Holden's Lightning flight
On 22 July 1966, Walter "Taffy" Holden, a 39-year-old engineer in command of
No. 33 Maintenance Unit RAF with limited experience flying small single-engine trainer aircraft, inadvertently engaged the
afterburner of a
Mach 2.0–capable
English Electric Lightning during ground testing. Unable to disengage the afterburner, Holden ran down the runway, narrowly missing a crossing fuel
bowser and a
de Havilland Comet taking off, before taking off himself. Flying without a helmet or canopy, the ejection seat disabled, and the landing gear locked down, Holden aborted his first two landing attempts. He landed on his third approach,
striking the runway with the aircraft's tail as he adopted in his landing technique of a
taildragger aircraft. The aircraft returned to service, and was subsequently acquired by the
Imperial War Museum Duxford.
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