The English Electric P.1B occupies a unique and electrifying place in British aviation history — it was the direct prototype of the Lightning, the only wholly British supersonic fighter ever to enter service, and the machine that proved Britain could still build world-class combat aircraft. A significant step beyond the earlier P.1A, the P.1B incorporated extensive alterations to the forward fuselage, reheated Rolls-Royce Avon engines, a conical centre body inlet cone, and an integrated weapons system with Ferranti AI.23 radar — transforming what had been a research aircraft into a genuine front-line fighter. The first P.1B, XA847, made its maiden flight on 4th April 1957 at Warton, piloted by Roland "Roly" Beamont — and what a day to choose: that same day, the government published the infamous 1957 Defence White Paper, which cancelled most of Britain's advanced aircraft programmes on the belief that manned fighters were obsolete; the P.1 was one of the very few programmes to survive. Whether by design or fortune, the seemingly modest designation of "P.1B" rather than an entirely new name may well have helped the project avoid the axe, making it sound like a minor update rather than the revolutionary leap it truly was. The P.1B's crowning moment came just over a year later: on 25th November 1958, XA847 became the first British aircraft to reach Mach 2 — twice the speed of sound — a milestone that announced to the world that British aviation was still very much alive. In late October 1958, the aircraft was officially named the "Lightning", a name it would carry with breathtaking distinction for decades to come.