Lightning

Counted cross stitch of the British designed and built supersonic English Electric Lightning, the mainstay of Britain's air defence in service for 28 years.

The kit contains only whole cross stitches - no part stitches - and some back stitches. The stitched measurements will be 12" x 5.5"/30.5 cm x 13.5 cm.

It would fit a frame measuring 37.9 cm x 21.6 cm without mount, or 40.6 cm x 30.5 cm with mount. The standard fabric in the kit is 14 count white blockweave Aida. 28 count evenweave 100% Cashel linen is available as an option for £3 extra. The kit also contains DMC stranded cottons in 16 shades, ready-sorted on a thread organiser with the key, needle, easy-to-follow charts, small scale and large scale, full instructions for beginners and specific instructions for this kit

"God's Airplane" was the nickname given by pilots of the Lightning due to its oustanding agility and performance. It was the mainstay of Britain's air defence from 1960-1988, and was the first supersonic aircraft to be designed and built solely in Britain. It first flew as a prototype on 4 August 1954, and was the first British aircraft to reach Mach 1 in level flight on 22 August 1954, and to reach Mach 2 in level flight on 25 November 1958. the Lightning entered squadron service in 1959, with ten UK-based squadrons eventually receiving this fast-cimbing, missile-armed, radar-equipped, all-weather interceptor. It marked a huge improvement over the subsonic Hunters and Javilins that it replaced. The final Lightning RAF squadron, No 11, was operational at Bingrook until April1988, giving a total of 28 years in front line service. The aircraft was replaced by phantoms in the 1970's, and by the Tornado F-3 at Binbrook during 1987 and 1988.