English Electric Lightning F.53 ‘XS933’ (really ZF594)
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Description
c/n 95302. Built 1968 for the Royal Saudi Air Force. Retired in January 1986 and returned to the UK using the UK military serial ZF594. Painted to represent a Lightning F.6 of 11sqn, Royal Air Force, it is on display at the North East Land, Sea & Air Museums (NELSAM), Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, UK. 11th September 2017 The following detailed history for ZF594 is from the very informative NELSAM website:- “On 14th November 1968 test pilot John Cockburn lifted Lightning F.53, 53-696 from the runway at Samlesbury on its maiden flight under its B class markings G-27-66. Upon landing at Warton, the aircraft began a series of shake-down flights that were to culminate in its ferry trip to Saudi Arabia. The pilot on this occasion was R. Ingham and the aircraft staged via Akrotiri, supported by RAF Victor tankers. Arriving at Jeddah on 3rd June 1969 the Lightning joined the LCS with whom it was serving when they moved to RSAF Riyadh on 26th November 1972. Unfortunately not long after arrival, on 9th July, the aircraft suffered Category 3 fire damage which grounded it for the next few months. A tour at Dharan with 2 Squadron followed the repair work, the aircraft remaining with them until transferring to 6 Sqn at Khamis Mushayt in May 1975. 6 Sqn was to move to King Abdul Aziz AB in June 1976, taking ‘696 with them, although this state of affairs only lasted until 23 January 1977 when ‘696 joined 2 Sqn again, this time at King Faisal / Tabuk AB in the north of the country. A short tour on the strength of 13 Sqn as 1308 began on 18 April 1978 and continued until 1982 when the aircraft returned again to 2 Sqn. Initially coded 226 the aircraft later assumed the code ‘Y’. It was still wearing this code when it made its last RSAF flight on 13 January 1986. The next day, painted as ZF594, the aircraft headed for Warton where it was to enter long-term storage whilst awaiting possible resale. During its working life 53-696 had flown a total of 2.057,06 hours. With no market forthcoming, 53-696 was put up for disposal, being purchased by the NEAM for a token sum during 1988. In November of the following year 53-696 was moved to the Museum’s premises near Sunderland to join the rest of this burgeoning collection.” -
Owner
Hawkeye UK -
Source
Flickr (Flickr) -
License
What does this mean? Attribution-ShareAlike License
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Further information
Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/65001151@N03/38760311985/
Resource type: Image
Added by: Simon Cotterill
Last modified: 6 years, 4 months ago
Viewed: 828 times
Picture Taken: 2017-09-11T15:19:43 -
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