The July meeting for the Midland Region was held at the Lightning Preservation Group at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire. The LPG was formed in 1988 and members include ex RAF pilots and technicians, who either flew or worked on this iconic cold war jet.

Bruntingthorpe was home to both RAF and the US Airforce since it was operational between 1942 and closure in 1962. It is now known as simply Bruntingthorpe aerodrome. The airfield was purchased by the Walton consortium and is now a combination of light industrial units and storage for car manufacturers. Until a few years ago, cold war jets frequently performed high speed taxiing along the runway, events which were very popular with the public.

The LPG now own the QRA shed and the Lightnings while the other jets including a Canberra, Meteor, Sea Vixen and Hunter are owned by the Cold War Jets group. The two organisations now share the footprint of the land.

The three Lightnings owned by the LPG are maintained to a very high standard and on occasions the engines are run up, although the aircraft are chocked and unable to taxi. The aircraft are stored in two hangars which were previously the QRA sheds based at RAF Wattisham. On closure of Wattisham, both sheds were dismantled and rebuilt at Bruntingthorpe and so the Lightning Preservation Group was born.

The Region was hosted by Richard Norris, who made the members feel very welcome and nothing seemed too much trouble. A total of twelve artists attended the event and although the weather was overcast the rain held off until late afternoon.

Needless to say, this was a very enjoyable meeting only added to by the warm welcome and enthusiasm of the LPG group members. The Midland Region looks forward to further visits to the LPG and a big thank you to Phil Hadley for arranging the event.

Pete Maxwell AGAvA