(Image: Michael Hall via Thunder & Lightnings, reproduced with permission)
A painful sight for English Electric Lightning enthusiasts, the above scene reveals the dump at RAF Wattisham during the 1970s, where several squadrons of stripped-out Lightning F3 fighters met their fate. While the F6 version of the iconic RAF interceptor remained in service until 1988, many believe that the hasty scrapping of earlier aircraft was premature.
(Image: Above, a Lightning F3 of 29 Squadron stands on the Wattisham flight line in 1972. This aircraft, XP694, was one of a handful of fortunate F3s to survive the mid-’70s cull and serve out its day at RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire. Meanwhile, scenes of similar carnage hung over Wattisham’s scrap dump when the RAF’s F-4 Phantom fleet perished there almost 20 years later (below).
(Image: Alan Allen, reproduced with permission)
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