ZF579

This Lightning F.53 was built for the Royal Saudi Air Force, which gave it the serial 53-671. Its first flight was on 2 November 1967, and it was delivered on 11 October 1968. It was part of the Magic Palm programme, under which Saudi F.53s were delivered between July 1968 and August 1969.

The RSAF retired its Lightnings in the mid-1980s. BAe bought the survivors back as part of the Tornado deal, and 53-671 returned to Warton in 1986 with a UK serial, recorded as ZF579. In 1997 it was sold to Marine Salvage and stored at Stretton in Cheshire. Its cockpit was used in filming Wing Commander, which damaged wiring looms and systems before the cockpit rejoined the fuselage.

Peter Vallance bought the aircraft, and it arrived at Gatwick Aviation Museum in April 2000. Volunteers spent about 16 years restoring it. Its twin Rolls-Royce Avon 302C engines ran in September 2016, the first time in about 30 years. The first public run followed on 4 March 2017. It now lives in a hangar built in 2015-16, back in Saudi markings as 53-671. It is described as the only ex-RSAF Lightning anywhere still in live condition.

Kept indoors in the museum hangar in Saudi markings as 53-671; its Avons are run for the public on engine-run days.