# Crashed Lightning Fighter.



## chadburn

Anyone on the Site involved with the lifting of a crashed Lightning Fighter which came to grief over the North Sea with an American Exchange Pilot flying the aircraft. When the aircraft was lifted by the R.N. R.M.A.S.? the cockpit was closed but the Pilot was not inside.


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## LouisB

chadburn said:


> Anyone on the Site involved with the lifting of a crashed Lightning Fighter which came to grief over the North Sea with an American Exchange Pilot flying the aircraft. When the aircraft was lifted by the R.N. R.M.A.S.? the cockpit was closed but the Pilot was not inside.


Chadburn - getting somewhat away from your question. Not a lot of people today realise that the EE Lightning was way ahead of its time, regarding climb rates and speed. There weren't many, if any at all, manned aircraft that could match it. Fitted with modern air to air weapons and electronics, it would still today be a formidable air interceptor. Just a thought.

LouisB. (Scribe)


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## King Ratt

In 1959 a Lightning fighter pilot ejected over the Irish Sea between Isle of Man and the Scottish mainland. I was on Kirkcudbright Lifeboat who along with many other units searching found nothing after some 12 hours. The pilot uninjured, drifted up and down the Irish Sea for some 28 hours. Eventually he got ashore on the Wigtonshire coast unaided but safe.


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## clevewyn

Here you go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Schaffner

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/yorkslincs/series1/alien-abduction.shtml


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## chadburn

clevewyn said:


> Here you go.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Schaffner
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/yorkslincs/series1/alien-abduction.shtml


Thanks for the leads and the other members info(Thumb), I know about the incident I just wondered if any of the Site Members attended the crash as there is a wealth of experience on this Site.


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## John Rogers

I have a few points to make after reading the reports. If the guys with big eyes and high foreheads snatched him they would have to un-buckle him from his ejection seat, he didn't bail out as the ejection seat was still in place. So I think he was flying too low, sucked sea water into his engine and flamed out and landed on the water, so no damage as if he had crashed. He then climbed out and entered the water, the planes canopy closed due to the motion of the waves. That's my take on it.


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## Coastie

John Rogers said:


> I have a few points to make after reading the reports. If the guys with big eyes and high foreheads snatched him they would have to un-buckle him from his ejection seat, he didn't bail out as the ejection seat was still in place. So I think he was flying too low, sucked sea water into his engine and flamed out and landed on the water, so no damage as if he had crashed. He then climbed out and entered the water, the planes canopy closed due to the motion of the waves. That's my take on it.


Yeah, that's what me thunk too.


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## chadburn

John, the Cockpit Canopy on a Lightning is extremely heavy and requires an hydraulic ram to lift it, I think the plexi is broken by explosives before the Pilot comes out. Once the aircraft hit the sea the pump would stop and by the time they recovered the aircraft the pressure would have dropped and the Canopy would close. The North Sea was known as the 'Lightning Graveyard' due to the amount of crashes and I would think the chances of survival sat in a one man Dinghy or his Lifejacket would be next to nothing. A sad loss for his family.


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## caledonia2006

John Rogers said:


> I have a few points to make after reading the reports. If the guys with big eyes and high foreheads snatched him they would have to un-buckle him from his ejection seat, he didn't bail out as the ejection seat was still in place. So I think he was flying too low, sucked sea water into his engine and flamed out and landed on the water, so no damage as if he had crashed. He then climbed out and entered the water, the planes canopy closed due to the motion of the waves. That's my take on it.


Spot on John, see the end of the attachment below. Derek

http://drdavidclarke.co.uk/secret-files/captain-schaffners-last-flight/


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## John Rogers

chadburn said:


> John, the Cockpit Canopy on a Lightning is extremely heavy and requires an hydraulic ram to lift it, I think the plexi is broken by explosives before the Pilot comes out. Once the aircraft hit the sea the pump would stop and by the time they recovered the aircraft the pressure would have dropped and the Canopy would close. The North Sea was known as the 'Lightning Graveyard' due to the amount of crashes and I would think the chances of survival sat in a one man Dinghy or his Lifejacket would be next to nothing. A sad loss for his family.


There was two ways to eject with the Martin-Bakers seat that I was trained on, 1. Pull pull down on the face mask and eject through the plexi-glass still sitting in the seat. 2. Was to eject with the whole seat and canopy together. Both ways you get a sore back for months.


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## chadburn

Along with an inch shorter in height John?. I liked the idea on the F111 where the whole cockpit came away from the airframe like a space capsule and drifted down into the sea. The capsule being watertight it shed the parachute and bobbed along till rescued.


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