The almost predictable Lightning

[Steel Penguin]

Kit  the Airfix spares department is   infamous  in the way that it is so far beyond famous that its "infamous"  Ive only had to ask any thing of them once,  and that was a couple of bits for a wif ( still planned)  they got the parts out to me toot sweet, and for gratis. 

[Weaver]

I had a look at the F-104 wing as an extension but it has tapered leading and trailing edges and it's too darn small really.

F-5 wing as an extension piece? (Gets you a tip pylon too...)

As a complete wing replacement for the wingless wonders: Mirage III, Kfir (dirt cheap), SU-9/11/15 Rafale, Eurofighter, TSR.2.

[deathjester]

Lightning PR7, with rocket booster, and cameras in the front of the belly tank??  This all sounds faintly familiar, in a Hemp over Black way...

[martinbayer]

What do you do with two Lightning F2As with only their starboard wings??? 

Somehow Tophe comes to mind...

Martin

[PR19_Kit]

Kit  the Airfix spares department is   infamous  in the way that it is so far beyond famous that its "infamous"  Ive only had to ask any thing of them once,  and that was a couple of bits for a wif ( still planned)  they got the parts out to me toot sweet, and for gratis. 

Oooh, I didn't know that, it might be worth a try then, thanks.

Lightning PR7, with rocket booster, and cameras in the front of the belly tank??  This all sounds faintly familiar, in a Hemp over Black way...

Funny you should say that, did you build one then ?

Somehow Tophe comes to mind...

Martin

Hehehe, that HAD occured to me too, Tophe would think it was normal. 

[PR19_Kit]

Lightning PR7, with rocket booster, and cameras in the front of the belly tank??  This all sounds faintly familiar, in a Hemp over Black way...

Ahah, so you did, back in 2011, and I was very enthusiastic about it too. I've obviously a need for a memory upgrade. 

For everyone else the build thread is here :- http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,30678.0.html

I think I'll have to change mine to a PR9 then as I've already built an F8 and think about a different colour scheme. The backstory of my PR9 is somewhat different as all 15 of the PR9s were converted from F2As and F6s after they'd been brought back from Germany and didn't have all that much performance improvement over the original fighters.

[deathjester]

Cheers mate!  I was just debating whetherto cast about and find the PR7 build - I knew you wouldn't be able to resist a recon Frightening for long!  How about some totally different wings, say fixed versions of the F-111 wings??  And maybe some different engines - our research showed that the Spey 25R could be shoehorned in, perhaps slightly increase the rear fuselage diameter??

[PR19_Kit]

I may leave those upgrades to the PR10. 

[deathjester]

Aha!  You've referenced it - now you have to do it

[ChernayaAkula]

<...> or maybe something totally different instead. <...> F-4 wings? <...>

F-4 wings sound good.   But how to mount them? Keep the Lightning lay-out and use the F-4 wings in place of the Lightning's wings (with the ends turned down TSR.2-style?)? Or with the F-4 wing moved back and low (ends turned up), with F-4 or Lightning stabs for canards?

Or if it doesn't have to be Western, how about these wing-wings from a Su-17 Fitter? Mastercraft's Su-17 should be cheap and plentiful! Wing area is about the same when swept back and a little more when swept forward.

EDIT: Liked the F-4 idea so much I whipped up two three-views:





Lighting and Phantom parts have the same scale. Only the F-4-stabs-turned-canards are smaller than their real-life counterparts.

[zenrat]

If it's to be a PR bird then how about U2 wings...

[PR19_Kit]

I love ALL of those ideas, specially the carnard Lightning. 

That Corona PR1 looks the business too, although the wings could be a tad longer. 

My concept is a tactical recce aircraft rather than a strategic type like the U-2, PR19 etc. Sort of a latter day Swift FR5, which is what triggered it off in the first place. The PR9s were all based in West Germany with a remit for pre- and post-strike recce of short range targets if the Red Hordes started playing games. All this in the early 80s when the RAF had no tactical recce types on their lists.

[Gondor]

I love ALL of those ideas, specially the carnard Lightning. 

That Corona PR1 looks the business too, although the wings could be a tad longer. 

My concept is a tactical recce aircraft rather than a strategic type like the T-2, PR19 etc. Sort of a latter day Swift FR5, which is what triggered it off in the first place. The PR9s were all based in West Germany with a remit for pre- and post-strike recce of short range targets if the Red Hordes started playing games. All this in the early 80s when the RAF had no tactical recce types on their lists.

No dedicated built as tactical recce but what about the Jaguars of 2 and 41 Squadrons? And if you were going to make your Lightening as a Tactical Reconnaissance aircraft, why not just go with the camera fit as the aircraft would have to be fast in and fast out so larger wings would mean less manoeuvrability and more drag.

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

I love ALL of those ideas, specially the carnard Lightning. 

That Corona PR1 looks the business too, although the wings could be a tad longer. 

My concept is a tactical recce aircraft rather than a strategic type like the T-2, PR19 etc. Sort of a latter day Swift FR5, which is what triggered it off in the first place. The PR9s were all based in West Germany with a remit for pre- and post-strike recce of short range targets if the Red Hordes started playing games. All this in the early 80s when the RAF had no tactical recce types on their lists.

No dedicated built as tactical recce but what about the Jaguars of 2 and 41 Squadrons? And if you were going to make your Lightening as a Tactical Reconnaissance aircraft, why not just go with the camera fit as the aircraft would have to be fast in and fast out so larger wings would mean less manoeuvrability and more drag.

Gondor

The Vinten pods for Jags were very unreliable and the RAF needed something 'quick and dirty'. That's my (back)story and I'm sticking to it. 

That's exactly how I AM building it now, with just the camera fit, but with some extra tankage because of the heavy fuel burn at low level and a small amount of 'self defence'...... 

[Gondor]

I love ALL of those ideas, specially the carnard Lightning. 

That Corona PR1 looks the business too, although the wings could be a tad longer. 

My concept is a tactical recce aircraft rather than a strategic type like the T-2, PR19 etc. Sort of a latter day Swift FR5, which is what triggered it off in the first place. The PR9s were all based in West Germany with a remit for pre- and post-strike recce of short range targets if the Red Hordes started playing games. All this in the early 80s when the RAF had no tactical recce types on their lists.

No dedicated built as tactical recce but what about the Jaguars of 2 and 41 Squadrons? And if you were going to make your Lightening as a Tactical Reconnaissance aircraft, why not just go with the camera fit as the aircraft would have to be fast in and fast out so larger wings would mean less manoeuvrability and more drag.

Gondor

The Vinten pods for Jags were very unreliable and the RAF needed something 'quick and dirty'. That's my (back)story and I'm sticking to it. 

That's exactly how I AM building it now, with just the camera fit, but with some extra tankage because of the heavy fuel burn at low level and a small amount of 'self defence'...... 

The Vitten pods were only added later in the Jaguar's service life, they started out with the BAC Reconnaissance pod and yes to start with navigation was shocking but it was improved upon fairly quickly.

Gondor