Personal Aircraft of the O.C. J.G.71 Wittmundhafen, May 1963.

[TallEng]

O.K. I realise that this has probably been done before, and in fact the whole thing could be a "whiffing cliche", 

Anyway on with the (ahem) Whifstory;

Supposing 'Bee' Beamont and the sales team from E.E. had been allowed to "Talk to the right people" and had had Government backing,
and Lockheed hadn't been so `free` with the ready's, then maybe E.E. would have been in with an outside chance to sell the Lightning to Europe!

(this obviously requires some suspension of disbelief, even in Whifworld)

Anyhow; If (and its a big if) this all came to pass, and the West German Defence Ministry had decided in favour of the (Obviously ) Superior product,
Then if you were the C.O. of J.G.71(Richthofen) then you too would (probably) have  had your Lightning F.57D painted somewhat like this:



Yeah O.K. Wittmundhafen does look suspiciously like R.A.F. Hiding-in the-Hedges



and the `Natural Metal` Finish could look a bit more "Natural and Finished"



But; I felt the `Need, the Need for speed` (your probably right, I should have built a Tomcat or Gnat or Black Mig)
And I shall do my best (so don't get to excited!) to `fluff out` the Whifstory in time for the finished Lightning "Soon"

[PR19_Kit]

Very nice, and believable too. 

Have you lengthened belly tank for extra range? It comes well forward, past the position where the missile pack attaches.

[ChernayaAkula]

Pfft, Wittmundhafen or Hinding-in-the-Hedges, these European airfields all look more or less the same. 

Pretty cool whif! The Lightning sure looks good in those colours.

[Taiidantomcat]

Thats hot 

[Slerski]

That's make low-viz scheme very boring. I like it 

[kitbasher]

Very nice - and maybe not too far from what could have been the truth?  I seem to recall the Lightning being considered as as possible Luftwaffe fighter before the F-104 was finally selected (can anyone confirm that was the case?), around the same time as the Marinefleiger were thinking about buying Buccaneers.
Now there's a whif worth thinking about, especially in the three-tone grey wrap around scheme applied to their Tornaodos.

[beowulf]

very nice....that works a treat 

[TallEng]

Have you lengthened belly tank for extra range? It comes well forward, past the position where the missile pack attaches.

Yes Kit I did, and if I'd remembered to add these photo's as well, you'd have been able to see where the extension was added





And a question for you knowledgable types out there, What would have been a `typical` operational load for a German Starfighter
in the late `60's?
I know its going to have sidewinders instead of Red Top's, but How many and did they carry anything else as well?

[lancer]

Oh that is very sweet.

[PR19_Kit]

That extension is very neatly done, I like it! 

I can remember Luftwaffe '104s with a recce pod, but a) that would have been later than your period I think as they still had the RF-84Fs for a while and b) I can't imagine a Lightning with a recce pod, much though I like the idea. 

[Weaver]

There was a recce fit for the Lightning, but nobody bought it. IIRC, the cameras went in the front of the belly tank in place of the guns, and an IR Linescan unit fitted in place of the missile pack.

Regarding a Luftwaffe loadout, I've always thought it wouldcarry four Sidewinders: two on the fuselage pylons and two on the outboard underwing pylons fitted to the export models. There is a possibility that the latter might cause aeroelasticity problems though, so in that case, the second pair of 'winders could be fitted on the overwing pylons: it's not like Germany will need them for fuel tanks in a Cold War context....

[GTX]

Nice!

Regards,

Greg

[TallEng]

There was a recce fit for the Lightning, but nobody bought it. IIRC, the cameras went in the front of the belly tank in place of the guns, and an IR Linescan unit fitted in place of the missile pack.

Regarding a Luftwaffe loadout, I've always thought it wouldcarry four Sidewinders: two on the fuselage pylons and two on the outboard underwing pylons fitted to the export models. There is a possibility that the latter might cause aeroelasticity problems though, so in that case, the second pair of 'winders could be fitted on the overwing pylons: it's not like Germany will need them for fuel tanks in a Cold War context....

According to one of my Lightning books, the Saudi Arabians ordered the Daylight Recce fit for their Lightning's.
Thinks, Hmmm... P.R. Blue Lightning
Four sidewinders? Going by looks a Sidewinder looks to be lighter than a RedTop, perhaps two aside on the RedTop pylon? (a bit like a Crusader)
Which leaves the outboard pylons free for something else...
And what about where the Refueling probe fitted, if you didn't need the probe perhaps you could fit a lightweight pylon for one sidewinder aside?

[GTX]

The red top weighed in the vicinity of 150Kg whilst the Sidewinders are approx 90kg.  IIRC, the Redtop also carried more support onboard the aircraft thus increasing its all up weight.  A version  of the EE Lightning with Sidewinders should be possible with the same Y-pylon mount  as the Crusader should be doable.




Maybe add a Sparrow/Skyflash to the overwing pylon mounts - though for West Germany, that might be overkill.

regards,

Greg

[TallEng]

Alas and alack, I'm not even going to finish this one in time I've just finished a month of night shift which rather b#ggered up the modelling time,
however I did get to fit the sidewinders

It still needs the rest of the decals and touch up paint work etc etc
When I finish it (soon I hope) I'll post it on the completed projects side