Much obliged guys! Anyhoo..... How many here knew, that in the summer of '65, Mk. 3's from Treble One Squadron successfully intercepted a Lakenheath based, very highflying U-2? 8)
Intercepting the U2 was no surprise. They didn't call the Lightning the 'Hot Ship' for nothing! Held the record for the fastest, highest flying interceptor for a long time, until the advent of 'modern' machines in the late 1970's. Oooh! To see a 'scramble' take-off - vertical climb until it disappeared!
Intercepting the U2 was no surprise. They didn't call the Lightning the 'Hot Ship' for nothing! Held the record for the fastest, highest flying interceptor for a long time, until the advent of 'modern' machines in the late 1970's. Oooh! To see a 'scramble' take-off - vertical climb until it disappeared!
Standing start to the spiral up to 50,000ft I believe was about 2 minutes, watched it many times in the clear blue sky until only the vapour trail gave away their location.
Great vids old chap. The last one, with the 'Firebirds', was probably filmed around the time Vic was there, as there are Javelins in the background - nice!