F6 lightning questions

[markjames68]

Can someone please show me where the drag chute is housed on a lightning and hown it is deployed, cant find much info at all and what i can find i cant figure out how it works

Also can anyone tell me what is immediatly to the right and left of the seat on the side consoles, it looks like a plate that runs from the edge of the console to the sill of th canopy but not sure if its open behind it or a full box type thing......

Any info greatly appreciated

[PhantomBigStu]

From the top left side of the rear fuselage

[71chally]

The brake chute is housed in a compartment in the rear underside of the fuselage, the cable runs from this location and laced around the tail pipes shroud to an attachment at the top of the fuselage, just aft of the fin/rudder.

As the chute is released it gets pulled from the underside and up by the cable and it streams directly behind the upper attachment.

Edited August 20, 2016 by 71chally

[71chally]

Hope these vids help,

This video show how it is stowed and attached,

This captures the deployment, at 4.39 it's very quick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QIvUa8sid0

Looking at pics I have of the cockpit, they show that the right side of the cockpit is boxed in proper, ie not just an open panel.

I don't have a clear shot of the left side.

[tweeky]

just as 71 says. But the are two doors that slide up within the lower rear fuselage.http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/lightning/full/bru98531.jpg

The chute itself is packed in to a "Can" this can is attached to the aircraft with 4 quick release fasteners then the bullet is slid into it housing as and locked in to the top latch. The top of the two cables go's to stbd and then the two cables are clipped into a channel around the reheat pipes/fuselage.The cable then passes through the tail bumper (large rubber item the cushion tail strikes) then the doors are closed down leaving them two inch apart. A remove before flight flag on the actual chute is then pulled out of the chute pack and checked that the two pins holding the chute closed are attached to the RBF flag. the two doors are fully closed and then the doors are locked (shown unlocked in the pic) down.

When the pilot pull the lever to deploy the chute the two doors unlock and slide up in to the fuselage. The chute has a spring loaded drogue chute that pushes past the canvas container closing flaps and in to the slipstream as it fills with air it drags the main braking chute with it ..... thus deploying the main chute and slowing the aircraft. The pilot has no indication of chute deployment other than the rear view mirror and the feeling of slowing down ( and I remember from my T5 trip you do feel it too) once slowed to taxi speed the pilot presses a jettison button and the top latch unlocks and the chute is jettisoned. There is a micro switch on the chute bay doors that once the doors are opened make the jettison button live so basically you can't jettison a un-deployed chute. Some times the jets would taxi back with the brake chute wrapped around the port U/C D door the reason for this is a sticky micro switch. The Chute container would be removed and the process restarted. With two guys the chute could be fitted in about 3 mins !!!

The chute came in two different weights Light chute (about 6 inch of cable and the rear of the bullet painted yellow) these were used on F3's and T5's Heavy chute same style of markings but this time in red these were Mk6 only. you could fit a heavy chute to a mk 3 or 5 but never the other way. One of the before flight checks was to check the chute type and the only way was to look and the colour of the cable.

The chutes were kept in a "chute trolley" that had heavy canvas covers to keep the chutes dry. During the day we'd have to take the chute trolley to the brake parachute bay and exchange the empty containers for good chutes.

[tweeky]

The two box type things you refer to might be the SWP and the AWP the port one (from memory) is the SWP (Standard warning panel) and this had lights indicating major thing like engine, reheat fires, hyd system failures etc, Also the fire bottle activation buttons were on there too. The Stbd side was the AWP (auxiliary warning panel) this was still warning of issues like oxy low fuel lever pump going of line etc etc stuff you want to know about but don't need to action on immediately.

[71chally]

I think Mark means the large flat panels right in next to the seat, the stb'd one is a box rather than a flat sheet, but can't see the port one very well

[tweeky]

Photo credit to Damien Burke.

Port side is the Radar hand controller and below out of shot was the canopy jettison handle. Stbd side is the oxygen regulator green lever and a pressure gauge.

[tweeky]

There is a cockpit 360 deg on the net (Here haraldjoergens.com/panoramas/lightning)/ you'll need to google it as I can't post links the two grey panels 1 each side of the seat are fuse/relay boxes.

[markjames68]

Thanks very much chaps, as always Brimodeller is a mine of the well informed , exactly the info i was looking for... I just have to make the brake chute and doors work in 1/6 scale now.....

[Scarlet]

When the pilot pull the lever to deploy the chute the two doors unlock and slide up in to the fuselage

And quite good at removing fingers as we found out in ASF one day.