Lightning XP745

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There are plans to put this airframe on display.

http://www.aviation-picture-hangar.co.uk/xp745.htm...

It has been in storage for quite a few years, previously it was the gate guardian at RAF Boulmer. It would be good to know more history. Google searches list it as having been in J56 Sqdn and H29 Sqdn. I'm looking for any information on where it would have been based, operations it may have been deployed on and any other relevant history. If there are any sites you can point me in the direction of or indeed if there is any first hand knowledge it would be much appreciated.

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aeropilot said:

First flown 18.3.64 by Dizzy deVillers
To 56 Sqn on 20.5.65 coded ‘J’.
Cat 3 damage 24.6.66 retured to 56 Sqn 31.10.66.
Went with 56 Sqn to RAF Akrotiri .
To 60 MU for major service 16.9.69.
To 29 Sqn Wattisham coded ‘H’ 15.4.70.
Cat 3 again, fire damge during engine start 4.6.71..
Returned 29 Sqn 7.3.72.
Cat 3 yet again, returned to 29 Sqn 17.10.73.
To Wattisham store 1.1.75 with disbandment of Wattisham Lighnings units.
On display RAF Boulmer 13.12.76.

Fantastic, thanks.

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It is still owned by Vanguard and there are plans to suspend it in an atrium as a feature for a new building.

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PLans are moving on to refurbish XP745 and suspend it as a permanent display in a new building in Bristol.

XP745 has been in storage for over 25 years, we recently gathered all the key parts together both to check that we have everything and to take a good look at the condition. Overall it is in excellent nick, there is some isolated damage to attend to and various loose ends that will need attention.

The gate guardian life of XP745 was pretty short and the fact that it has been inside for so long has meant that there is very little corrosion. Our plan is to deal with the various light repairs in the warehouse over the next few months in readiness for painting next year. Several people have volunteered to assist.

There are lots of details to work out and not least how to orientate it in the building. Dyson have recently put a Lightning on display in their restaurant, theirs is suspended with the nose up, we have less space to play with and our thoughts are to have it slightly canted over and nose down to give the best perspective from ground level.

Here are a selection of photos, with apologies for the poor phone quality, I will update this thread as we make progress and I will do better with the photography!

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aeropilot said:

It was all saw apart I suspect, standard way for crash n smash at the time when dealing with airframes being moved to Gate Guardian duties - especially ones that were very complex and time consuming to take apart 'correctly' and seeing as they were never going to fly again, then putting a saw through the wings/tailplanes etc was route one to doing the job.

Of all the Lightnings still extant, its only a relatively small number that have been dismantled properly for a move. Almost all the ex-gate guardian examples have been 'cut'.

Both tail planes were cut before our ownership, as pointed out, something of a botch! They are however repairable and we have been offered undamaged replacements. This is the only significant area of damage.

We are planning to use 56 Sqn Firebird per XP746 as shown on this link:

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/lightning/...

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When it was on gate guarding duties the undercarriage was down. For our display it will be folded away, we are planning to remove the wing wheels, to reduce weight, and take the front undercarriage out for the same reason. The wings were removed by the Vanguard Engineering team that collected it for transport/storage, a complex task by all accounts, this was done correctly which is going to be a huge benefit to putting it back together again.

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aeropilot said:

I never saw the wings when I viewed it at Vanguard 20+ years ago, so assumed they were cut as well.........fantastic that they removed them properly (maybe because their intention was to put it up on the roof until realising it was too big/heavy) and yes, its a pig of a job on a Lightning, that's why most were cut.
The only other F.3 uncut is IIRC, '749 now at Brunty with LPG.
Great that the intention is to put '745 back in it's fabulous chequer tail '65 scheme, as this is the only ex-56 F.3 that wore that scheme to have survived which is something I pointed out to Vanguard's all those years ago, when it was in 'dull' 29 Sqn markings.

How are you going to display it with gear up...?
I hope you aren't going to cut a hole and stick a pole into it's belly, or will it be hung from above...?

Hung from above, we will use fixing points to the wings and one to the fuselage in a very similar way that the Dyson Lightning is displayed. It is going to be the focal point of what we expect will be a real wow factor for the new building, it will be visible to traffic and pedestrians that pass by and for customers/visitors the chance to get up close. It should be stunning if we can pull it off.

I'm glad that the proposed chequer fin scheme meets with approval, Dyson went with the other Firebird style. See link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/09/13/sir...

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Work in progress this week.

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With apologies for the pun, it has taken longer than we expected to get this project off the ground!

Things are now moving at a pace and XP745 was taken to the paintshop last week. It will be delivered to site in March, installation is programmed towards the end of the project, May/June, following which XP745 will be on permanent display.

Few pictures of work in progress and also one from the operational days of XP745. I will post more when we get to the really tricky bits of putting it back together and getting it suspended.

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Eric Mc said:

What scheme will it be in?

It will be on display in the reception area of new self-storage centre in Church Road, Bristol, BS5.

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Krikkit said:

That's some lobby ornament, how much would that all cost?

Well put it this way, I'm glad I'm not signing the cheques!

Yes it will be the the red checker tail style per that archive picture.

The Bristol building has been designed around making the Lightning the centrepiece. We had this on the drawing board long before Mr Dyson put one in his restaurant, the Dyson plane is displayed in a climb, this one will be in a banked dive.

Vanguard purchased XP745 about 25 years ago. It was used a couple of times at trade exhibitions to demonstrate Vanguard's engineering expertise, the core activity of Vanguard at that time. Vanguard also own a Hunter which is displayed from time to time on the roof of their building on a A40 in Greenford, plans to display the Lightning in the same way were thwarted due to the weight.

Later there was a plan to display XP745 on a pole as a feature of the pub next door to Vanguard, the pub would have been renamed accordingly. Planning permission was obtained but the pub closed before the plan could progress. The pub was demolished, the plot sat vacant for a while and was redeveloped quite recently. In the meantime XP745 had sat gathering more dust in storage and hence when Vanguard's Bristol project came along it seemed a good idea to give XP745 a permanent home and accordingly the new building has been designed around it, mind you, it is going to be quite a tight fit!

Vanguard have another property development project in the pipeline and another military aircraft may feature in that, I will post news if that one looks like getting off the ground.

Coming back to Bristol, I have to say it is huge fun to be working on a project like this, it has not been without its headaches and we have challenges still to come, I shall certainly be breathing a big sigh of relief, and with some pride, when the new building opens its doors with what we are sure is going to be one hell of a wow factor.

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aeropilot said:

The pub did get renamed from the Nuffied Arms to The Lightning though some time before it closed down, or was it after it closed, but before it was eventually demolished? The name Lightning was up there above the pub for quite a while.

Indeed, the pub had been renamed as The Lightening while it was still trading. Sadly it was never much of a pub, it's greatest claim to fame was that it achieved more notoriety when it got demolished and the pile of rubble was left in it's place!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/c...

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Tony1963 said:

“Lightening” always appears somewhere

Guilty, in my defence it was quite early!

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Restoration is now complete, it will be travelling to Bristol on Tuesday morning next week via M25/M4 for delivery to the construction site. Assembly and rigging dates still to be fixed and likewise opening date for the new building with XP745 on display, which is expected to be June or July.

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Nearly there!

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Some Guy said:

Awesome.
Is there a picture from the front.

These pictures were taken when we did the assembly in June. The building will open for business on Monday and I will post a few more pictures next week.

The address is Vanguard Self Storage, 22 Church Road, Bristol, BS5 9JA, anyone who fancies popping in at any time in the future for a natter and or to take pictures they would be very welcome.

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A couple of better pictures.