English Electric Lightning

While the very capable English Electric Lighting possessed astonishing speed and altitude performance (88,000 feet in one instance!), its looks were another matter.  "Long legs, a long gear cover hanging down from the wings, that big mouth, the mach cone inside that big mouth, the two-seater is rough, a little on the ugly side," opines Koike.  For a plane that's a little on the "ugly side," Koike has produced a gorgeous portrait brilliantly conveying both the speed and power of  this 1960s staple.  It's also probably the only Koike painting that doesn't show the aircraft's cockpit, and a testament to his brilliance as a painter that the illustration doesn't suffer for it.