The Lightning Association was formed by a group of people who had loved to watch the planes flying over the Lincolnshire Wolds in the year following the aircraft’s retirement from RAF service in the spring of 1988.

Since then the Association has been dedicated to both the preservation of the memories of those who served in the front line squadrons which flew Lightning jet fighters and to the presevation of a Lightning Jet fighter XR724 which is kept at the former RAF Binbrook.

XR724 was the first of the five Lightnings allocated to British Aerospace at Warton as chase aircraft in the Tornado radar development trials to be retired and flown into storage at RAF Shawbury. It was put up for tender by MoD in 1991 and purchased by the Association. With the help of British Aerospace, it was flown up to RAF Binbrook in the final days of its use as an RAF diversionary airfield and has been preserved there ever since.

Thanks to the generosity of various members of the engineering team and Lightning enthusiasts who donated to the cause, XR724 is now under cover in a recently acquired, purpose built hangar. However, the plane needs maintenance and further engineering work before we can restart gound runs which fell into abeyance at the time of the pandemic.

The cost of aircraft paint alone is several thousand pounds, never mind the ground works which are being done around the hangar to make it possible for the Association to safely open the facilities to members of the public who may want to visit the Airframe in the future.

We would be very grateful for any support which will help to keep this Lightning fighter in the condition in which a historic jet should be preserved both for its significance as an artifact and to preserv the memory of the Lightning and those who flew her in the local community.

Thank you for your generosity.