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It's enough to make you weep!


geedubelyer

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Hi all,

Taken on a gloomy 1st of January, these piccies show a Lightning in a small scrapyard just south of Newark in Nottinghamshire. Anyone travelling south, down the A1 toward London will probably have spotted this forgotten warrior resting forlornly by the roadside.

What a shame to see such a once beautiful aeroplane in such a run down state. Some people have no respect.

On a brighter note, it would make a fascinating and unique diorama idea.

tn_WreckedLightning13.jpg

tn_WreckedLightning9.jpg

tn_WreckedLightning7.jpg

:crying::raincloud:

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the engines are still it it as well aren't they?

how sad... :crying:

If they are, you might as well just make sure you have a big dust pan and brush, as they would have been subject to so much corrosion theyd just crumble. If anyone will know, then our very own FMK.6JOHN will be able to fill us in, after hes stopped :crying:

Bex

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If they are, you might as well just make sure you have a big dust pan and brush, as they would have been subject to so much corrosion theyd just crumble. If anyone will know, then our very own FMK.6JOHN will be able to fill us in, after hes stopped :crying:

Bex

there's little left of the old gal now she's evidently been offered to a local museum, but is far too far gone, rotten through and through. i remember seeing her there in 1980 when i joined up and she was already totalled....only f2a left as well......

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I've seen this aeroplane slowly decay over the years. I first saw it when travelling from Surrey to the Yorkshire Dales, then on many subsequent visits to the Dales. These days I see it when I travel down to Surrey to visit relatives. Each time I see it I :weep: a little more.

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If they are, you might as well just make sure you have a big dust pan and brush, as they would have been subject to so much corrosion theyd just crumble. If anyone will know, then our very own FMK.6JOHN will be able to fill us in, after hes stopped :crying:

Bex

Cryng shame indeed Bex, she still has both engines in her hence the reason why she sits on her tail after someone robbed the radome from her!.

Quite how so much has been stripped from her amazes me, it is obviouse that only someone with detailed knowledge of Lightnings has done it, it makes me feel sick inside to think that a so called 'enthusiast' has done this for personal gain when the ultimate fate for her will be tin cans.

Not much more to be said about her really, It is a curious display in itself, she looks as though even after all that has been done to her she is trying her best to claw for the sky one last time, there has recently been a dispute over her with the local council requesting that she is scrapped but that all went quiet a while back.

Ultimately f she is scrapped I would like to see at least that the tail compleat with grafitti is mounted at the local museum as a 'monument' to her.

DB's site has a bit more info on her history.

Regards,

John.

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what the hell is a cock knocker?

I might get shot at for this, but, maybe it was written by a dyslexic pikey / yobbo / chav type git?

I'll er get me :handbag: & :coat:

Bex von DoinARunnerSharpish

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It is a curious display in itself, she looks as though even after all that has been done to her she is trying her best to claw for the sky one last time, ...........

Regards,

John.

Yeah....kinda put me in the mind of that Willem DeFoe scene in Platoon. You know the one.......Charlie Sheen looks back over his shoulder as the last chopper leaves and there's our man, arms upraised to the sky....... :weep:

No relevance to the subject but.....:bouncy: Just trying to lighten the mood!

Edited by geedubelyer
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I might get shot at for this, but, maybe it was written by a dyslexic pikey / yobbo / chav type git?

I'll er get me :handbag: & :coat:

Bex von DoinARunnerSharpish

A form of cock ring?

Nick von Runningquickerthanachickenthroughdarfur

(Very sad state for an old plane though..)

Edited by dylan the rabbit
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It's a pity it couldn't be restored as the Newark Air museum is nearby http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/

They've only got a T.5 Lightening in their stash, dunno what that one is, also outside the museum is a rotting soviet fighter, i think it's an early Mig.

The only MiG's Newark have got are the MiG-23 and MiG-27. They're both parked outside, but they don't look like they're rotting!

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On a brighter note, it would make a fascinating and unique diorama idea.

:crying::raincloud:

Yes it is a sorry state to be in. It is colorful, though, and would make a neat diorama. Nice pics, well snapped. Thanks,

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Yeah....kinda put me in the mind of that Willem DeFoe scene in Platoon. You know the one.......Charlie Sheen looks back over his shoulder as the last chopper leaves and there's our man, arms upraised to the sky....... :weep:

No relevance to the subject but..... Just trying to lighten the mood!

I have seen this on way to London last year when on active Police duties with the CTU.....SAD .... :angrysoapbox.sml:

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The only MiG's Newark have got are the MiG-23 and MiG-27. They're both parked outside, but they don't look like they're rotting!

Sorry i think this one is round the back before the showground on the backroad with some junk.

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I had seen her sat there over a number of years and in, I think, 1992 on a visit to NAM I asked if they knew much about it as I was intersted in buying it. They said that they themselves had been trying to buy it but could not get in touch with the owner, who also owned all the dumped vehicles that were in the compound. Very sad to see indeed.

Clive

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what the hell is a cock knocker?

The only Cock Knocker I can remember was in the movie Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. He was a comic book super-villain that had a giant right hand that he punched you in the nuts with. Played by Mark Hamill from Star Wars!

HTH

Paul Harrison

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The Lightning ended up with a firm called A1 Commercials, which was a haulage business of some sort. When transferring the airframe to the site, the wings and tail were cut off (for transport) in such a way that when reassembled, the aircraft couldn't support itself (no wheels, of course), and had to be supported under the belly tank by a trestle; the wings and tailplanes were reattached by large metal plates and the trestle left for some time beneath the airframe.

There are stories that the owner(s) of the business were approached on a couple occasions about rescuing XN728, but turned such offers down. The business went bust at some point in the 90s, and after the fence was ... er.. borrowed by members of the local community, various bits and pieces of the Lightning went astray. When the radome was stolen, the old girl toppled backwards. Who now actually owns the aircraft is not entirely clear, since when A1 went bust, the airframe may have been disposed of to some (un)lucky creditor, or simply left in situ as it was worthless. In any event, it appears that the landowner claimed it as his.

The owner of the land upon which the Lightning sits was as unhelpful as the business owners, and is reputed to have made attempts to have enthusiasts prosecuted for trespass on the land.

However, in 2005, the land was sold, and the new owner was supposed to have said that he wanted to try to restore the aircraft. At some point, the planning process appears to have intervened, and he had to apply for planning permission - whether to set up a scrapyard, or to seek retrospective permission (I suspect the latter, but don't know) and was turned down in November 2006.

In its refusal, Nottinghamshire County Council noted:

In relation to the siting on the land of the disused ‘Lightning FMK2A’ Fighter Aircraft, the Council found that, although it had been in situ on the Land for a number of years and evidence was provided that some internal parts were removed to restore a surviving Lightning fighter, on the balance of probabilities the fighter was originally stationed on the Land for the purpose of attracting attention from traffic on surrounding roads including the A1 and indeed became a well known local landmark. It remained on the site after the other items were removed in the mid 1990s and was then vandalised. Any Certificate of Lawful Development in respect of the siting of the Lightning would have been worded “Use of the Land for the storage of one disused fighter aircraft for advertising purposes”, no such certificate was ever applied for, however, and any such use was extinguished on commencement of the Current Use in respect of all the Land which followed the removal of the aircraft”.

The owner launched a new attempt to gain permission for use of the land as a scrapyard last June, and public consultation began in August last year. I can find (not that I've looked that hard) no evidence that a decision has been reached, although clearly the chap hasn't been compelled to clear the site yet.

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A form of cock ring?

Erm..what's this got to do with the photo... : :offtopic:

06-01-208

Look at the graffitti sprayed on the side of the fuselage...obviously by a Jay and Silent Bob fan.

And I wouldn't say that his appearance in that movie was a fall from grace...i reckon it probably earned him "cool" credits with the comic book fans etc....

Actually, Mark Hamill has been a voice artist on many a cartoon series, including voicing the Joker for the Warner Bros animated take on the Batman in the mid to late '90's and it stil lregins as the best take on him to date.

I know that there's a newer version (animated) out there, but the design sucks...they all look wrong somehow.

Liam

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06-01-208

Look at the graffitti sprayed on the side of the fuselage...obviously by a Jay and Silent Bob fan.

And I wouldn't say that his appearance in that movie was a fall from grace...i reckon it probably earned him "cool" credits with the comic book fans etc....

Actually, Mark Hamill has been a voice artist on many a cartoon series, including voicing the Joker for the Warner Bros animated take on the Batman in the mid to late '90's and it stil lregins as the best take on him to date.

I know that there's a newer version (animated) out there, but the design sucks...they all look wrong somehow.

Liam

Oh I see it...But I was trying to act all innocent and not make any rude comments here... :evil_laugh:

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You gotta love the way some fool has spelled bitch on the right hand side of the spine :rolleyes:

It is a sad state to see such a magnificent warbird in, but in a perverse way, she gets far more attention reaching for the sky beside the A1 than she would have in a museum.

Jen.

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