1/72 Lightning t.4,5

The BAC Lightning is one of the most characteristic British Cold War jet aircraft - fast interceptor designed to intercept intruders at high altitude and in a short time. The two-seat T.Mk.4 and T.Mk.5 variants were developed as training and retraining machines to allow safer training of pilots for the demanding supersonic type, without losing the "feel" of real Lightning. A major change was the two-seat tandem cockpit and associated modifications to the fuselage spine and cockpit overlay, giving the two-seat Lightnings a different silhouette at first glance.

The T.Mk.4 variant is generally associated with training for earlier Lightning versions, while the T.Mk.5 corresponds to a later standard and is often referred to as a training version linked to the more advanced version (the differences were mainly related to equipment/avionics and the link to specific "frontline" variants). In practice, these were aircraft designed mainly for training, practice procedures and retraining, but were still very powerful machines with typical "Lightning" appearance and proportions.

For modellers, the two-seat Lightning is attractive precisely because of its distinct cabin and elegant lines, which work well in both metallic and camouflaged Cold War schemes. The Sword 72118 (1/72) kit focuses on the two-seat versions of the BAC Lightning T.Mk.4 / T.Mk.5.