Lightning 234Sqdn
The English Electric Lightning — Britain's vertical-climbing twin-engine Mach-2 interceptor, the only British-designed Mach-2 fighter — captured as an RC EDF scale model in 234 Squadron RAF livery.
About
The English Electric Lightning is the work of English Electric (later British Aircraft Corporation), designed under chief engineer William Edward Willoughby "Teddy" Petter. The P.1A prototype made its first flight on August 4, 1954, but the production Lightning F.1 — the version with the distinctive over-and-under twin Rolls-Royce Avon engines and the high-wing fuselage — first flew on April 4, 1957. The Lightning entered RAF service in 1960 and remained on frontline duty as Britain's primary Cold War interceptor until 1988.
The Lightning's defining feature was vertical performance. The unique stacked-engine layout (one engine above the other, both fed from the single nose intake) gave the airframe a thrust-to-weight ratio that allowed sustained vertical climbs from takeoff — a capability no contemporary Western fighter could match. The Lightning could reach 36,000 feet in less than three minutes from brake release, intercept high-altitude Soviet bombers at Mach 2+, and operate from forward dispersal sites with minimal logistics support. The F.6 variant introduced in 1965 added in-flight refueling, more powerful Avon engines, and the kind of operational flexibility that made the Lightning a worldwide RAF fighter.
This RC variant carries 234 Squadron RAF livery. The unmistakable Lightning silhouette — stacked engines, slim swept fuselage, tall single tail, underwing fuel tanks — is one of the most distinctive Cold War jet shapes ever produced.
In the simulator
A demanding supersonic-era jet scale subject with the visual signature of British Cold War interception. Use it for jet pattern flying with one of the most distinctive RAF jets ever built.
