Image copyright - John Hurdle.

Introduction to the founders of 'LINCAIR'.

Dave Blissett.

Dave has had an avid interest in anything mechanical since the age of about eighteen months.

He joined the Royal Air Force as an airframe and propulsion apprentice in 1975 and after completing the three year apprenticeship was posted to Royal Air Force Station Binbrook in September 1978.

He served there for three years on Lightning aircraft before transferring to Tornado aircraft on which he worked for eleven years.

Dave has worked on all types and at several stations including a year on loan to British Aerospace in Saudi Arabia.

He left the Royal Air Force as a Chief Technician in September 1992 after an exemplary career settling in the North Lincolnshire village of Grainthorpe.

Dave currently works as a contractor for Bae Systems on the Panavia Tornado aircraft combined maintenance upgrades (CMU) program at RAF Marham.

Lesley Blissett.

Lesley Blissett nee Sharman joined the Royal Air Force and after completing her initial training was posted to Royal Air Force Station Binbrook where she worked in RAF Supply.

Known affectionately during her service at Binbrook as "Doris", Lesley has two wonderful children Victoria and Luke and is Dave's wife and partner.

Lesley combines her time as a busy mum with her hobby of breeding her own pedigree dogs.

Her skills learnt in RAF Supply mean that Lesley is an integral part of the project.

Ray Whiteley.

Ray is fifty five years old and a veteran of the 1958 polio outbreak.

He served for seven years in the Royal Observer Corps and became the Chief Observer for Lincoln 17 Post with Royal Air Force Station Binbrook being his 'home' station.

He has worked in the computer and telecommunications industry for over thirty four years and until 2001 worked for companies such as Plessey, GEC and Marconi.

Ray is a well known and respected engineer and was a member of the Nottingham Society of Engineers.

When time allows he is studying an Open Tech course in Aeronautical Engineering with the Aviation Training Association and is a member of the Lightning Association's groundcrew for English Electric Lightning F6 XR724.

Introduction to the XS457 (T5) project.

During September 2001 after a long and intensive search for the correct project material LINCAIR purchased the fully fitted out cockpit section of the former RAF Binbrook English Electric Lightning T5 XS457 (95017).

This cockpit section will form the basis of the complete aircraft rebuild to as near flight condition as current conditions allow.

During April 2002 Lesley secured the F53 rear fuselage of ZF590 (95284) from Tony Hulls.

Although it has been used for spares recovery, it is in excellent condition and our original plan was to reverse engineer it to T5 status.

Both airframe sections have roughly the same amount of hours used and are a good match with the XS457 (95017) nose section having done 2164hrs 20 mins and the ZF590 (95284) rear fuselage having done 2281hrs 36 mins.

The main structures being the T55 rear fuselage from ZF595 (95027) and the F53 wings from ZF577 (95273).

The majority of it was in store with Richard Hukins in Kent apart from the wings which had already been moved back north to Colin's place near Kings Lynn.

The move.

The ailerons have landed.

Also during June 2002, Ray found and fetched the ailerons needed for the reverse engineering of the F53 wings and some more rear fuselage doors.

Ray also found and recovered six more Plessey AVPIN starters for the project from a scrapyard near Huddersfield.

They have all now been cleaned externally, re-packed and placed in deep storage.

All are ex:- RAF Binbrook and have 11 Squadron paperwork which makes them a nice addition to our rapidly expanding spares holding.

An additional item found was an ex:- Binbrook ASSF tyre inflation kit.

Although the casing is bent and battered, it is intact and functional and another piece of Binbrook history returns to our safe keeping.

Tony Hulls has kindly donated a Houchin 585 and a pair of main jack bodies but we still require some internal units for the Houchin and some jack legs.

Project news.

One of our spare T5 canopies has gone to the USA to enable XS422 to fly earlier.

We have acquired two zero hour Rolls-Royce Avon MK302 engines and a third zero hour part engine for use as primary spares.

In addition, we have acquired a long interpipe, another short interpipe, two re-heat pipes, a further five nose legs and two stillages of engine dressings and ancillaries.

Ray has been appointed curator of the Anglo-American Lightning Organisation's English Electric Lightning engineering blueprints. There is at least six tons of them!

Deep store one has been established and all of the engines, pipes, spares, etc moved TWICE.

The first stillages of the airframe spares acquired from Anglo-American have been fetched and deposited in deep store one pending a full inventory.

Another pair of F53 wings and a tailfin have been obtained.

A brand new portable Firewire test set has been found and purchased.

The second stage of airframe stillages await transportation.

The primary set of wings for XS457 have been moved from Kings Lynn to Binbrook.

The aim of the project.

The principal aim of the project is to bring XS457 back to life.

The entire project will be subject to the appropriate full documentation control and each major structure will be tackled as an individual module.

It has not been decided where the re-assembly of the modules will take place.

Conclusion.

What do we get from all of this?

We would like to emphasize that we are not after financial gain, just the sheer pleasure of being involved with such a great part of our aviation history.

The future of these historic aircraft must be preserved.

One day, with your help, XS457 could fly again.

A profile of a English Electric T5 Lightning.

It's Rolls Royce Avon MK302 engines produce thirty two thousand six hundred pounds of thrust and are capable of propelling the aircraft vertically to forty thousand feet faster than anything the Royal Air Force currently flies.

English Electric Lightning XS457 (T5) will be rebuilt and maintained under our dedicated care.

Contact information.

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All rights reserved. Last updated 12 January 2007 by Ray Whiteley. lincair@binbrook.demon.co.uk

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