As an RSAF Lightning(Airwork, BAC, BAe) man I, like most other tradesmen, had a love/hate relationship with the aircraft. The RSAF version (Mk 53/55) had a modest ground attack capability not matched by the RAF aircraft so more work for the 'plumbers' (Armourers) and we managed the photo recce role too. Lots of stories to tell but many would be met with disbelief!
As an RSAF Lightning(Airwork, BAC, BAe) man I, like most other tradesmen, had a love/hate relationship with the aircraft. The RSAF version (Mk 53/55) had a modest ground attack capability not matched by the RAF aircraft so more work for the 'plumbers' (Armourers) and we managed the photo recce role too. Lots of stories to tell but many would be met with disbelief!
Share your memories Peter as I would very much like to have some on the website.
The radar bullet located in the intake was removable for replacement (duff radar). It was necessary to 'boresight' (harmonise) the bullet and when removed a 'gauge' or jig could be mounted in its place. The jig had a a central tube into which an optical instrument was inserted. This had an lenses, reticule, mirror and an eyepiece mounted at 90 degrees so that the harmonisation mark on a board set-up in front of the aircraft could be viewed.
The instrument was formally called Instrument, Gun Aligning but always referred to by the Armament fraternity as a 'shuftiscope' from the Arabic verb 'too see'
One day I was doing this when I became aware of a group of Arab students had gathered around the nose peering in watching me. One young man in excellent English said 'Excuse me Sir but is that a microscope?' To which I replied smiling 'No, it's a shuftiscope' He looked puzzled and I explained the reason at which he frowned and said. 'That is incorrect Sir. The word shufti is the feminine gender of the noun. Since that object is long and thin it is obviously masculine and should be called a shuftscope'
From then on our crew pointedly referred to it tongue in cheek as a shuftscope!
When inside the intake - with radar bullet removed - I found that if I hummed (vocally!) maintaining a steady volume and then raised or lowered the pitch of the note there was a point at which the body of air within the intake would resonate loudly demonstrating the 'blue note' that was common on the Victor bomber during engine start. The 'blue note' was transient during Lighting engines start sequence and usually hidden under the noise from the AVPIN starter.
Due to ongoing problems with starter explosions there was a requirement to measure the amount of AVPIN (Isopropyl nitrate) mono-propellent injected into the starter during the start cycle. This procedure was known as 'fail safes' An engine tradesman had this responsibility but due to manning usually had a helper of another trade.
There were two engines and two separate starters and it was essential to disconnect the HT electrical supply to the starter igniter plugs before testing. With the ground power unit running, one man would go into the cockpit to operate engine start controls and the other would (for the No 1 engine) crouch under the fuselage and hold a plastic beaker under the exhaust pipe of the starter. He would then shout (loudly) to the cockpit man who initiated engine start. There would be the familiar high pitched whine of the pump as it injected a measured dose of AVPIN into the starter but with no ignition the liquid would trickle through the exhaust to be collected in the beaker and measured for correct volume.
On many occasions as the duo worked their way down a line of aircraft someone would forget to disconnect the HT and the whine of the pump would be followed by the explosive jet of burned gas from the exhaust blasting the beaker into the ground and enveloping the poor man in a fog of choking fumes and temporarily deafening him. Forearm burns were common.
During normal (pilot) engine start blue flames would loiter around the exhaust and it was standard practice to damp them out manually using an asbestos fibre glove. A hallmark of a Lighting 'liney' was brown scorchmarks on his Service beret! I never really understood this practice since AVPIN is a mono-propellant requiring no oxygen and damping the exhaust ought not to have extinguished the flames.
Feel free to use these on your webpage if you like.
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