In case anyone's wondering what happened next- his landing resulted in a tailstrike breaking the tail bumper and detaching the drogue parachute, fortunately however he managed to bring the aircraft to a stop 90 meters before the runway ended. As for holden himself it was recognised that this incident was an accident and he was cleared of any wrongdoings.
@@TheGoodCrusader yeah, if I remember correctly, the throttle stick had some sort of a guard that deployed when you put the engines at full thrust. It took him too long to figure out the mechanism because the Lighting is, well, lightning fast at full throttle
I’ve heard a much more detailed version of this story. He didn’t just hop in, fire up the engines and accidentally take off. The aircraft had a fault only at high power during take off. He and the people in charge decided that he should test it at high power in short bursts on the ground. On the third throttle up he pushed the throttle lever too far and it locked into the afterburner, like it’s designed to do, and he forgot how to disengage it and started down the runway. He missed another airplane and a truck by fluke and had to take off or crash onto homes at the end of the runway. There’s more to it on RUclips and it worth watching the video for yourselves EDIT: Many have said they think my comment is BS and asked for a link. I’m cool with that as I was just sharing a story and not writing a history book lol. So if you want to see the videos I’ve seen on this, RUclips the channel Paper Skies and you’ll find it along with several other channels that have videos on it. Lots more detail there and you can make up your own minds if I’m totally off or not
@@BillyBigballs-w9tI can’t post the link but look at the RUclips channels Paper Skies and The History Guy for accidental take off English Electric. Both are good and have a lot more detail
"off of his books" or "left the books"? I'm confused, because I don't know what that means and I tried to google it, but nothing came up. (Google is terrible now. They made a lot of changes that really ruined the ability to find good search results and then adding the AI to control which results people see (to sway opinions) just destroyed any advantage they once had over other search engines. The ONLY reason they're still popular now is because it's what most people are used to. Like Always, they get everyone to use their service, creating a monopoly (or near monopoly), and then they use this power to abuse and control people and their opinions. Like, it's such a coincident that nearly every single massive platform on the internet has done the same.
This one of two stories EVERYONE who was stationed with Lightnings heard. The other was the techie who climbed into the cockpit not knowing that sombody had not pinned the ejector seat. This style seat had top and bottom activation handles. His foot caught the seat pan handle as he stepped in and he heard a "click" and jumped out as the the ejector seat fired launching the seat out of the aircraft, causing it to hit the hangar roof and come down hitting another aircraft. They were used to illustraye the need to 1. ALWAYS pin the seat and check it BEFORE doing anything. 2. Do not play with the controls. I was at RAF Binbrook "Last of the Lightnings" 1983 - 1985. My first (and favourite) operational unit. Straight from trade training, "green as grass and just as cabbage looking!" Never did get to fly in one. Just not pretty enough!😊
There was an almost identical accident on our base. Someone forgot to safe the ejector seat on a Kfir post flight. A ground crew guy was on a step platform leaning into the cockpit when the seat went off. I saw the chipped concrete on the inside of the dome of the HAS. Fatal accident. Always follow procedure.
@@lauriestlyon8773 I was in the Marine Air Wing at this same time and we heard of several urban legends about maintenance personal getting splatted on the hanger ceiling due to lack of following procedures. Glad to hear that we all have similar stories. No matter what side of the pond . We are On . Cheers Mate 🍻
@@johncopple6479 The sad thing is this is actually true! Like the original story both were thoroughly documented. Like I always tell youngsters "Every safety rule is there because someone was either stupid, careless or unlucky. Obey them, think before you act and do not become the reason for a new one!
There was a story of a Saudi/Kuwaiti pilot (foreign government customer and there weren't any others) in a training flight in an OCU situation who was used to taking off on full power which is standard on every warbird except the Lightning, but got into the Lightning, forgot, and out of habit engaged afterburner for takeoff and was over the Dutch coast before he realised and throttled back. Apparently taking off in a Lightning on afterburner was likely to rip the undercart off or at least damage it.
Ex-Regiment, Watching Lightnings take off on full steam on exercises was a thing of beauty, usually on air station exercises, and for those few seconds the exercise would halt and everyone would watch. Amazing. Tornados not so amazing to watch on take off.
I'm reading Taffy's Wikipedia page and his only flying experience was a few practice flights in a de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk. Which is damn incredible he manage to land a jet having only flown a two seater prop trainer. Bit of a tangent but I'm annoyed a Canadian plane has the name Chipmunk. There's so many cooler animals in Indigenous languages we could've used but no, Chipmunk.
Aerobatic fans regard the Chipmunk highly. While it is a two seat trainer, it’s a far more advanced aircraft than civilian trainers like the Piper Cub, Aeronca Champ or Cessna 152.
I remember camping with me dad and uncles in the lake District when I was a lad ..those lightnings would practice between the mountains and valleys very low and very very fast nothing could touch them 💪🇬🇧
Finally, the perfect expression for a sentiment I’ve always wanted to express at that level. Usually I or anyone else would say “there was a bite taken out of that seat,” or something to that effect lol. 🤣
The book "Out of the blue" tells this story in the words of the man himself. Its an excellent read, comprising stories by ex- RAF personell, including the pilot who flew a Hawker Hunter "under" Tower Bridge in London.
Thanks for the recommendation! I'm definitely going to give it a read. I always try to give a similar recommendation in return; have you ever read *_'Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys'_* by *Michael Collins?* Michael Collins is an Apollo 11 astronaut/Command Module pilot, Gemini 10 astronaut/Pilot, USAF F-86 Sabre pilot, USAF test pilot, and the very first Director of the National Air and Space Museum. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's an incredible, in-depth, and inspiring personal account of his life, careers, and journeys as an astronaut & test pilot. It's definitely the best book written by an astronaut imo (he refused to used ghost writers btw), and one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time. If you _have_ read it, I recommend his other books: *_'Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space',_* and *_'Mission to Mars'._* And if you have kids, I recommend his children's book: *_'Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story'_* - which is the 1994 revised version of: *_'Flying to the Moon and Other Strange Places'_* (1976). It's partially based on _'Carrying the Fire',_ and was revised in 94' to add up-to-date information on the Space Shuttle. Anyway, I hope there's something there for you. All are great reads. Take care!
I recall something similar happened to Private Stockdale in "No Time For Sargeants": he couldn't land the aircraft so he was talked through ejecting; he survived, the aircraft was shot down by a squadron of F-105s.
Most of us who've flown a plane made our first flights in a Cessna with an actual pilot next to us. Kudos to a man who soloed on his first flight, and in a Mach 2 interceptor at that. I'm frankly surprised he was able to wedge himself into the cockpit with balls that big! Edit: Looked it up. Walter actually had limited experience flying single-engine tail dragger aircraft (a very macho-sounding DeHavilland Chipmunk) He had no helmet or canopy, and the gear was locked in the down position. The plane's at the Museum in Duxford, so I imagine I probably saw it when my new bride and I toured the place during our UK honeymoon in '95. Very cool!
The reason Holden got in the cockpit was when he actually started his career in the RAF during World war 2, officer candidates were expected to get their pilots wings regardless of what career path they took. So, technically, Holden wasn't breaching regulations as he himself was actually a pilot. Holden's 12 minute flight in the Lightning was actually officially added to his pilots logbook alongside his previous experience with a Tigermoth, Harvard and Chipmunk.
I assume he's Welsh? 'Taffy' was once a common nickname for Welshmen, just like Jock was for Scotsmen. (It comes from "Dafydd" the Welsh form of David). People with the surname White were always known as 'Chalky'...
Thank you Rachit. "He went to the end of the runway and he pulled up" doesn't explain whether he stopped the aircraft or took off again. Very confusing wording.
Accidentally put it in gear and didn’t know what els to do. That’s a good excuse but all us mechanics know what actually happened. He just got away flying the coolest aircraft ever that he services maintenances and probably helped build.
To those who wants more detail... Many lightnings were having issues with the pilot instruments during take off, so this engineer looked into it, as he thinks its ready, they get a car to follow the plane as it does a small boost to simulate takeoff, but then stops after a few sec without taking off... After many going back and forth with tests and attempts to fix issue, the engineer thinks he found and fixed the issue and wanted to run a final test... but no pilots were avalible to test... The engineer realised that he was a pilot... tho for ww1 era planes, was a pilot by definition, so they opted for him as a test pilot, they give him how the plane works and all, they said about the throttle that it was a loose slider, until you hit max, it clicks into place then further pushing locks the throttle in afterburner mode and needs a button on the side of throttle stick to be pressed to release... As it came to testing, they removed the cockpit canopy, and communication was done via a local radio from plane to pacer car... they done a few low powered runs (30% or so throttle) to no issues, pilot then tries a higher powered test (80-100% throttle)... the pilot accidentally locked it into afterburner which shocked the pilot with sudden high acceleration and forces, and in state of panic, he forgot how to disengage afterburner, as hes barreling down the runway he notices another plane (DC-3 cargo plane) taking off... luckily he was fast enough to get ahead of it before their paths crossed... and with no other choice at this point, took off with the lightning... Now that the pilot has time to think, he remembers how to disengage afterburner, and prepares the plane for landing, comes in and hes going way too fast so he goes around... noticing hes now low on fuel, has to commit to a landing, comes in, follows his traning as a bi-plane pilot and intentionally tailstrikes which breaks the drag-chute, then he applies full brakes... he takes the full runway, and brakes on verge of being on fire... the plane came to a stop The inspectors looked at the "black box" and reports, to deem the whole event an accident, which the only damage was luckily a drag-chute and fully cooked brakes And because of the engineer accidentally taking off, recreated what was needed to simulate the issue at hand, and came to conclusion that it was an insuffisiant power supply unit (can do whats needed, but during take off which uses most power, fails to meet power requirements)... the issue was fixed by installing a better PSU and was never reported again. He became the first and possibly last engineer to accidentally fly
You have to push the lightning throttles through a gate (push throttles to the left and then forward I think) to get reheat so I’m dubious about an accident lol
You can find more information on it. For example: “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 propeller trainer aircraft, inadvertently engaged the afterburner of a Mach 2.0-capable English Electric Lightning during ground testing. Unable to disengage the afterburner, Holden shot down the runway, narrowly missing a crossing fuel tanker and a de Havilland Comet (airliner converted to military use) that was 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 used the landing technique of a taildragger aircraft, which was the only plane that he’d ever flown.” He suffered significantly from PTSD afterwards. He almost died twice before getting airborne and (as stated above) he didn’t have a canopy or a helmet… which means no radio headset. No goggles or eye protection, either. As I recall, he got up to somewhere close to 500mph before he got the throttle unstuck. He had only flown in a little propeller trainer plane. Without a radio headset, he had no way to get help to manage power settings,flap or even get clearance and line up on the right runway. So,no- he wasn’t going on a joy ride. He was only trying to do some engine run-ups to try to isolate the cause of an ongoing avionics problem. The troubles with aircraft XM135 were holding up the closure of the unit and at the time of the incident, no test pilot would have been available for another week. A pilot from RAF Boscombe Down, who was involved in previous tests, had suggested that Holden perform the test himself because it involved only ground taxiing for 30 to 40 yards at a time. For each segment of this diagnostic program, 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 since he had no radio, which would coordinate the next test with the control tower. He ran the motor up too far and it got into the throttle gate position for the afterburner and he couldn’t get it out. He only had a second or two. It lunged forward against the brakes and he was along for the ride at that point. He was only supposed to run it up and let off before it would build significant power- jets have somewhat of a throttle lag tendency… he went just a little too far. That Lightning was faster than most fighter jets today- it had no ordinance (bombs,missiles,bullets/cannon shells,etc.) and was not carrying much fuel so it was very light and there was certainly no stopping it with a stuck throttle. Those tires are pretty small. Anyway, they normally would have a qualified pilot do it but they had given him permission to do it himself… but they never did that again!
It pays to be cautious with a lot of "fact" on the internet, so fair lay to you. The book "Out of the blue" describes this incident, as told by the engineer himself. It's an entertaining read.
@@j.griffinIt's all detailed accurately in a very good book about the incident. The electrical problem was that a standby inverter dolls-eye was blinking during high-powered acceleration runs on takeoff. In the absence of a suitable pilot and under pressure to get the aircraft serviceable, Taff decide to take it for a run and pushed the throttles through the reheat gate and couldn't cancel because of the "piano-key" type mechanism which he needed to operate.
The reason it went into re-heat was because the joystick locks when you push it that far, this is because the force setting off in re-heat pulls you back so it locks the control so the pilot doesn't pull it back and stall the engine, once you're up you can unlock it and that's what he did, he accidentally pushed it too far and it locked.
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 the landing technique of a taildragger aircraft. The aircraft returned to service
Being in the military myself and knowing the absolute hassle that is dispatch/maintenance paperwork, I promise you him taking off in it was no accident😂
My first ever aircraft I ever built from the 'Airfix' series. Pretty sure it came with around 6...7..8? different Countries decals. Pocket money was buying a plane from either Airfix or Revel every time I had enough...fantastic days.
@@ianjordan1215it was no accident. The guy had flight hours in the aircraft and it all points to him wanting to fly. The chain of excuses don't add up, especially if he had already flown a number of times.
According to other comments, they were testing out the various functions of the plane (probably routine checklist stuff, idk) , hence the need for a test pilot. On top of that, the Lightning apparently had a known flaw of locking into the reheat/afterburners if the throttle was pushed too far. So while checking the engines, the afterburners turn on, and the jet starts sprinting down the runway. You either crash or you take off. Yep, sounds like an accident to me. I bet the engineer’s hours of flight experience were what kept him from crashing right away.
A lightning on full reheat. I wouldn't think it would just roll down the runway . Heard a story of an American pilot who flew on he was told not to use reheat as it doesn't need it . But he used it anyway. He was passed a few thousand feet up before he got the undercarriage up. (Forget the actual height)
I worked in the same RAAF SQN as fellow groundie 'Rocket' in the 1990s who was a bit of a 'Gun'. In his wilder younger days he use to taxi C130Hs on C shift due to lack of towmotors.
There is more to this story. Important details. This particular aircraft had been experiencing an intemittent electrical problem that only happened during takeoffs and flight. The canopy was not on it at the time, and the radios were also out. Lookup the story on the "Accidental Lightening Pilot." The root cause of the problem was eventually found.
Lightning - lucky enough to see one at an airshow in the 80s - take off, stick hard back and it sounded and felt like full power vertically. It was a one trick pony but what a trick !
Mit KI Geschichte "machen" ist eh schon der falsche Ansatz. Geschichte ist grob gesagt eine Wiedergabe der Vergangenheit und keine neuschaffung. Danke André! ❤️
Pretty sure the story is a bit more than this. He was doing taxi runs and hitting the brake to bring it to a stop to try and replicate the issue. He was a pilot but not certified on type (jets I believe). This happened on the third run or something. Reheatlocks the throttle leaver and even though he'd been warned it took him long enough to take it off that he'd covered quite the distance. I think in his interview he said there was something coming into the runway so he had to pull up.
No more than any front line Mach 2 1950s design, and a lot better than the F104. The aerodynamic envelope of the Lightning was pretty darned good and pilots say it was a delight to fly once you knew it. Inadequate rear extinguishers and tail pipe fires were its main weakness.
O Brilliant story and I bet the Engineer did A Greaser of a landing!!!! I also bet he thought, Well I Always wanted to be a pilot, Now I am one!!! And the chaps First Solo! WOW! Big Well Done. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 JB.UK. 🇫🇴🇪🇺.
I can't begin to imagine what he was thinking as the plane started to reach takeoff speed! What a great story he had for his children and grandchildren and anyone who would listen. I know I would. LOL
He had a tail strike because the only planes he ever flew were pre ww2 tail draggers so that’s how he knew to land . Technically he was an RAF fighter pilot so they didn’t discharge him
I salute the RAF from WW2 and so on. I believe in the Unity of Veterans fighting for the right reasons like family, friends and a way of life us normal people believe in..
As an aircraft mechanic he must certainly have known how to switch off the engine, not believable, he only had to hit the master switch and that would have shut down the lot!!!
The whole story is far more involved. The Lightning had throttle locks & you had to push a button to disengage. It was already trimmed for take off as it was supposed to have departed but was sent to maintenance after an aborted take off. He couldn't get wheels up OR eject as it was in "Ground Condition" & both were locked by ground crew inserted safety pins. Trimmed for take off the Lightning did what it was built to do & rotated out. Taffy tried to put it back down but found he was suddenly staring at a fuel bowser so he let it climb out. Taffy had a private pilots license so knew the basics of flight & while airborne remembered about the throttle locks & released them. He was given a "stiff talking to" (so not really "tokd off") by the Wing Commander, then had his flight entered into his pilot's log book, patted him on the back & had a good laugh. Apparently PTSD did affect him later. People might think this was just another incident, but the Lightning truly lived up to it's name & it's nickname "The Frightening". Even extensively trained 21 year old pilots had troublem as one put it to another Lightning pilot "Did you manage to stay with it?" to which came the reply "Yes, all the way until I let the brakes off!"
I don’t think he would have been able to retract the undercarriage to crash the aircraft before it took off (as suggested in the vid). There is a switch on all retracts that prevents retraction if there is weight on the wheels. The only way was up ⬆️
In case anyone's wondering what happened next- his landing resulted in a tailstrike breaking the tail bumper and detaching the drogue parachute, fortunately however he managed to bring the aircraft to a stop 90 meters before the runway ended. As for holden himself it was recognised that this incident was an accident and he was cleared of any wrongdoings.
@@rachitkumar1012 Outstanding!!! Thank you for the rest of the story..
@@robertnolan5896 If you are interested THG has an episode about that incident. It is well worth watching.
👍
much appreciated !
Wait...he knew how to land? Did he have a PPL? Landing a jet is no picnic
Yeah boss it was a accident I swear.
@@TheGoodCrusader yeah, if I remember correctly, the throttle stick had some sort of a guard that deployed when you put the engines at full thrust. It took him too long to figure out the mechanism because the Lighting is, well, lightning fast at full throttle
An accident. A duh?
It absolutely was and you are doing a gross disservice to the man in that statement.
@@TheGoodCrusader you say that every time maverick......your grounded sir I allready grounded .. dam it I want some butt's
It definitely was though. That would be an incredibly risky thing to do just for fun.
I’ve heard a much more detailed version of this story. He didn’t just hop in, fire up the engines and accidentally take off. The aircraft had a fault only at high power during take off. He and the people in charge decided that he should test it at high power in short bursts on the ground. On the third throttle up he pushed the throttle lever too far and it locked into the afterburner, like it’s designed to do, and he forgot how to disengage it and started down the runway. He missed another airplane and a truck by fluke and had to take off or crash onto homes at the end of the runway. There’s more to it on RUclips and it worth watching the video for yourselves
EDIT: Many have said they think my comment is BS and asked for a link. I’m cool with that as I was just sharing a story and not writing a history book lol. So if you want to see the videos I’ve seen on this, RUclips the channel Paper Skies and you’ll find it along with several other channels that have videos on it. Lots more detail there and you can make up your own minds if I’m totally off or not
@@PJMontoya Link?
I always come to the comments for the truer story
@@BillyBigballs-w9tI can’t post the link but look at the RUclips channels Paper Skies and The History Guy for accidental take off English Electric. Both are good and have a lot more detail
@@Rusty_Gold85 and that's why there's so much misinformation lol. Look the stuff up yourself
Sounds honestly terrifying to me if you're not trained to do it
English Electric lightning, it makes the ground tremble when it’s let loose. Ascends like a missile. Best plane I’ve seen at an air show.
@@markdavids2511 Ugliest plane I’ve ever seen. Why does England make such ugly vehicles?
He recreated the original problem and then created a new problem. That plane never left the books.
"off of his books" or "left the books"? I'm confused, because I don't know what that means and I tried to google it, but nothing came up. (Google is terrible now. They made a lot of changes that really ruined the ability to find good search results and then adding the AI to control which results people see (to sway opinions) just destroyed any advantage they once had over other search engines. The ONLY reason they're still popular now is because it's what most people are used to. Like Always, they get everyone to use their service, creating a monopoly (or near monopoly), and then they use this power to abuse and control people and their opinions. Like, it's such a coincident that nearly every single massive platform on the internet has done the same.
Underrated comment.
This one of two stories EVERYONE who was stationed with Lightnings heard.
The other was the techie who climbed into the cockpit not knowing that sombody had not pinned the ejector seat. This style seat had top and bottom activation handles. His foot caught the seat pan handle as he stepped in and he heard a "click" and jumped out as the the ejector seat fired launching the seat out of the aircraft, causing it to hit the hangar roof and come down hitting another aircraft.
They were used to illustraye the need to 1. ALWAYS pin the seat and check it BEFORE doing anything. 2. Do not play with the controls.
I was at RAF Binbrook "Last of the Lightnings" 1983 - 1985. My first (and favourite) operational unit. Straight from trade training, "green as grass and just as cabbage looking!"
Never did get to fly in one. Just not pretty enough!😊
There was an almost identical accident on our base. Someone forgot to safe the ejector seat on a Kfir post flight. A ground crew guy was on a step platform leaning into the cockpit when the seat went off. I saw the chipped concrete on the inside of the dome of the HAS. Fatal accident.
Always follow procedure.
Was you there when Chris Hodge taxiid a lightning down the runway?
@@davidfraser5926 I was at Binbrook 83-85. That name sort of rings a bell but do not know why. The story does not spring to mind.
@@lauriestlyon8773 I was in the Marine Air Wing at this same time and we heard of several urban legends about maintenance personal getting splatted on the hanger ceiling due to lack of following procedures. Glad to hear that we all have similar stories. No matter what side of the pond . We are On . Cheers Mate 🍻
@@johncopple6479 The sad thing is this is actually true! Like the original story both were thoroughly documented. Like I always tell youngsters "Every safety rule is there because someone was either stupid, careless or unlucky. Obey them, think before you act and do not become the reason for a new one!
Rumour has it there's a gang of guys who work in Bovington who sit around laughing at these videos every day.
Why would tank people be laughing at aircraft people?
@@mikeycraig8970why does the army laugh at the airforce
legend ay?
@@datcheesecakeboi6745 Because they are there!
(Ex RAF myself!)
@@errolkim1334 My dad was one of those guys in Bovington, can confirm.
There was a story of a Saudi/Kuwaiti pilot (foreign government customer and there weren't any others) in a training flight in an OCU situation who was used to taking off on full power which is standard on every warbird except the Lightning, but got into the Lightning, forgot, and out of habit engaged afterburner for takeoff and was over the Dutch coast before he realised and throttled back.
Apparently taking off in a Lightning on afterburner was likely to rip the undercart off or at least damage it.
Correct, seen a video of a fighter pilot telling about his first Lightning flight. It was frightning. So much power!
Ex-Regiment, Watching Lightnings take off on full steam on exercises was a thing of beauty, usually on air station exercises, and for those few seconds the exercise would halt and everyone would watch. Amazing. Tornados not so amazing to watch on take off.
LMAO. Damn.
😂😂😂
I heard he was a Luftwaffe test pilot evaluating the aircraft before they bought the F-104.
I'm reading Taffy's Wikipedia page and his only flying experience was a few practice flights in a de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk. Which is damn incredible he manage to land a jet having only flown a two seater prop trainer.
Bit of a tangent but I'm annoyed a Canadian plane has the name Chipmunk. There's so many cooler animals in Indigenous languages we could've used but no, Chipmunk.
Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Aerobatic fans regard the Chipmunk highly. While it is a two seat trainer, it’s a far more advanced aircraft than civilian trainers like the Piper Cub, Aeronca Champ or Cessna 152.
You mean, like...
Moose?
I flew a Chipmunk used as a glider tug. Lovely to fly, very responsive and comfortable.
I remember camping with me dad and uncles in the lake District when I was a lad ..those lightnings would practice between the mountains and valleys very low and very very fast nothing could touch them 💪🇬🇧
@@paulaol248 Likee the valleys around Machynlleth, where you could be climbing the mountains and they would fly by below you.
My dad, not me dad.
@@NextianGeometry Yes I had that happen in the Lake District.
@@Mr_Bean_Stalk maybe they're a pirate or irish, who cares haha
Bet his sphincter was chewing a toffee the whole time!!
😂😂😂
Jesus christ that is the most awful visual I've ever had haha ugh
Finally, the perfect expression for a sentiment I’ve always wanted to express at that level. Usually I or anyone else would say “there was a bite taken out of that seat,” or something to that effect lol. 🤣
it tells more about you than the pilot
No wonder he's called Taffy/Toffee
" reheat " = Afterburner ...
Why the quotation marks?
@@GaiusCaligula234 it's what the narrator in the video called it .
@@GaiusCaligula234im not sure technically its called reheat not "afterburner" anyway..
@@chrisfs150 exactly!
@@LazyHAcres because it is called reheat?
The book "Out of the blue" tells this story in the words of the man himself. Its an excellent read, comprising stories by ex- RAF personell, including the pilot who flew a Hawker Hunter "under" Tower Bridge in London.
Thanks for the recommendation! I'm definitely going to give it a read.
I always try to give a similar recommendation in return; have you ever read *_'Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys'_* by *Michael Collins?*
Michael Collins is an Apollo 11 astronaut/Command Module pilot, Gemini 10 astronaut/Pilot, USAF F-86 Sabre pilot, USAF test pilot, and the very first Director of the National Air and Space Museum.
If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's an incredible, in-depth, and inspiring personal account of his life, careers, and journeys as an astronaut & test pilot.
It's definitely the best book written by an astronaut imo (he refused to used ghost writers btw), and one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time.
If you _have_ read it, I recommend his other books: *_'Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space',_* and *_'Mission to Mars'._*
And if you have kids, I recommend his children's book: *_'Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story'_* - which is the 1994 revised version of: *_'Flying to the Moon and Other Strange Places'_* (1976).
It's partially based on _'Carrying the Fire',_ and was revised in 94' to add up-to-date information on the Space Shuttle.
Anyway, I hope there's something there for you. All are great reads.
Take care!
Bro fulfilled a childhood dream
Except he was in extreme panic every second trying to not kill himself 🤣
Dude just wanted to fly the bird at least once in his life
I used to work with his son Nigel (a good lad) in the cops.
Engineers typically can figure a solution out of any situation
US/Russian/Chinese Aircrafts: Tons of steps to start.
British Aircrafts: Push-to-Start
That's good design
I recall something similar happened to Private Stockdale in "No Time For Sargeants": he couldn't land the aircraft so he was talked through ejecting; he survived, the aircraft was shot down by a squadron of F-105s.
@@trevormillar1576 Myron McCormick was brilliant in this movie
Most of us who've flown a plane made our first flights in a Cessna with an actual pilot next to us. Kudos to a man who soloed on his first flight, and in a Mach 2 interceptor at that. I'm frankly surprised he was able to wedge himself into the cockpit with balls that big!
Edit: Looked it up. Walter actually had limited experience flying single-engine tail dragger aircraft (a very macho-sounding DeHavilland Chipmunk) He had no helmet or canopy, and the gear was locked in the down position. The plane's at the Museum in Duxford, so I imagine I probably saw it when my new bride and I toured the place during our UK honeymoon in '95. Very cool!
The reason Holden got in the cockpit was when he actually started his career in the RAF during World war 2, officer candidates were expected to get their pilots wings regardless of what career path they took. So, technically, Holden wasn't breaching regulations as he himself was actually a pilot. Holden's 12 minute flight in the Lightning was actually officially added to his pilots logbook alongside his previous experience with a Tigermoth, Harvard and Chipmunk.
My God ....hes going to make it..!!!
Well done Taffy old boy !!!
Taffy Holden. What a name. Was probably preparing it for Biggles.
I assume he's Welsh? 'Taffy' was once a common nickname for Welshmen, just like Jock was for Scotsmen. (It comes from "Dafydd" the Welsh form of David).
People with the surname White were always known as 'Chalky'...
Task Force Hold'en
This is amazing, so good thing he knows something about flying a plane. Thank you all for your services.
Thank you Rachit. "He went to the end of the runway and he pulled up" doesn't explain whether he stopped the aircraft or took off again. Very confusing wording.
Legend said, He still pulling up
This sounds like the biggest government cover up for a buddy stealing a plane.
now that's a knowledgeable engineer, for sure.
One of the best planes ever built the English electric lightening ,one of the fastest jets ever built , " the riding rocket "
Atta boy Taffy.
Accidentally put it in gear and didn’t know what els to do. That’s a good excuse but all us mechanics know what actually happened. He just got away flying the coolest aircraft ever that he services maintenances and probably helped build.
It was an accident. I thought it was the cigarette lighter
It's was even more crazy. He had no radio, the canopy was open and he almost collided with a fuel truck and then another aircraft at take off
To those who wants more detail...
Many lightnings were having issues with the pilot instruments during take off, so this engineer looked into it, as he thinks its ready, they get a car to follow the plane as it does a small boost to simulate takeoff, but then stops after a few sec without taking off...
After many going back and forth with tests and attempts to fix issue, the engineer thinks he found and fixed the issue and wanted to run a final test... but no pilots were avalible to test...
The engineer realised that he was a pilot... tho for ww1 era planes, was a pilot by definition, so they opted for him as a test pilot, they give him how the plane works and all, they said about the throttle that it was a loose slider, until you hit max, it clicks into place then further pushing locks the throttle in afterburner mode and needs a button on the side of throttle stick to be pressed to release...
As it came to testing, they removed the cockpit canopy, and communication was done via a local radio from plane to pacer car... they done a few low powered runs (30% or so throttle) to no issues, pilot then tries a higher powered test (80-100% throttle)... the pilot accidentally locked it into afterburner which shocked the pilot with sudden high acceleration and forces, and in state of panic, he forgot how to disengage afterburner, as hes barreling down the runway he notices another plane (DC-3 cargo plane) taking off... luckily he was fast enough to get ahead of it before their paths crossed... and with no other choice at this point, took off with the lightning...
Now that the pilot has time to think, he remembers how to disengage afterburner, and prepares the plane for landing, comes in and hes going way too fast so he goes around... noticing hes now low on fuel, has to commit to a landing, comes in, follows his traning as a bi-plane pilot and intentionally tailstrikes which breaks the drag-chute, then he applies full brakes... he takes the full runway, and brakes on verge of being on fire... the plane came to a stop
The inspectors looked at the "black box" and reports, to deem the whole event an accident, which the only damage was luckily a drag-chute and fully cooked brakes
And because of the engineer accidentally taking off, recreated what was needed to simulate the issue at hand, and came to conclusion that it was an insuffisiant power supply unit (can do whats needed, but during take off which uses most power, fails to meet power requirements)... the issue was fixed by installing a better PSU and was never reported again.
He became the first and possibly last engineer to accidentally fly
Really nice english jet plane, i love how the turbine is in the nose so cool👍🏻
Fun fact - his cousin was Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
You have to push the lightning throttles through a gate (push throttles to the left and then forward I think) to get reheat so I’m dubious about an accident lol
You can find more information on it.
For example:
“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 propeller trainer aircraft, inadvertently engaged the afterburner of a Mach 2.0-capable English Electric Lightning during ground testing.
Unable to disengage the afterburner,
Holden shot down the runway, narrowly missing a crossing fuel tanker and a de Havilland Comet (airliner converted to military use) that was 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 used the landing technique of a taildragger aircraft,
which was the only plane that he’d ever flown.”
He suffered significantly from PTSD afterwards.
He almost died twice before getting airborne and
(as stated above)
he didn’t have a canopy or a helmet…
which means no radio headset.
No goggles or eye protection,
either.
As I recall,
he got up to somewhere close to 500mph before he got the throttle unstuck.
He had only flown in a little propeller trainer plane.
Without a radio headset,
he had no way to get help to manage power settings,flap or even get clearance and line up on the right runway.
So,no-
he wasn’t going on a joy ride.
He was only trying to do some engine run-ups to try to isolate the cause of an ongoing avionics problem.
The troubles with aircraft XM135 were holding up the closure of the unit and at the time of the incident, no test pilot would have been available for another week.
A pilot from RAF Boscombe Down, who was involved in previous tests, had suggested that Holden perform the test himself because it involved only ground taxiing for 30 to 40 yards at a time.
For each segment of this diagnostic program,
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 since he had no radio,
which would coordinate the next test with the control tower.
He ran the motor up too far
and it got into the throttle gate position for the afterburner
and he couldn’t get it out.
He only had a second or two.
It lunged forward against the brakes and he was along for the ride at that point.
He was only supposed to run it up and let off before it would build significant power-
jets have somewhat of a throttle lag tendency…
he went just a little too far.
That Lightning was faster than most fighter jets today-
it had no ordinance (bombs,missiles,bullets/cannon shells,etc.)
and was not carrying much fuel so it was very light and there was certainly no stopping it with a stuck throttle.
Those tires are pretty small.
Anyway,
they normally would have a
qualified pilot
do it
but they had given him permission to do it himself…
but they never did that again!
@@j.griffin heard a little about this many years ago and would have forgotten it if not mentioned, thank you.
@@j.griffin Bet that was a lively machine , that light in full re heat
It pays to be cautious with a lot of "fact" on the internet, so fair lay to you. The book "Out of the blue" describes this incident, as told by the engineer himself. It's an entertaining read.
@@j.griffinIt's all detailed accurately in a very good book about the incident.
The electrical problem was that a standby inverter dolls-eye was blinking during high-powered acceleration runs on takeoff. In the absence of a suitable pilot and under pressure to get the aircraft serviceable, Taff decide to take it for a run and pushed the throttles through the reheat gate and couldn't cancel because of the "piano-key" type mechanism which he needed to operate.
The reason it went into re-heat was because the joystick locks when you push it that far, this is because the force setting off in re-heat pulls you back so it locks the control so the pilot doesn't pull it back and stall the engine, once you're up you can unlock it and that's what he did, he accidentally pushed it too far and it locked.
Most British name I’ve ever heard. I love this story, it’s about the millionth time, but it never gets old.
It's always interesting when you get the full story off someone in the comments and not from the film.🤦♂️
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 the landing technique of a taildragger aircraft. The aircraft returned to service
Flying an English Electric Lighting was like driving a Lamborghini Aventador.
Didn’t have much range without refueling, but boy was it fast
That's one way to get an aircraft off your books.
Being in the military myself and knowing the absolute hassle that is dispatch/maintenance paperwork, I promise you him taking off in it was no accident😂
Reheat is the British way of saying afterburner, for those unaware.
My first ever aircraft I ever built from the 'Airfix' series. Pretty sure it came with around 6...7..8? different Countries decals. Pocket money was buying a plane from either Airfix or Revel every time I had enough...fantastic days.
"Accidentally"
He did not fly to Petersburg. Are you a drama queen, or MI-5? Both, maybe?
It was an accident. Use your intelligence and do some research, rather than criticizing and reacting "fake news"
@@ianjordan1215it was no accident. The guy had flight hours in the aircraft and it all points to him wanting to fly. The chain of excuses don't add up, especially if he had already flown a number of times.
According to other comments, they were testing out the various functions of the plane (probably routine checklist stuff, idk) , hence the need for a test pilot. On top of that, the Lightning apparently had a known flaw of locking into the reheat/afterburners if the throttle was pushed too far.
So while checking the engines, the afterburners turn on, and the jet starts sprinting down the runway. You either crash or you take off.
Yep, sounds like an accident to me. I bet the engineer’s hours of flight experience were what kept him from crashing right away.
Who would risk their life like that? If you are not a trained pilot, the chance of death while landing is very high.
Truly one beautiful airplane 🥰
Colin Cruickshanks! Test pilot. He loved the plane.
Same thing happened to me when I was trying to change the oil on my neighbor's Dodge viper. It's actually quite common m
That was as much accidentaly as my dog ate my homework.
He better have logged those 0.2 hours in his logbook and had it in to his Flight Commander within 4 days of the next month.
Sure fellow . Never thought about cutting the fuel.
Sneaky MiG-21 on the tarmac in the first clip
The engineer who designed and built the plane, accidentally took it for a joy ride!? Yeah I’m gonna have to use this!
Taffy was the only man who wasn't a pilot, to fly an EE Lightning.
Make another but with armor, a camera, rc airsoft gun, and a paintscheme akin to 1950s military surplus.
A lightning on full reheat. I wouldn't think it would just roll down the runway . Heard a story of an American pilot who flew on he was told not to use reheat as it doesn't need it . But he used it anyway. He was passed a few thousand feet up before he got the undercarriage up. (Forget the actual height)
His Google history : help I accidentally flew a RAF plane
I worked in the same RAAF SQN as fellow groundie 'Rocket' in the 1990s who was a bit of a 'Gun'. In his wilder younger days he use to taxi C130Hs on C shift due to lack of towmotors.
🧐 "I say, jolly good show old boy"
🧐 "Yes spiffing"
Taffy Holden - that's one very lucky Scotsman!
Welsh. Scotsmen were usually nicknamed Jock, Welshmen were Taffy (after the common Welsh name Dafydd -David). Irishmen were Paddy for Patrick.
@@julierobinson3633 Err, it was a joke….
The only one engineer who tested a machine by himself 👍👍👍
The History Guy has a good story on this event
From what i heard he pushed the throttle to far forward and it locked forward.
Also the radio wasnt working.
missed the tallest building
There is more to this story. Important details.
This particular aircraft had been experiencing an intemittent electrical problem that only happened during takeoffs and flight. The canopy was not on it at the time, and the radios were also out.
Lookup the story on the "Accidental Lightening Pilot."
The root cause of the problem was eventually found.
Lightning - lucky enough to see one at an airshow in the 80s - take off, stick hard back and it sounded and felt like full power vertically. It was a one trick pony but what a trick !
Always remember your scope of work, and follow it.
We call it "accident" here as well. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Isn't that what all maintenance men hope for, "well I got it fixed and then I had to test it out!"
Scary. He was a real man
This is called the 1966 holden's lightning flight
Mit KI Geschichte "machen" ist eh schon der falsche Ansatz.
Geschichte ist grob gesagt eine Wiedergabe der Vergangenheit und keine neuschaffung.
Danke André! ❤️
This is a great story, it was a subject for a recent Paper Skies video.
Pretty sure the story is a bit more than this. He was doing taxi runs and hitting the brake to bring it to a stop to try and replicate the issue. He was a pilot but not certified on type (jets I believe). This happened on the third run or something. Reheatlocks the throttle leaver and even though he'd been warned it took him long enough to take it off that he'd covered quite the distance. I think in his interview he said there was something coming into the runway so he had to pull up.
There is a variation on this anecdote where the ejection seat is taken out for maintenance and Holden does the flight sitting on a beer crate.
@@stettan1Iirc it was a wooden chair or stool according to his book.
Skills
If I remember right they had no canopy on the plane and he wasnt wearing a helmet either.😮
Coolest workplace accident ever
" Here lads,watch this" 😂😂
The lightning fighter a.c. was doomed to be a widow maker.
No more than any front line Mach 2 1950s design, and a lot better than the F104. The aerodynamic envelope of the Lightning was pretty darned good and pilots say it was a delight to fly once you knew it. Inadequate rear extinguishers and tail pipe fires were its main weakness.
Deadliest warrior went so hard
Bro had enough excuses for pilots not being able to land
In short a mechanic went for a joyride. He obviously could fly one.
O Brilliant story and I bet the Engineer did A Greaser of a landing!!!!
I also bet he thought, Well I Always wanted to be a pilot, Now I am one!!!
And the chaps First Solo! WOW!
Big Well Done. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
JB.UK. 🇫🇴🇪🇺.
I can't begin to imagine what he was thinking as the plane started to reach takeoff speed! What a great story he had for his children and grandchildren and anyone who would listen. I know I would. LOL
He should have read the service ticket first, "Engine wont idle down.."
He had a tail strike because the only planes he ever flew were pre ww2 tail draggers so that’s how he knew to land . Technically he was an RAF fighter pilot so they didn’t discharge him
I never had a friend say to me. "Accidents can be prevented."
I salute the RAF from WW2 and so on. I believe in the Unity of Veterans fighting for the right reasons like family, friends and a way of life us normal people believe in..
As an aircraft mechanic he must certainly have known how to switch off the engine, not believable, he only had to hit the master switch and that would have shut down the lot!!!
So he went to the runway and gave it full throttle by mistake. Lol.
11:39 My favorite Spookston moments are when he's literally singlehandedly winning the game and his team just doesn't exist
The whole story is far more involved. The Lightning had throttle locks & you had to push a button to disengage. It was already trimmed for take off as it was supposed to have departed but was sent to maintenance after an aborted take off. He couldn't get wheels up OR eject as it was in "Ground Condition" & both were locked by ground crew inserted safety pins. Trimmed for take off the Lightning did what it was built to do & rotated out. Taffy tried to put it back down but found he was suddenly staring at a fuel bowser so he let it climb out. Taffy had a private pilots license so knew the basics of flight & while airborne remembered about the throttle locks & released them. He was given a "stiff talking to" (so not really "tokd off") by the Wing Commander, then had his flight entered into his pilot's log book, patted him on the back & had a good laugh. Apparently PTSD did affect him later.
People might think this was just another incident, but the Lightning truly lived up to it's name & it's nickname "The Frightening". Even extensively trained 21 year old pilots had troublem as one put it to another Lightning pilot "Did you manage to stay with it?" to which came the reply "Yes, all the way until I let the brakes off!"
I'm willing to wager that he invested in a new pair of undershorts after this incident...!!!
I once tripped, fell, and a 3 course meal fell in my mouth.. happens to all of us
Amazing story!
I don’t think he would have been able to retract the undercarriage to crash the aircraft before it took off (as suggested in the vid). There is a switch on all retracts that prevents retraction if there is weight on the wheels. The only way was up ⬆️
Reheat is afterburner in british
Find the story on Wikipedia: “Holden's Lightning flight”