{"id":2190163,"date":"2026-06-17T11:05:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/english-electric-lightning-britains-vertical-missile\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T22:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T20:42:27","slug":"fulmine-elettrico-inglese-missile-verticale-britannico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/english-electric-lightning-britains-vertical-missile\/","title":{"rendered":"Il fulmine elettrico inglese: il missile verticale della Gran Bretagna"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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It burned fuel at a rate that gave ground crews anxiety attacks. It had two Rolls-Royce Avon engines stacked vertically \u2014 one on top of the other \u2014 inside a fuselage so slim that the only place left for fuel was in a tank above the wing. Its operational endurance was measured in minutes. And it could outclimb every single fighter in NATO's arsenal, including some that wouldn't enter service for another twenty years.<\/p>\n\n<p>For two decades, the Lightning was Britain's first and last line of defense against Soviet bombers approaching from the north. It was the only all-British designed-and-built Mach 2 fighter ever to enter service. Pilots loved it. Engineers feared it. Accountants despised it. It was magnificent.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-radius:8px;padding:20px 24px;margin:24px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 12px\"><strong>\u2708 Quick Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\">\n<li><strong>First flight:<\/strong> August 4, 1954 (P.1A prototype)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Entered service:<\/strong> 1960 (RAF Fighter Command)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Retired:<\/strong> 1988 (RAF), 1986 (Saudi Arabia)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Engines:<\/strong> 2\u00d7 Rolls-Royce Avon 301R (stacked vertically)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Max speed:<\/strong> Mach 2+ (around 1,500 mph \/ 2,415 km\/h in a dash; service limit Mach 2.0)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Climb rate:<\/strong> 50,000 ft\/min \u2014 could reach 36,000 ft in under 3 minutes<\/li>\n<li><strong>Total built:<\/strong> 337<\/li>\n<li><strong>Export operators:<\/strong> Saudi Arabia, Kuwait<\/li>\n<li><strong>Notable capability:<\/strong> Could intercept <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/u-2-dragon-lady\">U-2<\/a> spyplanes around 65,000 ft \u2014 with zoom climbs reaching above 87,000 ft<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Born to Climb<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Lightning's origin story starts with English Electric's chief designer, W.E.W. \"Teddy\" Petter, who had a radical idea: instead of placing two engines side by side (as every other twin-engine fighter did), stack them vertically. The upper engine exhausted through the top of the rear fuselage, the lower through the bottom. This gave the Lightning the cross-section of a single-engine fighter with the thrust of a twin \u2014 and a thrust-to-weight ratio that bordered on the obscene.<\/p>\n\n<p>The prototype P.1, which first flew in 1954, exceeded Mach 1 in level flight on its third flight \u2014 without using afterburner. This was essentially unheard of in 1954. The production Lightning F.1 entered RAF service in 1960, and each successive mark added fuel capacity, better radar, and more powerful engines, culminating in the F.6, which could break Mach 2 while climbing.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0;border-radius:8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YqD2DKvYyJE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<div style=\"background:#fafafa;border-left:4px solid #c0392b;padding:16px 20px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"font-size:15px;line-height:1.6;margin:0 0 8px\">Pilots often described the Lightning as something you wore rather than flew. The cockpit was famously cramped &mdash; some larger pilots simply could not fit &mdash; but once the afterburners lit and the aircraft rotated, little else in the sky could stay with it.<\/p><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Catching the U-2 \u2014 and Concorde<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Lightning's most legendary feats involved aircraft it was never designed to intercept. In the early 1960s, RAF Lightnings discovered they could perform \"zoom climbs\" \u2014 accelerating to maximum speed at altitude, then pulling into a near-vertical climb that on at least one occasion peaked above 87,000 feet in a ballistic arc. Using carefully developed climb profiles, Lightnings successfully intercepted <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/united-states-air-force\/\">USAF<\/a> U-2 spyplanes at altitudes around 60,000\u201366,000 feet \u2014 heights the U-2 crews had thought safe from interception.<\/p>\n\n<p>Later, Lightnings were used to practice intercepts against Concorde during the supersonic airliner's test program \u2014 one of the few fighters fast enough to keep up with the Anglo-French marvel at cruise speed.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0;border-radius:8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8DdUwIhI-ZA\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Fuel Problem<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Lightning's Achilles' heel was range \u2014 or rather, the complete lack of it. The original F.1 had an internal fuel capacity so small that pilots joked about measuring endurance with an egg timer. The F.6 added a ventral fuel tank and overwing ferry tanks, but even in its final form, a Lightning's typical combat air patrol lasted about 50 minutes. Pilots sometimes had less than 10 minutes of fuel remaining after a scramble intercept.<\/p>\n\n<p>This wasn't a design flaw \u2014 it was a design choice. The Lightning was built for one job: scramble, climb like a rocket, intercept the Soviet bomber, and land. Loitering was someone else's problem.<\/p>\n\n<figure style=\"margin:24px 0\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/english-electric-lightning-f6-xr771-display-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"English Electric Lightning F.6 XR771 on static display\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:4px\" \/><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#666;margin-top:6px;text-align:center\">Lightning F.6 XR771 preserved in display condition. The ventral fuel tank (visible under the fuselage) was a later addition to address the type's infamous thirst. (Public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0;border-radius:8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/maSoivHB9m0\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<div style=\"background:#fafafa;border-left:4px solid #c0392b;padding:16px 20px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"font-size:15px;line-height:1.6;margin:0 0 8px\">The Lightning did one thing supremely well: climb fast, go fast and reach the target. Range, payload and avionics were all secondary to outright performance.<\/p><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Flying the Lightning with MiGFlug<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Lightning holds a special place in MiGFlug history. Before its final retirement from civilian hands, <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fighter-jet-flights-an-outlook\/\">MiGFlug used to offer Lightning flights<\/a> \u2014 giving civilians the rare opportunity to experience the raw power of Britain's vertical missile firsthand. Those flights are no longer available, but the memory of the Lightning's acceleration and climb rate left a lasting impression on every passenger who experienced it.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">End of an Era<\/h2>\n\n<p>The RAF retired its last Lightnings in 1988, replacing them with the Tornado F.3 \u2014 a more capable all-weather interceptor but one that, in the words of many pilots, had none of the Lightning's soul. Saudi Arabia operated its Lightnings until 1986. Today, no Lightning flies, though several are preserved in museums across Britain, and at least two are in various stages of restoration projects that dream of putting the Lightning back in the air.<\/p>\n\n<p>In an era of stealth, sensor fusion, and beyond-visual-range missiles, the Lightning is a relic. But it remains the purest expression of a single idea in fighter design: go up faster than anything else. On that metric, very little built since has beaten it.<\/p>\n\n<em>Sources: Imperial War Museums, RAF Museum, Thunder & Lightnings (aircraft preservation trust), \"Lightning\" (Roland Beamont), Aviation Archive<\/em>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px\"><strong>Related Posts<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fighter-jet-flights-an-outlook\/\">Fighter Jet Flights: An Outlook on Past and Future Operations<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mig-31-foxhound\">MiG-31<\/a> Foxhound: The Mach 2.8 Interceptor That Refuses to Retire<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-59-hits-mach-1-4-at-quiet-boom-altitude\/\">X-59 Reaches Mach 1.4 at Quiet Boom Altitude<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div<!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was the English Electric Lightning?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The English Electric Lightning was a British Cold War interceptor famous for its blistering climb and speed. Entering RAF service in 1960, it could exceed Mach 2 and rocket upward at 50,000 feet per minute \u2014 essentially a manned missile built to catch Soviet bombers.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How fast could the English Electric Lightning climb?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Astonishingly fast \u2014 about 50,000 feet per minute, letting it reach 36,000 feet in under three minutes. This near-vertical climb is why the Lightning was often described as a manned missile.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How fast was the English Electric Lightning?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>It could exceed Mach 2, roughly 1,500 mph, with a service limit around Mach 2.0. Its two Rolls-Royce Avon engines were unusually stacked one above the other, giving the slim fighter enormous thrust.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Could the Lightning intercept the U-2 spy plane?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Yes \u2014 remarkably, it could. The Lightning's extraordinary climb let it reach the U-2's cruising altitude of around 65,000 feet, something very few fighters of its era could achieve, making it a uniquely high-flying interceptor.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How many English Electric Lightnings were built?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>A total of 337 were built. It served the RAF from 1960 until 1988 and was exported to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with Saudi Lightnings retiring in 1986.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the English Electric Lightning?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The English Electric Lightning was a British Cold War interceptor famous for its blistering climb and speed. Entering RAF service in 1960, it could exceed Mach 2 and rocket upward at 50,000 feet per minute \u2014 essentially a manned missile built to catch Soviet bombers.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How fast could the English Electric Lightning climb?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Astonishingly fast \u2014 about 50,000 feet per minute, letting it reach 36,000 feet in under three minutes. 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It served the RAF from 1960 until 1988 and was exported to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with Saudi Lightnings retiring in 1986.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->\n>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story The English Electric Lightning was not a sensible aircraft. It burned fuel at a rate that gave ground crews anxiety attacks. It had two Rolls-Royce Avon engines stacked vertically \u2014 one on top of the other \u2014 inside a fuselage so slim that the only place left for fuel was in a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":2190012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2190163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The English Electric Lightning: Britain&#039;s Vertical Missile | Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The English Electric Lightning was Britain&#039;s vertical missile: twin stacked Avon engines and a blistering climb that defined Cold War defence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/fulmine-elettrico-inglese-missile-verticale-britannico\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The English Electric Lightning: Britain&#039;s Vertical Missile | Afterburner - 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