Billy54 Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 (edited) I have just started the 1/72 scale Hasegawa Lightning (Mk6 Combo, 2 kits/3 decal options) and part of my research includes the Aeroguide book 8, on the Lightning Mk3/Mk6. On page 13 of this book is black and white picture of the rear fuselage of a No 5 Squadron aircraft, XR770. The picture shows shows a clean and well defined air brake against a grimy and dirt streaked fuselage. Does anyone have an explanation for this and how long it would have stayed distinctly different from the rest of the fuselage? Decals for XR770 are included with the kit, a striking red tail, spine and wing leading edges, veterans memorial scheme, 1987. Just realized that the front cover of the Aerogide book has a colour picture of XR770 clearly showing the pristine condition of the airbrakes. https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Modeling-References/Aeroguide/AeroGuide-08-BAC/Aeroguide-8-BAC-Lightning_Page_01-960 Edited February 21, 2020 by Billy54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Replacement? Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 It rains a lot in the UK. The airbrakes would have been deployed at speed into the omnipresent precipitation with the result that they would have been very thoroughly and literally 'jet-washed'! I guess they'd be c;leaner in the winter months. All of the above is wild speculation. Happy to be corrected. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 It is a pretty good speculation, to be honest. Water comes out of the tip of a jet washer nozzle at about 250 mph and Lightnings don;t spend much time going that slowly during the course of a flight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Approaches were flown with the Brakes out, so would have been washed regularly in a British climate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy54 Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 Thank you for your responses. @At Sea @Work In Progress @Shaun That explanation did cross my mind however, in my research material, I was unable to identify similar conditions on other Lightnings/Squadrons. @72modeler I think that may be the reason however as I mentioned above why don't I see it on other Lightnings? Was it just No.5 squadron that replaced them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 5 minutes ago, Billy54 said: Thank you for your responses. @At Sea @Work In Progress @Shaun That explanation did cross my mind however, in my research material, I was unable to identify similar conditions on other Lightnings/Squadrons. @72modeler I think that may be the reason however as I mentioned above why don't I see it on other Lightnings? Was it just No.5 squadron that replaced them? It might be that the one in the photo you posted came from a grey Lightning and the replacement speedbrake had not yet had the paint stripped? I'm sure at some point in time speedbrakes had to be replaced and the paint was eitther stripped for a bare metal jet, or painted to match the surrounding camouflage. As the late great actor Gordon Jackson said to Big X as McDonald in The Great Escape, "That's as far as my thinking takes me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy54 Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 13 minutes ago, 72modeler said: It might be that the one in the photo you posted came from a grey Lightning and the replacement speedbrake had not yet had the paint stripped? I'm sure at some point in time speedbrakes had to be replaced and the paint was eitther stripped for a bare metal jet, or painted to match the surrounding camouflage. As the late great actor Gordon Jackson said to Big X as McDonald in The Great Escape, "That's as far as my thinking takes me." Perhaps , I'm not going to worry too much about it, just gonna build the two kits and decide on which two of the three schemes I shall finish them in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 I would say in this case it is as Mike says, a replacement item. The rest of the jet is filthy and shows you how bad the grey painted Lightnings got. However, I have noticed in some shots what appears to be hydraulic fluid and lubricant stains coming from the airbrake aperture but not affecting the airbrake itself, which makes it stand out as brighter than the surrounding metalwork. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweeky Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 (edited) XR770 was the first all grey Lightning in the fleet remember her coming back from respray. Don't know where you got the "veterans memorial scheme" scheme thing from, But from memory this started in Cyprus with the red fin, 11F then went back fin so the next course of action was red leading edges on the main planes. Then the engineering officers were called to explain the schemes to the Station Commander at Binbrook, they were then told enough. There was a hydraulic "walking joint" within the airbrake bay this often leaked leaving red staining behind. Also the airbrake would be slightly proud at the rear edge. The port side did get grotty tho as the air turbine gearbox exhaust was that side. Edited February 25, 2020 by tweeky 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy54 Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 (edited) 22 hours ago, tweeky said: XR770 was the first all grey Lightning in the fleet remember her coming back from respray. Don't know where you got the "veterans memorial scheme" scheme thing from, But from memory this started in Cyprus with the red fin, 11F then went back fin so the next course of action was red leading edges on the main planes. Then the engineering officers were called to explain the schemes to the Station Commander at Binbrook, they were then told enough. There was a hydraulic "walking joint" within the airbrake bay this often leaked leaving red staining behind. Also the airbrake would be slightly proud at the rear edge. The port side did get grotty tho as the air turbine gearbox exhaust was that side. Hello tweeky, thanks for the input, I appreciate it. The "veterans memorial scheme" thing came straight from the Hasegawa markings and painting instructions. You see I am in the process of building a 1/72 Hasegawa Lightning F Mk.6 (combo) kit No 01982. In the one box you get two kits of the Lightning and three decal options (still haven't decided who two I will use), one of which is the red tail, spine and wing leading edges, 1987 https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-01982-english-electric-lightning-f-mk6--149998 Do you know if the air brakes were ever replaced? I have a photo references of clean air brakes on both sides of the fuselage. Edited February 26, 2020 by Billy54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweeky Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 (edited) The air brakes came off on certain services in my five years on type never seen a defect on an airbrake but like most things they can be replaced. there wasn't much in the air brake bay to go wrong TBH. and looking at the photos of XR770 the rear fuselage was vert dirty I doubt she'd have left the scheduled service like that because the first part of the service is a A/C wash so they usually came out clean. Take the quote about the "veterans memorial scheme" with a pinch of salt it was very much on up man ship why the Red scheme happened, Just like the three (inc XR770) with the sharks mouth in 84 again in Cyprus. Edited February 26, 2020 by tweeky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy54 Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 Thanks again tweeky, it's nice to get feed back from someone who worked on the aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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