How the P.1 became the Lightning

Tony Buttler highlights the P.1s, the experimentals that paved the way for the Lightning

The first P.1 blasting past the control tower at Warton. Note the placement of the pitot tubes, above and below the air intake. KEY COLLECTION

English Electric’s famous Lightning saw service with the RAF from 1960 until 1988 and continues to have an allure all of its own. The operational fighter was based on, and was a considerable development of, the manufacturer’s original P.1 research aircraft.

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