Dates

Event

Constructed as a Lightning F.3.
Was the ninth F. 3 built.

14 September 1963

First flight.
Flown at Samlesbury by T.M.S Ferguson being the ninth F.3 built.

From September 1963 to July 1964

To BAC, Warton.

5 May 1964

Used for assessment of production flight control computer type C.

6 May 1964

Taken on Strength/Charge with the Royal Air Force with s/n XP701.
XP701 handed over to RAF with 4:19 hours on the airframe. Used for OR946 trials but stayed at Salmesbury with BAC and the A and AEE.

Was used to test modification 4051 which was used to stop undercarriage hang ups on the ground and in the air. She was also used to trial the auto flight control system and engine and airframe ice-detection systems and auto anti-icing equipment. This included intake lip anti-icing trials.

11 May 1964

Special occurrence report.

23 June 1964

Transferred to Aamp; AEE, Boscombe Down.
Sent to Boscombe Down for assessment of the type C flight control computer.

1 July 1964

Despatched to Boscombe Down with 13:21 hours for flight control system trials.

From 1 July 1964 to January 1966

Transferred to BAC amp; Aamp; AEE, Boscombe Down.

10 July 1964

Special occurrence report.

16 July 1964

Special occurrence report.

29 July 1964

Transferred to Warton.
Despatched to Warton with 25:45 hours.

30 July 1964

Trials of variable gearing, height lock and PEC in ADS Mk2 against C4.

From January 1966 to 17 June 1966

Transferred to Aand AEE, Boscombe Down.

14 January 1966

Clearance of OR946 Mk 1 cockpit instrumentation with variable gearing height lock made for CA release in F3 aircraft by A and AEE.

18 January 1966

Arrived at Boscombe Down with 71:50 hours.

From 17 June 1966 to 6 September 1967

Used by BAC for development flying with instrumented under carriage jacks and radius rods prior to introduction of mod 4052 (strengthening of radius rod mounting bracket). --.

Transferred to Warton.
Laid up at Warton after flight 177 with 96:42 hours. This airframe had a long history of intake vibration eventually attributed to loose ballast in the nose section.

7 September 1967

After four years as a guinea pig XP701 was refurbished and delivered to 29 Squadron with 102:09 hours.

28 December 1967

Flown by Flt. Lt. Gross on exercise Ricochet.

April 1968

Alan WithingtonCOs first flight in XP701.

18 May 1968

Displayed at Wattisham open day.

25 March 1969

Russell Morley COs first flight in XP701, his second radar convex sortie, S1Bs which were 180s using loose control.

9 February 1970

XP701 (flown by Alan Withington) was one of five Lightnings which flew non-stop to Akrotiri in Cyprus being re-fuelled in-flight six times, taking four hours and 20 minutes. The aircraft were not camouflaged at this time, being left in their natural metal finish but with a section of their spines painted white to minimise overheating of the AVPIN starter fuel tank.

28 July 1970

Russell Morley flew XP701 to RDAF Skrydstrup for a NATO exchange.

September 1970

Transferred to 111 Squadron, Wattisham.

1 October 1970

Russell MorleyCOs last trip in XP701 acting as a high flying target at night - a whole 35 minutes worth!

20 October 1970

Alan WithingtonCOs final flight in a Lightning. XP701 suffered Hyd 1 failure, which meant that the braking parachute was unlikely to deploy, and his last experience in the aircraft was a precautionary landing, clearing the runway, and shutting down the engines on the ORP. And then being towed back to the dispersal.

2 November 1970

When 29 SquadronCOs Lightnings were replaced with Phantoms, XP701 was transferred to 111 with 1013:35 hours.

December 1970

First flight.
First flown by Stewart Gosling marked M of 111(F) in natural metal finish.

2 June 1971

Flown by Ken Edmond from Wattisham to Akrotiri for Panther Trail 41.

December 1971

Flown by Martin Bee several times from the 8th to the 15th whilst with 111 Squadron at Wattisham.

24 February 1972

To 29 Squadron at Wattisham with 1332:45 hours.

6 March 1972

John BaggintonCOs first flight in XP701 - Exercise Prophet.

16 March 1972

Air-to-air re-fuelling sortie by John Bagginton.

1 May 1972

Air defence procedure training flight by Roger McGowan.

30 May 1972

General handling trip by John Bagginton.

June 1972

Flown by John Bagginton in a Queens birthday flypast with a Vulcan.

From 1972 to 24 May 1973

Transferred to 60MU Leconfield.

December 1972

Involved in an incident.
No. 2 engine bay fire during floor re-sealing trials.

12 June 1973

Squadron detachment to Aalborg in Denmark, close formation by Roger McGowan with Taff Butcher and Bob Ruscal.

27 June 1973

Two-v-two combat against Dutch F-104s on a visit to Wattisham flown by by Roger McGowan.

1973

One-v-one combat training by by Roger McGowan against Jake Jarron.

23 October 1973

Exercise Blackmail by Roger McGowan.

7 November 1973

Subsonic practise intercepts by Roger McGowan with Bob Ruscal as target, took off without ventral tank.

18 December 1973

Roger McGowans last flight in XP701 with a standoff simulated air-launched cruise missile attack.

13 February 1974

Flown by John Hawtin from Wattisham leading a sortie in which XR715 flown by Terry Butcher (who ejected safely) crashed at Blyford Green Suffolk.

From September 1974 to October 1974

John Bagginton rejoined 29 Squadron. Continued as F 29 Sqdn, Wattisham.

7 November 1974

Rod Thomas first flight in XP701. He flew an Air to Air refuelling mission followed by medium level intercepts and visual identification practice. This would be flown on instruments down to a minimum range of 300 yds before looking up to ident the target. This flight was 1 hour 55 mins and finished with a radar approach into Wattisham.

19 November 1974

John Baggintons last flight in XP701.

27 November 1974

Rod Thomas second flight in XP701: intercepts and idents on a Canberra target aircraft (time 40 mins).

28 November 1974

Rod Thomas last flight in XP701: intercepts on a Lightning target, (time 40 mins).

1 January 1975

Assigned to Wattisham for storage.

20 March 1975

Transferred to 56 Squadron.
Operated with markings: W

21 March 1975

Assigned to Wattisham for storage.

17 April 1975

Transferred to 56 Squadron.
Operated with markings: W

11 May 1976

Involved in an incident.
Brake problem - from pilot Steve Riley: The incident took place just a few weeks before we disbanded as a Lightning squadron. On the first squeeze of the brake handle, there was a snap and the handle lost all resistance. I tried to yank on the cable below the stick top but to no avail. At about 80kts 701 drifted gently off the right side runway 23, missing the runway edge lighting. I braced myself expecting the right wheel to dig into soft ground but of course the ground was rock hard (dry summer of 76!) and there was no damage.

11 May 1976

Later that day: Photographed at Wattisham in a hanger surrounded by servicing equipment and fitted with two firestreak infra-red missiles. The markings were red and white squares with a thin pale blue outline flanking the roundel with 56s red and yellow firebird motif on the fin. The white spine panel was still evident.

21 May 1976

Flown again by Steve Riley. --.

8 June 1976

Steve Rileys last flight in XP701 (from Wattisham).

1 July 1976

Assigned to Wattisham for storage.

17 July 1976

Ferry flight.
Flown from Wattisham to Binbrook by Murdo Macleod with the T5 XS417 and F6 XR771.

19 July 1976

Assigned to ASSF Binbrook for storage.

29 July 1976

Evaluated as Cat. 3(R).

4 August 1976

Evaluated as Cat. 3 at ADA.

27 May 1977

Transferred to ASSF Binbrook.

10 November 1977

Refinished in a camouflaged grey/green colour schme.

7 March 1978

Transferred to 11 Squadron.
Operated with markings: O

June 1978

Flown again by Stewart Gosling.

5 September 1978

Transferred to ASSF Binbrook.

9 June 1980

Evaluated as Cat. 3 at ADA. The No. 2 air intake was repaired.

22 August 1980

Transferred to ASSF Binbrook.

1 October 1980

Transferred to 5 Squadron.
Transferred to No. 5 for exercise Mallet Blow.

From 4 October 1980 to 10 October 1980

Transferred to 5 Squadron.
Continued loan to No. 5 for aggressor training.

10 October 1980

Held as in use reserve.

11 December 1980

Painted with dark sea grey and dark green upper surfaces with the undersides remaining in the natural metal finish. The roundels had become smaller and low-visibility with the removal of the white centre circle. The squadron bars were black with a yellow triangle pointing outwards. The fin carried the squadrons pair of black eagles outlined in white with the code letter also in white.

31 July 1981

Spotted at Wattisham at the Fighter Meet/Beer Call.

15 August 1981

Spotted at RAF Valley by Russ Smith.

12 October 1981

Ferry flight.
Flt. Lt. Iain SmallCOs first flight (of 23 in total) in XP701 and his first single seat trip on 11 Sqn. It was a transit bringing the aircraft back to Binbrook from Waddington. His name can still be seen stencilled on the cockpit section at Robertsbridge. Most of his trips in XP701 were Lightning against Lightning air combat training.

19 October 1981

Another flight by Flt. Lt. Lain Small.

21 January 1982

Involved in an incident.
Flying accident with the ventral tank fin ripped off during take off holing the tank and igniting the fuel. Flames extinguished during climb and landed safely. Evaluated as Cat. 3.

25 January 1982

Transferred to MEAS Binbrook.

2 March 1982

ADA, evaluated with Cat. 3 damage.

23 June 1982

Transferred to 11 Squadron for check 2 and Cat 3 recovery.

1 July 1982

Transferred to 11 Squadron, Binbrook.

9 July 1982

Repaired.
Cat. 3 repair completed.

From July 1982 to July 1983

Transferred to 11 Squadron, Binbrook.
Operated with markings: BN
Returned to service with 11 Squadron.

20 September 1982

1v1 against F-5 Aggressor by Flt Lt Iain Small.

24 September 1982

2v1 against F-5 Aggressor by Flt. Lt. Iain Small.

6 October 1982

Air-to-air refuelling from a Vulcan by Flt. Lt. Iain Small.

21 October 1982

ECM training against 360 Sqn Canberra by Flt. Lt. Iain Small.

27 October 1982

Spotted at RAF Binbrook by Shaun Connor.

9 April 1983

Photographed at RAF Marham by David Ilot and also by Derek Heley. Mk 3s were at the time the main combat aircraft. All the Mk 6s were g-limited to try and extend their life even more. After about 18 months he was allocated XR760 - which is now at the bottom of the North Sea.

9 April 1983

Photographer: Robert Nichols
Notes: at RAF Marham Airshow

20 July 1983

Involved in an incident.
Engaged the barrier but flying within the hour during Exercise Priory.

10 August 1983

1v1v1 Air combat training.

14 December 1983

2 v 2 Air Combat training against Coltishall Jaguars.

16 April 1984

Flt. Lt. Iain Smalls last XP701 trip (medium level intercepts).

10 May 1984

Transferred to 5 Squadron, Binbrook.
Operated with markings: AN

14 August 1984

Transferred to Lightning Training Flight (LTF), Binbrook.

23 October 1984

Transferred to 5 Squadron, Binbrook.
Operated with markings: AR

24 October 1984

Transferred to Lightning Training Flight (LTF), Binbrook.

25 October 1984

Transferred to 5 Squadron, Binbrook.

21 February 1985

Transferred to MEAS, Binbrook.
Marked as a ground instruction airframe.

25 February 1985

Transferred to 5 Squadron, Binbrook.

30 May 1985

Transferred to MEAS, Binbrook.

9 February 1986

New serial number assigned: 8924M RAF
Withdrawn from use with 2,977:10 hours on the airframe, and put into service as a ground instruction airframe.

22 January 1987

Used as a decoy.

6 July 1987

The serial number was removed.

August 1987

Spotted sheeted in the storage hangar at RAF Binbrook.

17 August 1987

Seen in LESF with cartoon-type drawing on port side of fin. September 29th 1987: seen on airfield after spares recovery with makings (but not cartoon) removed.

9 October 1987

Seen marked as 8924M.

21 October 1987

To Battle of Britain Museum, Kent.
Sold to the museum.

15 December 1987

Transported by air.
Airlifted by an American CH-53 Jolly Green Giant Helicopter (diverted to Sculthorpe due to bad weather) after it was first stripped down of all non-essential equipment.

18 December 1987

Delivered to Kent Battle of Britain museum, Hawkinge.

21 December 1987

Struck off Strength/Charge from the Royal Air Force.

22 August 1990

Spotted by Richard Cawsey at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum, Hawkinge being dismantled, with one wing removed and being hoisted by a crane.

8 September 1990

Scrapped with nose section going to Mr. Hukins of the Robertsbridge Aviation Museum.
View the Location Dossier

December 1990

The majority of the airframe went to Haningfield Metals.

30 October 2011

Photographer: David Harvey
Notes: On behalf of the Robertsbridge Aviation Society I have compiled a history (with photos) of XP701: http://goo.gl/S2vGl

To Robertsbridge Aviation Society, Robertsbridge, Sussex-East, England.
View the Location Dossier