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. Aircraft The English Electric Lightning was a high-performance short-range interceptor aircraft. The Lightning had a max takeoff weight of 20 tons, and could reach Mach 2.0. The aircraft involved in the incident was the second production Lightning, designated XM135. XM135 was suffering from an electrical fault that would only manifest during acceleration for takeoff; the electrical inverter supplying power to flight instruments would cut out during the first yards of the takeoff, and the standby inverter would switch in. Crew Wing Commander Walter "Taffy" Holden enlisted in 1943, gaining a cadetship to a university. Studying mechanical engineering, Holden also learnt to fly on the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane. Holden pursued an engineering career in the RAF; however, the RAF did qualify him with pilot wings after training on the Harvard. He subsequently practised on the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk during his early career. In 1966, Holden was in command of No. 33 Maintenance Unit RAF at RAF Lyneham, which was in the process of closing. The unit maintained Gloster Meteors, English Electric Canberras, and English Electric Lightnings. At the time, the unit was in the process of winding down and was disposing of its last aircraft. The unit had a test pilot on staff for its Canberras and Meteors, but that pilot was not qualified for the Lightning. For Lightning flights, Holden had to locate RAF test pilots with a current rating who could usually be found within 24 to 36 hours. Flight history The troubles with aircraft XM135 were holding up the closure of the unit, and at the time of the incident, no test pilot was available for another week. A pilot from RAF Boscombe Down, who was involved in previous tests, suggested Holden perform the test himself because it involved only ground taxiing for 30 to 40 yards at a time. For each test, Holden was to test a different electrical configuration, rev up the engine to high RPMs, then cut the engine and apply the brakes. Holden was to communicate by hand signals with his support crew on a Land Rover, which would coordinate the next test with the control tower. Holden was not wearing a helmet and had no radio. The canopy of the