English Electric Lightning - Survivor 'XS935' (really ZF580, ex 53-672)
F.53 XS935 - Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre, RAF St. Mawgan, Cornwall
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Lightning F.53 XS935 at Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre, 8th October 2022; Jake Wallace
Built for the Royal Saudi Air Force with the serial 53-672, she first flew on 28th November 1967 from Samlesbury. Her 7th flight was a demonstration to some Kuwaiti guests and helped seal the deal of the Kuwaiti Lightning purchase. Delivered to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in November 1968, she served with the Lightning Conversion Unit at Dhahran, then 2 Squadron until retirement in the 1980s.
In January 1986 she was bought back by BAE as part of the Tornado F.3 purchase deal, and flown back to Warton as ZF580. Stored for some time at Warton, she was eventually earmarked for display duties at her birthplace, Salmesbury. Initially displayed on her wheels, she was soon mounted on a plinth and given a pair of missiles too. Sadly, her condition was deteriorating, so BAE elected to have her replaced by a fiberglass mockup, with ZF580 being used to create the mold. The mockup was painted up to represent XS921 and is positioned next to an F35 mockup.
After that work was complete, Classic Air Force kept her and went into storage for sometime until 2017/18 when she was reassembled by GJD Services and repainted by GJD into 74 Squadron markings, representing Lightning XR768 'A', ready for the RAF Cosford Airshow, celebrating 100 years of the RAF. She could be seen on static next to Phantom XV582 'Black Mike' and ex Midair Hunter XL573.
After the RAF Cosford Airshow, ZF580 stopped off at Bruntingthorpe for a weekend with the Lightning Preservation Group (LPG) before heading down to Cornwall. The LPG held a two-day photoshoot, allowing people to get the rare opportunity of photographing four complete Lightning airframes together. Once the events had finished, ZF580 completed it's journey down to Newquay in Cornwall, where it was placed on display at the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre (CAHC)
Due to spending the majority of her time outside in the British weather, her paintwork began to flake and fade. The museum took this as an opportunity to put her into some different colours. Over the winter in 2021/2022, the volunteers of CAHC repainted ZF580 into 5 Sqn colours, representing F.6 XS935 'AK'.
Sadly, in mid-2022, it was announced that CAHC are likely to close its doors for the last time at the end of October 2022. Hopefully, ZF580 will be able to relocate to a new home where she will continue to be looked after for many years to come.
In January 1986 she was bought back by BAE as part of the Tornado F.3 purchase deal, and flown back to Warton as ZF580. Stored for some time at Warton, she was eventually earmarked for display duties at her birthplace, Salmesbury. Initially displayed on her wheels, she was soon mounted on a plinth and given a pair of missiles too. Sadly, her condition was deteriorating, so BAE elected to have her replaced by a fiberglass mockup, with ZF580 being used to create the mold. The mockup was painted up to represent XS921 and is positioned next to an F35 mockup.
After that work was complete, Classic Air Force kept her and went into storage for sometime until 2017/18 when she was reassembled by GJD Services and repainted by GJD into 74 Squadron markings, representing Lightning XR768 'A', ready for the RAF Cosford Airshow, celebrating 100 years of the RAF. She could be seen on static next to Phantom XV582 'Black Mike' and ex Midair Hunter XL573.
After the RAF Cosford Airshow, ZF580 stopped off at Bruntingthorpe for a weekend with the Lightning Preservation Group (LPG) before heading down to Cornwall. The LPG held a two-day photoshoot, allowing people to get the rare opportunity of photographing four complete Lightning airframes together. Once the events had finished, ZF580 completed it's journey down to Newquay in Cornwall, where it was placed on display at the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre (CAHC)
Due to spending the majority of her time outside in the British weather, her paintwork began to flake and fade. The museum took this as an opportunity to put her into some different colours. Over the winter in 2021/2022, the volunteers of CAHC repainted ZF580 into 5 Sqn colours, representing F.6 XS935 'AK'.
Sadly, in mid-2022, it was announced that CAHC are likely to close its doors for the last time at the end of October 2022. Hopefully, ZF580 will be able to relocate to a new home where she will continue to be looked after for many years to come.
Information on this page current as of 11/10/2022, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of XS935 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net