Description

The English Electric Lightning is a legendary British interceptor fighter jet that dominated the skies of Britain from the 1960s into the late 1980s. The fighter jet initially was developed, designed and manufactured by English Electric, and later, after the merge with British Aerospace Corporation, built by the BAC. The Lightning was part of the British Nuclear Deterrent and its role was to defend the Royal Air Force bases from the soviet nuclear bombers, such as TU-22, as well as to intercept other bombers.

A unique feature of the Electric Lightning design is the vertical, staggered configuration of its two Rolls-Royce Avon engines. This distinctive feature gave this iconic aircraft a remarkably exceptional rate of climb and speed. Some pilots have described their experience in the Lightning as “being saddled to a skyrocket”.

The tag in your possession was crafted from the English Electric Lightning T.5, which was one of the 22 produced aircrafts of the two side-by-side seat training version. The aircraft had a military registration number ‘XS419’, was built in 1964 and served its entire career with the Royal Air Force, up until it was scrapped in 1992. Fuselage Creations managed to get hold of the XS419 landing gear door, which belonged to a private collector in the UK and turned it into collectable keychains for many aviation enthusiasts to enjoy!