RAF engineer’s unplanned Lightning takeoff without helmet or radio ends with 12-minute landing
In 1966, RAF Lyneham engineer Walter “Taffy” Holden accidentally took off in an English Electric Lightning during a ground test, without a helmet, canopy, or radio and with the ejector seat disabled. After a tense ~12 minutes aloft and two failed landing attempts, he managed to land the jet safely, and the aircraft XM135 later went on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.