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The Last of the Lightnings: A Nostalgic Farewell to the RAF's Favourite Supersonic Fighter - Hardcover
Synopsis
Dust jacket torn book never read
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Synopsis
A celebration of the Lightning aircraft from those who have worked with the classic fighter. The book contains a description of the rigorous training syllabus taught by the Lightning Training flight to newly arrived pilots on frontline squadrons. Details of "Saturn" intercepts, the most demanding of all sorties flown by Lightning pilots in mock combat are included, and pilots of number 5 and XI squadrons reveal how the Lightning compared with its NATO "foes". "From the cockpit" text, as told by veteran interceptor pilots, includes a dramatic ejection from a blazing aircraft, and the appandices detail the disposals and ultimate fates of all aircraft utilized by the units at Binbrook, the last Lightning base.
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The Last of the Lightnings: A Nostalgic Farewell to the RAF's Favourite Supersonic Fighter
Published by
Haynes Publishing Group, United Kingdom, Sparkford, 1996
ISBN 10: 1852605413
ISBN 13: 9781852605414
Used
Paperback
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003957316
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The Last of the Lightnings
Published by
Patrick Stephens Limited, 1996
ISBN 10: 1852605413
ISBN 13: 9781852605414
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Crappy Old Books, Barry, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardback. Condition: Fine. Ian Black?s The Last of the Lightnings is a farewell to the English Electric Lightning, Britain?s supersonic interceptor and one of the few aircraft that seemed to regard gravity as a clerical error. By the time this book appears, the Lightning is no longer the futuristic spearpoint of RAF air defence, but the beloved old terror at the edge of retirement: still sharp, still dramatic, still faintly unreasonable, and still able to make anyone who saw one climb talk about it for the rest of their natural life. The Lightning?s job was simple in the way only Cold War jobs could be simple: sit ready, launch fast, climb faster, intercept whatever had appeared on the radar, and return before the fuel situation became a theological question. It was built for reaction, not reflection. Soviet aircraft, practice targets, unidentified contacts, air exercises and the general mood of strategic unease all formed part of its working life. The Lightning existed to convert warning into altitude with as little delay as possible. This book catches the end of that world: final squadrons, last operations, pilots, ground crews, airframes, memories, photographs and the melancholy business of watching a machine become history while still looking far too alive to be placed in the past tense. Air forces are very good at official retirements; enthusiasts are less cooperative. To them, the Lightning did not simply leave service. It left a noise-shaped gap in the sky. There is a wonderful irony in the title. The Last of the Lightnings sounds noble and elegiac, and it is, but the aircraft itself was never elegiac. It was violent, thirsty, narrow-purpose, exhilarating and operationally awkward in all the ways that make machines memorable. It had astonishing climb and not enough legs, immense performance and very little interest in compromise. It was, in other words, exactly the sort of aircraft Britain was capable of loving: brilliant, flawed, expensive, distinctive and slightly impossible. Ian Black, himself deeply associated with RAF aviation photography, gives the Lightning a proper visual send-off. This is not just a technical account; it is a last look at aircraft, squadrons and men at the moment before the hangar doors close on an era. The photographs matter because the Lightning was a visual event as much as a military asset. Parked, it looked impatient. In flight, it looked like bad news for altitude. Climbing, it looked as if physics had briefly lost the argument. For Lightning enthusiasts, RAF watchers, Cold War aviation collectors, airshow nostalgics, model builders and anyone who believes a fighter should be fast enough to make common sense sweat, this is prime shelf material. It belongs with books that understand aircraft retirement is not merely an administrative act, but a small national bereavement conducted in squadron markings. Good copy, as sold by Crappy Old Books. A solid farewell volume for a jet that never did anything quietly, including becoming obsolete. Ready to sit on the aviation shelf looking dignified, while the subject inside continues, in spirit, to go vertically upward at enormous expense. Seller Inventory # 7177
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The Last of the Lightnings - A Nostalgic Farewell to the RAF's Favourite Supersonic Fighter
Published by
Patrick Stephens Limited (PSL), Somerset, UK, 1996
ISBN 10: 1852605413
ISBN 13: 9781852605414
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: CURIO, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First Edition / First Print. Hardback copy in dark blue cloth boards with gold gilt lettering to spine. Unclipped dustjacket in new removable protective clear sleeve. 162pp. Colour and b/w photographs throughout. Not library copy, no inscriptions, light crease to top edge of rear dustjacket. (1/2). Seller Inventory # ABE-1593425657774
Seller Image
The Last of the Lightnings - A Nostalgic Farewell to the RAF's Favourite Supersonic Fighter
Published by
Patrick Stephens Limited (PSL), Somerset, UK, 1996
ISBN 10: 1852605413
ISBN 13: 9781852605414
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: CURIO, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First Edition / First Print. Hardback copy in dark blue cloth boards with gold gilt lettering to spine. Unclipped dustjacket in new removable protective clear sleeve. 162pp. Colour and b/w photographs throughout. Not library copy, no inscriptions, dustjacket has small tear near front edge, with clear tape repair to inside near top of spine. ( 3/1). Seller Inventory # ABE-1777272665417
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The Last of the Lightnings
Published by
Haynes Publishing Group, 1996
ISBN 10: 1852605413
ISBN 13: 9781852605414
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Mooney's bookstore, Den Helder, Netherlands
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. Seller Inventory # 606D720164364E6
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