04 April 2014

Fox Two

The Lightning F.1 is a thoroughbred.

Very fast.  Very twitchy.  You've got to think ahead of her or she'll depart and bite you.

Normal armament is two 30mm ADEN Mk 4 guns above the intake and two Firestreak heat-seekers on rails on the fuselage.

Lightning F.1 of No. 74 Squadron "Tiger Squadron" October 26, 1962 over Germany.

The Firestreak is a super advanced missile for 1957.  It's IR homing and the seeker head can be cued to the target by the plane's radar.  It's good for about four miles, but really that means launch within two.  It takes a moment to gather its thoughts after launch, so minimum range is about one and a quarter miles.  It was designed to blow up bombers, so these parameters are not too onerous (and slightly more generous than the US AIM-9B).

Cheerio, old boy!
This is not to say that it cannot be used on fighters, you just need to pick your targets carefully; as that MiG-21F-13 discovered.  The seeker head is just slightly better than the AIM-9B and I have better success with the Firestreak than a Sidewinder in 1962.

If missiles aren't working out for you, good news!  The rails and part of the fuselage are part of a pack that can be exchanged for either two more ADEN cannon or  a barrage of unguided folding fin 2" rockets!

F.1A shown doing the firing.

It's one of my favorite planes and I did a comparison of the various versions here.
Posted by Angus McThag at 00:54
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2 comments:

  1. Tam05 April, 2014 00:11

    Love 'em. They're so ugly that they're cool-looking. Had a 1:72 Lightning and a 1:72 Bristol Bulldog on my desk when I worked at the airport...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Angus McThag05 April, 2014 02:14

      They snap roll 90 in a random direction if you try to put more than a G or two on them below 375 indicated.

      In real life they also leaked like a sieve from the top engine to the hot parts on the bottom...

      But the pilots LOVED 'em.

      Delete

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