Engineer accidentally flies a Mach 2 Lightning after engaging afterburner by mistake
Holden's Lightning Flight
In 1966, RAF engineer Walter "Taffy" Holden, with only limited flying experience on small trainers, inadvertently engaged the afterburner of an English Electric Lightning during a ground test at RAF Lyneham. Unable to disengage it, he narrowly avoided a fuel tanker and a taking-off Comet, then took off himself. Flying without a helmet or canopy, with the ejection seat disabled and landing gear down, he made two aborted landing attempts before a successful third, albeit with a tailstrike. The aircraft returned to service and is now displayed at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.
Holden was airborne for 12 minutes.
- js2
I would say it's worth reading Holden's account of it directly, which starts on page 3 of this PDF:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210319185656if_/http://www.nzr...
- t43562
If you're not a fan you might not know that the Lightning had tremendous performance for its time and long after that time too.
It could climb to 36000ft (11km) in less than 3 minutes. It could pull up off the runway straight into a vertical climb although this wasn't optimal. Apparently it could intercept at 65000ft and this was tested against the U2. It could go supersonic without afterburners in level flight.
All of this gave it relatively short range but it suited its purpose.
It apparently had very good handling but it was full of complicated systems and very powerful so therefore would be a scary thing to have an unexpected flight in.
- marsx-dev
That makes the decision seem even stranger. If there really wasn't a qualified Lightning test pilot available, I wonder whether the pressure to get the aircraft moved quickly was the main reason they took the risk. It would be interesting to know what the expected downside of waiting 24–36 hours actually was.
- red369
Love this story. There is something interesting that nags at me though.
- There's a test pilot on staff at the base, but they're not qualified for the Lightning.
- There's a test that needs doing, which doesn't require a test pilot (unless something goes wrong).
- There's no qualified test pilot available for the test, so Holden decides to run the test with someone who knows how to move the plane down the runway, but not necessarily fly it.
Of course you're deviating from the proper process at this point, but isn't the obvious choice for this still the test pilot who isn't qualified for the Lightning, but at least flies fighter jets?
It seems like Holden thought it through - it wasn't spur of the moment. Did he ask the test pilot? If so, did they say "no"?
- monkpit
> Holden ran down the runway, narrowly missing a crossing fuel bowser
TIL Bowser is an actual word, huh.