History

The Lightning was a high performance supersonic interceptor designed to defend Britain against nuclear armed bombers. In addition to the interceptors, three versions of a side-by-side trainer were manufactured

The trainer versions of the Lightning had wider forward fuselages to accommodate two pilots but, despite this arrangement, their performance was not significantly lower than the single seat versions.

The Lightning T.55 was based on the Lightning T.5 which was a trainer version of the Lightning F.3, but fitted with the wings and belly tank of the F.6.

The first one made its maiden flight on 3 November 1966.

Eight were manufactured, six for the Royal Saudi Air Force and two for the Kuwati Air Force.

This model represents Lightning T.55, 55-317, of the Royal Saudi Air Force in the late 1970s

Trumpeter and Sword 1/72 kits with Cutting Edge and kit decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in May 2015.

Data

MODEL: BAC Lightning T.55 (55-317, Royal Saudi Air Force, 1970s)

ROLE: supersonic all-weather trainer

TIME PERIOD: 1968-1988

ENGINES: two Rolls Royce Avon 302Cturbojet engines of 7,420kg reheat thrust each

WING SPAN: 10.62m

LENGTH: 16.84m

MAXIMUM TAKE OFF WEIGHT: around 18,000kg

MAXIMUM SPEED: around 2400km/h

RANGE: 250km

CREW: 2

ARMAMENT: two Firestreak or Red Top missiles

SCALE: 1/72

KIT: ,

GALLERIES:

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