English Electric P1A

The first flight of P1 WG760 was on 4 August 1954, just 10 years after the RAF’s first jet aircraft, the Meteor, entered squadron service. It was experimental and was the basis for the RAF’s front line fighter, the English Electric Lightning.

In 1947, the initial design was so novel that the Ministry of Supply and the Royal Aircraft Establishment were deeply concerned as to whether it could succeed. Nevertheless, they placed an order for an experimental study. Two years later they placed a contract for two prototypes and an airframe for static testing. WG760, the first of the two prototypes, exceeded the speed of sound in level flight, achieving Mach 1.22.