A lament to the Lightning's <br /> <br />No more will we see your kind again in the skies of Lincolnshire, <br />What's left of you are just airframes scattered in museums, <br />A fading memory of your past glories. <br /> <br />You were never just a machine to me, <br />You had a heart and soul like a living being, <br />You were so perfect in your design, <br />You never had to carry out the grim reality of the duty you were designed for, <br />Was it just irony the only plane you had to shoot down was a Harrier abandoned by its pilot. <br /> <br />You served your duty well, <br />Being based across Britain, Cyprus and West Germany, <br />The roar of your two mighty Avon jet engines echoed across the skies, <br />Sounding like the thunder that always accompanied lightning in a storm. <br /> <br />From when your prototypes first flew in the fifties, <br />No other airplane could match combination of power, speed
