English Electric Lightning F6 – 74 Sqn Tigers, RAF Tengah, Singapore 1969 1/100

Amercom 1/100 scale ACSL50: English Electric Lightning F6 XS921 of 74 Sqn Tigers, RAF Tengah, Singapore, 1969

Length 6.5 inches Wingspan 4.25 inches

English Electric Lightning F6, serial number XS921, was delivered to 74 ‘Tiger’ Squadron in December 1966 and initially based at RAF Leuchars in Scotland. In 1967, XS921 and other Lightning’s of 74 Sqn made the long journey to Tengah Air Base in Singapore and in doing so became the first RAF fighter unit to make such a journey using air to air refuelling. The deployment to Singapore, codenamed ‘Operation Hydraulic’, gave the RAF’s Far East Air Force (FEAF) a powerful supersonic fighter element in the region. This was deemed necessary in order to deter the territorial claims made by Indonesia against nearby Malaysia, a British protectorate. The show of strength proved successful and 74 Sqn departed Tengah in August 1971 with the squadron disbanding. Its Lightnings were taken over by 56 Sqn at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. In September 1985, while serving with 11 Sqn, Lightning XS921 was lost after developing technical problems while returning to RAF Binbrook after a training exercise but thankfully the pilot was able to make a successful ejection.

Designed to meet a need for a supersonic research aircraft, the English Electric Lightning was first flown on August 4, 1954. The Lightning was uniquely designed-its delta wing was based on German engineering research captured during WWII-and it was the last RAF fighter to be produced entirely in Britain. Instead of being placed on the wings, the Lightning’s twin engines were stacked on top of one another, giving the aircraft an unusual height and an expanded profile. Capable of Mach 2.5, it had a rate-of-climb and manoeuvrability that could hold its own against any contemporary fighter.