrix" wrote: XR753 was one of sixteen aircraft ordered from BAC to contract KD/2T/079. The aircraft were ordered as F3s but were delivered to interim F6 standard - officially designated F Mk.3ER/6(Int). First flight 23-6-65, piloted by RP Beamont. Service with: CFE, 16-11-65 5 Sqn 23 Sqn BAC Warton, 21-3-68, where it was converted to full F6 standard. FCTU, 18-7-69, coded T and later U 23 Sqn, coded V 5 Sqn, coded B 23 Sqn, during early 1975, coded A 5 Sqn, coded F and later A 11 Sqn, coded A and later BA. The BA code application would have coincided with the application of air defence camouflage scheme. 5 Sqn, during 1984, coded AG (although possibly AC) 11 Sqn, Feb 87, coded BP. Withdrawn from use in early 1988, it was delievered to RAF Leeming on 24-5-88 where it was used for BDR training. Enzo, can you translate what those designations mean to those of us who are clueless? Thanks. |
#6
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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
john smith wrote:
In article , "Enzo Matrix" wrote: XR753 was one of sixteen aircraft ordered from BAC to contract KD/2T/079. The aircraft were ordered as F3s but were delivered to interim F6 standard - officially designated F Mk.3ER/6(Int). First flight 23-6-65, piloted by RP Beamont. Service with: CFE, 16-11-65 5 Sqn 23 Sqn BAC Warton, 21-3-68, where it was converted to full F6 standard. FCTU, 18-7-69, coded T and later U 23 Sqn, coded V 5 Sqn, coded B 23 Sqn, during early 1975, coded A 5 Sqn, coded F and later A 11 Sqn, coded A and later BA. The BA code application would have coincided with the application of air defence camouflage scheme. 5 Sqn, during 1984, coded AG (although possibly AC) 11 Sqn, Feb 87, coded BP. Withdrawn from use in early 1988, it was delievered to RAF Leeming on 24-5-88 where it was used for BDR training. Enzo, can you translate what those designations mean to those of us who are clueless? Thanks. I'm not sure which designations you mean, but admittedly there is a lot of alphabet soup in there, so I'll just translate everything! :-) F3 and F6 are the mark numbers of the aircraft. The F3 was the first single seat lightning to have the broad chord fin. That style of fin is easily recognisable because it has a cropped delta configuration, rather than the pointed "witches hat" appearance of earlier models. The F3 also had the smaller belly tank of the earlier versions. The belly tank was actually removable, although no service aircraft ever flew like that. It's not surprising really, as the Lightning was *always* short of fuel. The F6 was the definitive service version. It had the later tail, as well as wing leading edge extensions and a large belly tank. This tank was not removable. Sqn - squadron. 5 and 11 Sqns were the last two units to use the Lightning. The were co-located at RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire. Many people claim (with some justification) that the Lightning was the last true fighter that the RAF ever had. Binbrook because nicknamed (with tongue firmly in cheek) as "Fightertown UK". ;-) CFE - Central Fighter Establishment. Responsible for developing tactics and procedures for the RAF's fighter force. Renamed FCTU in 1966. FCTU - Fighter Command Trials Unit. BAC - British Aircraft Corporation. Warton was the manufacturer's airfield, located near Preston in Lancashire, where all the Lightnings were built. BDR - Battle Damage Repair. Old aircraft awaiting scrapping were often used for battle damage repair training. The idea was that a small explosive charge would be placed somewhere on the airframe and detonated, to simulate a cannon or missile strike. The repair team then had to repair the damage as best they could. They were usually given limited resources and time, to simulate doing this under operational conditions. During station exercises, this would even be carried out in full Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) suits. Hope this helps. -- Enzo I wear the cheese. It does not wear me. |
#7
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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
In article ,
"Enzo Matrix" wrote: john smith wrote: In article , "Enzo Matrix" wrote: XR753 was one of sixteen aircraft ordered from BAC to contract KD/2T/079. The aircraft were ordered as F3s but were delivered to interim F6 standard - officially designated F Mk.3ER/6(Int). First flight 23-6-65, piloted by RP Beamont. Service with: CFE, 16-11-65 5 Sqn 23 Sqn BAC Warton, 21-3-68, where it was converted to full F6 standard. FCTU, 18-7-69, coded T and later U 23 Sqn, coded V 5 Sqn, coded B 23 Sqn, during early 1975, coded A 5 Sqn, coded F and later A 11 Sqn, coded A and later BA. The BA code application would have coincided with the application of air defence camouflage scheme. 5 Sqn, during 1984, coded AG (although possibly AC) 11 Sqn, Feb 87, coded BP. Withdrawn from use in early 1988, it was delievered to RAF Leeming on 24-5-88 where it was used for BDR training. Enzo, can you translate what those designations mean to those of us who are clueless? Thanks. I'm not sure which designations you mean, but admittedly there is a lot of alphabet soup in there, so I'll just translate everything! :-) F3 and F6 are the mark numbers of the aircraft. The F3 was the first single seat lightning to have the broad chord fin. That style of fin is easily recognisable because it has a cropped delta configuration, rather than the pointed "witches hat" appearance of earlier models. The F3 also had the smaller belly tank of the earlier versions. The belly tank was actually removable, although no service aircraft ever flew like that. It's not surprising really, as the Lightning was *always* short of fuel. The F6 was the definitive service version. It had the later tail, as well as wing leading edge extensions and a large belly tank. This tank was not removable. Sqn - squadron. 5 and 11 Sqns were the last two units to use the Lightning. The were co-located at RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire. Many people claim (with some justification) that the Lightning was the last true fighter that the RAF ever had. Binbrook because nicknamed (with tongue firmly in cheek) as "Fightertown UK". ;-) CFE - Central Fighter Establishment. Responsible for developing tactics and procedures for the RAF's fighter force. Renamed FCTU in 1966. FCTU - Fighter Command Trials Unit. BAC - British Aircraft Corporation. Warton was the manufacturer's airfield, located near Preston in Lancashire, where all the Lightnings were built. BDR - Battle Damage Repair. Old aircraft awaiting scrapping were often used for battle damage repair training. The idea was that a small explosive charge would be placed somewhere on the airframe and detonated, to simulate a cannon or missile strike. The repair team then had to repair the damage as best they could. They were usually given limited resources and time, to simulate doing this under operational conditions. During station exercises, this would even be carried out in full Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) suits. Hope this helps. Enzo, thanks. One more thing... what are the "codes"? |
#8
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EE Lightning escorting a Tu-95 Bear
john smith wrote:
In article , "Enzo Matrix" wrote: Hope this helps. Enzo, thanks. One more thing... what are the "codes"? They are the code letters painted on the tail, and sometimes other places as well (usually the nosewheel bay doors). They identify the aircraft within the squadron, rather than using aircraft serial numbers all the time. In the photograph, the Lightning carries the serial number "XR753" located on the rear fuselage. It also carriesthe code "A" located near the top of the fin. Some squadrons used the "last three" of the aircraft serial number as a code (the Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit TWCU was one such). However, it is theoretically possible for a squadron to have two aircraft with the same last three on charge at the same time. For instance, XX109 and XZ109 were both Jaguar GR1s. It's far better to use a code letter. During the 1980s double letter codes became popular. These were used to identify the squadron and aircraft within a fleet or sometimes just a wing. So with the Binbrook Wing (which also comprised the entirety of the Lightning fleet in the 80s), Aircraft of 5 Sqn had double letter codes commencing with "A", which aircraft of 11 Sqn had them commencing with "B". This held true for other wings. The Jaguar fleet at one time had the following prefixes: A - 14 Sqn B - 17 Sqn C - 20 Sqn D - 31 Sqn E - 6 Sqn G - 54 Sqn The two Jag recce squadrons went their own merry way. 2 Sqn was never included in the coding system and for a time they used a two digit code which bore no relation to the aircraft serial. 41 Sqn was allocated the prefix "F" but I don't believe it was ever carried. Certainly every 41 Sqn Jaguar that I have ever seen carried a single letter code. A number of squadrons ignored the "wing" style of coding. At RAF Gütersloh, the two Harrier squadrons were allocated wing prefixes. 3 Sqn were satisfied with their "A", but on Happy 4, we just blithely went on using single letter codes, rather than the allocated "B" prefix. Of course this caused ructions later on, when the Powers That Be decreed that the Harrier *fleet* should be coded in the same system. 3 Sqn were *not* happy that their "A" prefix was transferred to 1 Sqn. They liked it even less when everyone started to refer to them as "the B team". :-) -- Enzo I wear the cheese. It does not wear me. |
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