+VIDEO A team of engineers and enthusiasts in the US is restoring an English Electric Lightning T.5 jet, XS422, the former ETPS Lightning, with the aim of returning the aircraft to flight.
9 June 2022
The video above was shot by Caitlin Burt on a recent trip to Stennis, Mississippi, USA where the Anglo American Lightning Organisation is based.
The team said, “In May 2017, Lightning422 taxied for the first time in 30 years, and did it again in 2018. In 2019, we went one step further and fast taxied down Stennis International’s runway. During 2020/21, our operations were impacted by Covid, but hopefully the team will transition to full-time employees in 2022/23, as we intensify our efforts with the restoration phase.”
Among the people involved are Brits Lee Scargall, described as Director & Project Champion, and Phil Wallis, also a Director and Chief Engineer, both of whom feature in the above video.
Phil is a retired BAE Systems/RAF Engineer, former Maintenance Manager with BAE on the Eurofighter Typhoon at RAF Coningsby, and previously Maintenance Manager for No32 (The Royal) Squadron. Phil has 12 years on the Lightning active service, Tornado and 35 years of Lightning preservation experience.
