English Electric Lightning - Survivor ZF590 (ex 53-679)
F.53 ZF590 - Gloster Aviation Club, Gloucestershire
 |  |  |
Lightning F.53 ZF590 at Upwood, 13th February 2011; Matt Buddle
Previously thought to have been scrapped, happily, this is not the case as you can see! The nose from ZF590 was removed from the rest of the airframe some years ago (see separate entry for the fuselage) and she was then further reduced in size for filming (acting as a 'Reaper' spaceship cockpit in the Wing Commander film). Once filming was finished she ended up in storage for a time before ending up on display as one of various sci-fi film props at a tourist attraction in Scotland before moving on to a paintball park.
Matt Buddle rescued her from that fate, moving it to Upwood. The various additions to her exterior to turn her into a Reaper ended up protecting the real exterior panels quite well, and she's seen here after some hard work polishing the panels. The cockpit was quite bare to start with but Matt has since made it a lot more complete.
In more recent times, it is noted that the cockpit has been moved to join the Gloster Aviation Club collection in Gloucester - sadly not publicly viewable or accessible.
Matt Buddle rescued her from that fate, moving it to Upwood. The various additions to her exterior to turn her into a Reaper ended up protecting the real exterior panels quite well, and she's seen here after some hard work polishing the panels. The cockpit was quite bare to start with but Matt has since made it a lot more complete.
In more recent times, it is noted that the cockpit has been moved to join the Gloster Aviation Club collection in Gloucester - sadly not publicly viewable or accessible.
Information on this page current as of 31/08/2024, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of ZF590 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net