English Electric Lightning - Survivor ZF596 (ex 55-715) (composite with ZF595 ex 55-714)
T.55 ZF596 - Glenn Edwards, Northamptonshire
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Lightning T.55 ZF596 at Northamptonshire, 2025; Glenn Edwards
55-715 was first flown on 28th February 1968 and delivered to Saudi Arabia on 11th March 1969. She was the first T.55 delivered to the LCU and served with the LCU and later 6 and 2 Squadrons. She was one of several ex-Saudi aircraft bought back by BAe and flown back to Warton (as ZF596) in January 1986.
Stored on the airfield for some years, when it became clear there were no real buyers on the horizon, they sold them off for nominal fees, and this one, along with several others, was purchased by Wensley Haydon-Baillie. With his bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, the collection ended up at Marine Salvage near Portsmouth.
The fuselage was acquired by the Anglo American Lightning Organisation (AALO) along with various other Lightning spares, as they were being used to support their restoration to flight project with Lightning XS422 in the USA. The fuselage ended up being stored on one of the storage aprons at Bruntingthorpe out of sight, whilst the cockpit section of ZF596 is owned by Lakes Lightnings.
In June 2019, the AALO put her up for sale along with cockpit section ZF595 (Stored in the USA), and she was sold to Glenn Edwards. ZF595 was then transported from the USA to the UK and moved by road to Bruntingthorpe, as the plans were to reassemble her to the fuselage of ZF596 to make a complete airframe. However, these plans changed when Cox Automotive leased the airfield from C Walton in 2020, which saw a lot of the aircraft moved from Bruntingthorpe, or to a different area beside the Lightning Preservation Group's QRA shed. This resulted in both the cockpit of ZF595 and the fuselage of ZF596 being moved off-site.
The two sections later appeared at North Weald in one of the hangars, where it seemed the project might continue. However, this was later paused again as the two sections were removed from North Weald and taken to Glenn's place by October 2022.
Over the past few years, Glenn has been hard at work restoring and reassembling the sections, which now stand very proudly back on their undercarriage once more! The airframe today carries the serial ZF596 with Saudi markings on the port side and RAF markings on the starboard side. The airframe is on private land and is not publicly accessible.
Stored on the airfield for some years, when it became clear there were no real buyers on the horizon, they sold them off for nominal fees, and this one, along with several others, was purchased by Wensley Haydon-Baillie. With his bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, the collection ended up at Marine Salvage near Portsmouth.
The fuselage was acquired by the Anglo American Lightning Organisation (AALO) along with various other Lightning spares, as they were being used to support their restoration to flight project with Lightning XS422 in the USA. The fuselage ended up being stored on one of the storage aprons at Bruntingthorpe out of sight, whilst the cockpit section of ZF596 is owned by Lakes Lightnings.
In June 2019, the AALO put her up for sale along with cockpit section ZF595 (Stored in the USA), and she was sold to Glenn Edwards. ZF595 was then transported from the USA to the UK and moved by road to Bruntingthorpe, as the plans were to reassemble her to the fuselage of ZF596 to make a complete airframe. However, these plans changed when Cox Automotive leased the airfield from C Walton in 2020, which saw a lot of the aircraft moved from Bruntingthorpe, or to a different area beside the Lightning Preservation Group's QRA shed. This resulted in both the cockpit of ZF595 and the fuselage of ZF596 being moved off-site.
The two sections later appeared at North Weald in one of the hangars, where it seemed the project might continue. However, this was later paused again as the two sections were removed from North Weald and taken to Glenn's place by October 2022.
Over the past few years, Glenn has been hard at work restoring and reassembling the sections, which now stand very proudly back on their undercarriage once more! The airframe today carries the serial ZF596 with Saudi markings on the port side and RAF markings on the starboard side. The airframe is on private land and is not publicly accessible.
Information on this page current as of 19/08/2025, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of ZF596 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net