Canon Bob
Loves the Enemy
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'Transport' is a little quiet at this time of the year so I'm filling in for the regulars.
Our Angel of Mercy first took to the air in May 1957 but suffered the ignominy of being rejected by the Navy....a rogue aircraft was their evaluation. Built as a HAS7 (anti-submarine), there were limited opportunities for other roles and she became a testbed and hack for the manufacturer at Yeovil. Around six years passed before she was given a reprieve and the chance to fulfill a more useful task.
In the early 60's, English Electric (BAC) at Warton in Lancashire were turning out copious numbers of Lightnings for the RAF and test flights were almost daily events. Britain's first Mach 2 steed was a superb piece of cutting edge technology but it also had an Achilles Heel. In the event that all or any of the undercarriage malfunctioned then the associated belly landing entailed a 150mph slide along the runway with the ventral fuel tank being the fragile buffer between pilot and concrete. The close proximity of the Ribble estuary provided the test pilots with a slightly less buttock clenching arrival but it still left them with a long walk home in a wet flying suit.
This is where our 'reject' found her true calling. Westland transferred XG597 to BAC and she sat gracefully on the alert pad awaiting 'that call'. I don't know how many times she was called into action but she certainly brought one soggy test pilot (Mr D M Knight) back to terra firma
Alas, Lightning production came to an end and with it her useful days. I caught up with her in the 70's at Shackleton's scrapyard on the hills overlooking Halifax in West Yorkshire. Whilst few people will remember her, Mr D M Knight will likely never forget her.
From a scanned Ektachrome slide.....
Our Angel of Mercy first took to the air in May 1957 but suffered the ignominy of being rejected by the Navy....a rogue aircraft was their evaluation. Built as a HAS7 (anti-submarine), there were limited opportunities for other roles and she became a testbed and hack for the manufacturer at Yeovil. Around six years passed before she was given a reprieve and the chance to fulfill a more useful task.
In the early 60's, English Electric (BAC) at Warton in Lancashire were turning out copious numbers of Lightnings for the RAF and test flights were almost daily events. Britain's first Mach 2 steed was a superb piece of cutting edge technology but it also had an Achilles Heel. In the event that all or any of the undercarriage malfunctioned then the associated belly landing entailed a 150mph slide along the runway with the ventral fuel tank being the fragile buffer between pilot and concrete. The close proximity of the Ribble estuary provided the test pilots with a slightly less buttock clenching arrival but it still left them with a long walk home in a wet flying suit.
This is where our 'reject' found her true calling. Westland transferred XG597 to BAC and she sat gracefully on the alert pad awaiting 'that call'. I don't know how many times she was called into action but she certainly brought one soggy test pilot (Mr D M Knight) back to terra firma
Alas, Lightning production came to an end and with it her useful days. I caught up with her in the 70's at Shackleton's scrapyard on the hills overlooking Halifax in West Yorkshire. Whilst few people will remember her, Mr D M Knight will likely never forget her.
From a scanned Ektachrome slide.....
