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Lightnings and Sidewinders


Thud4444

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I read on the interwebs that BAC proposed wiring the Lightning for Sidewinders. Was there ever a mock up done? Was it going to be a double mount like on an F-4? Or a staggered double mount like on a F-8?  Or was it a single mount like on the A-7? Any official pics or documents?

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There is a picture of a Lightning F3 (I think) with a dummy Sidewinder fitted in a book on Lightnings, but I will have to wait until I get home to find out which one. It was taken a RAF Valley at an APC and was meant as a joke.

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I don't know if any mock-up was ever built, likely not. I remember having seen drawings of the proposed arrangement, IIRC it was a Y shaped arrangement attached to the fuselage stub pylons allowing 2 missiles to be carried on each side of the fuselage

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Going on memory because I cannot lay my hands on the book involved at the moment I do recall reading that thought was briefly given to equipping the Lightning with Sidewinder during the 1970s but as the cooling system for Firestreak/RedTop was not compatible with that for the AIM-9 it would have taken time and money to resolve and in any case stocks of the former were considered sufficient to see the Lightning out of service.     

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2 hours ago, Des said:

Going on memory because I cannot lay my hands on the book involved at the moment I do recall reading that thought was briefly given to equipping the Lightning with Sidewinder during the 1970s but as the cooling system for Firestreak/RedTop was not compatible with that for the AIM-9 it would have taken time and money to resolve and in any case stocks of the former were considered sufficient to see the Lightning out of service.     

Both  types of missile  had their own launcher type. The cooling system of both missiles were in their respective  launchers  so the coolant issue would not be much of a problem. 

More of an issue would have been the wiring system and the ability to link the sidewinder seeker with the radar for a full integration. (SEAM System). a basic boresight integration would have been quite easy (it was done on Harrier GR3 for the Falklands in a matter of weeks) But it was probably not considered cost effective as the lightning was envisioned to have a short life.

It also  is of note that The Red top seeker was considered  better at target aquisition  than the comparative earlier model  sidewinder seekers.

 

Selwyn

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6 hours ago, Selwyn said:

Both  types of missile  had their own launcher type. The cooling system of both missiles were in their respective  launchers  so the coolant issue would not be much of a problem. 

Apologies ,  I was aware that the coolant bottle for the Sidewinder was contained within the launch rail but obviously seem to have misunderstood the cutaway drawing of the missile pack in Kev Darling's 'Lightning The Operational History' and his explanation that ' Cooling of both the seeker head and onboard electronics was carried out using nitrogen stored onboard the carrier aircraft'

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Further to my earlier answer it is in the Osprey Air Combat book on the Lightning printed in 1984 and on page 146 shows XP706/BM of No11 Sqn at RAF Valley in 1982 fitted with two sidewinders drill rounds.

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7 minutes ago, Jabba said:

Further to my earlier answer it is in the Osprey Air Combat book on the Lightning printed in 1984 and on page 146 shows XP706/BM of No11 Sqn at RAF Valley in 1982 fitted with two sidewinders drill rounds.

 

One on each side?

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On 4/16/2018 at 12:39 PM, Hook said:

Well, there's this....  ;)

 

https://hushkit.net/2013/02/01/the-ultimate-what-if-bae-super-lightning/

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

 

 

I'll raise you the FAA Sea Lightning 

 

220px-English_Electric_Sea_Lightning_FAW

 

 

Isn't that just beautifully ugly?:inlove:

 

If only my skills where up to the task.:brokenheart:

Edited by Thud4444
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On 16/04/2018 at 2:21 AM, Thud4444 said:

I read on the interwebs that BAC proposed wiring the Lightning for Sidewinders. Was there ever a mock up done? Was it going to be a double mount like on an F-4? Or a staggered double mount like on a F-8?  Or was it a single mount like on the A-7? Any official pics or documents?

It took soom finding but I found these three.

A96_zpstu8tnhz6.jpg

W20_zpsomsrgd3l.jpg

WTM%201-20%20scale%20model%20of%20Lightn

John

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with regards to cooling of Lightning missiles Firestreak had an ammonia bottle in the launcher as well as Stanag (that's what it called on the line) Air that was contained within the weapons pack and was recharged during servicing's 1500psi sticks I'm my mind.  The Redtop that had a 3000+psi pure air bottle that was dropped out when it got to its lower value 1000psiish. when I say dropped out I mean it had a hook on a cable and a pin on the bottle it was winched down and out. when fully home it sat at an angle.  Nothing replaced in the redtop launcher.

 

As for the what if its a photoshopped mess, the side intakes are after the no1 (lower) engine. F18 super hornet intakes I do believe.

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