Lightning Database
The information on this page formed what was the lightnings.info website and has been created by English Electric Lightning enthusiasts with the aim of centralising the most useful and definitive web-based information available. By visiting this page you should easily be able to find just about anything you might want to know about the Lightning. It is a labour of love and strictly non – commercial!
“We must remember the Lightning quite simply because it was a magnificent and unique aircraft. It was our first and only British supersonic aircraft and it was the only one in the world (as far as I know) with one engine on top of the other. But more importantly it was a real pilot’s aeroplane, although I suspect its engineers will have a different view!”
Air Vice-Marshal Sir John Severne KCVO OBE AFC DL
English Electric Lightning Database:
This spreadsheet started off as a simple way of seeing the number of hours/sorties flown by individual aircraft, but as things do, it snowballed into what it is now, hopefully a one-stop source to take you to further information.
You can access the database HERE
The database has been expanded further by David Harvey of Robertsbridge Aviation with links to his English Electric Lightning Survivors Google map and the English Electric Lightning Losses Google map.
This is an ongoing work and will be updated as and when new information becomes available. There are discrepancies that have been found when going through the available information, but hopefully they will be resolved with the passage of time. We ask that if you do see glaring errors or can update any of the information as to airframe locations etc. then please let us know.
The information used to put the database together has been sourced and cross – checked from many sources, mainly books and websites. The main ones can be found elsewhere on this page.
English Electric Lightning Photo Albums:
We have assembled what we believe to be the largest collection of Lightning photos on the World Wide Web. Nearly every airframe has its own album which is best accessed via column ‘B’ on the ‘All Marks’ worksheet. We have gone to some trouble to show the source of each photo and give proper credit where known. If you see a picture of yours that is not credited or wrongly credited then do please let us know and we can either remove it or credit it to you. Also if you have photographs of individual tail numbers that are missing from the albums, and are willing to let David use them then please let us know.
Photo Albums are not available for the foreseeable future due to Google removing the Archive Albums facility. To recover this is going to take a very long time as it has been regularly added to over the last few years and we are not talking just hundreds of images here! we have not yet decided what course of action to take.
English Electric Lightning Survivors Map:
The Lightning Survivors Map shows the locations of surviving English Electric Lightning airframes and cockpit sections around the world. For any airframe or cockpit section where the exact location is unknown or confidential, a marker has been placed in the middle of a field or lake in the general vicinity of the last known location. All corrections and additions are most welcome. Please respect the privacy of the owners of such airframes.
English Electric Lightning Losses Map:
The Lightning Losses Map shows the locations where Lightnings were lost. Some locations are approximate, especially those involving the sea. All corrections and additions are most welcome.