Taffy Holden, the Accidental Lightning Pilot

In the United Kingdom in 1966, an RAF ground crewman conducting an electrical test suddenly finds himself airborne. Taffy Holden, the accidental Lightning pilot, deserves to be remembered.

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The episode is intended for educational purposes. All events are portrayed in historical context.

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[MrTombenzie]

After retiring from the RAF Taffy went on to work for GEC Marconi Avionics in Milton Keynes. I joined the company in 1986 as a graduate Engineer and Taffy Holden became my first ever boss. A true gentleman and still an inspiration so many years later. RIP Taffy. Thank You.

[Aeronaut]

A pilot once joked about the lightning that the only only reason it had wings was to keep the navigation lights apart.

[kellyarnsdorf]

Reminds me of the ground crewman who got hung up on the tail of a Spitfire in North Africa 1943. He ended up doing a circuit around the airfield hanging on for dear life as the pilot, horrified by the image of him dangling in the air, attempted to land and not kill the man upon landing. The crewman only had a few broken limbs after landing and of course falling off when the plane touched the ground. A little later in the war the crewman was sent home after the Wing Commander learned the crewman had survived a Stuka attack in Italy that killed everyone around him and left him unscathed even though the bomb detonated only few meters away. The commander said "I don't need a third clue that God wants this man alive. Send him home...."

[stewartnicol]

Thanks for retelling this story. Holden was so traumatised by the episode that he was off work for two years with PTSD. His doctor state that "Holden went home and thought about what had happened, if he had gone straight to the mess and drunk a bottle of Whisky he would have been fine."

[Retired_Gentleman]

As a retired school teacher that include many years teaching history I can say your videos are excellent because you so often tell of the human element and not mere dates and places. That is, events from our past are not best understood by mere numbers and names but rather by learning of the the people who were there. It's people that make history come alive.

[Jerubarbaruah]

Excellent storytelling. Former USAF electrician who had to chase his fair number of difficult sparks I could well sympathize with needing to fix something in a crunch. It's a marvel he survived and no one got hurt, but a seeming miracle he kept his career, lol. And thanks for not leaving out the bit about what was causing the malfunction.

[steveskouson]

Thank you for this story.

PTSD is a REAL thing! Most people just think
"you just need to toughen up!"

Yes, been there.

steve

[jserra]

In 2006 I was working as a helicopter-ski guide in Alaska. It was a very part-time gig - most of the time I was a corporate lawyer, but that was a bit boring so in 1994 I accepted the part time ski guide job. On Friday April 13 I was buried 2 meters deep in an avalanche for 13 minutes (until another guide was able to dig down to me - it took nearly an hour to dig all the way to my feet and release the ski bindings). Afterward, the migraine headaches that I’d had occasionally since childhood became so constant that I was unable to continue to practice law. Not PTSD - none of the secondary indicators was present. My doctor’s analysis - a 13 minute adrenaline surge sensitized my cranial vascular system and subsequently, even a small surge of adrenaline caused the dilation and contraction cycle associated with migraines.

[christianbuczko]

No helmet, no canopy, no radio, no ejector seat strapped into one of the most difficult to fly aircraft must of been terrifying. I'm glad he managed to land it ok...

[SoddingaboutSi]

I was told this story 30 years or so ago by a friends Dad. I was later told be someone else it was fictitious and not possible. I now have it confirmed here.Thank you for confirming such a wonderful story.

[TheHistoryGuyChannel]

At the end I say that Wing Commander Holden spent two years in the hospital. In fact, he spent two periods in the hospital, both much shorter than a year. I am sorry for the mistake.

Some viewers have reminded me that the proper designation is runway 3-6, not runway thirty six.

[michaelkennedy]

A very British story, extremely well told sir.

[sidoney]

Fantastic! A very British story. I chuckled at Taffy describing the kick as "Remarkable". Classic British understatement

[bigdmac]

Brilliant. "109mph, somewhat slower than 1300mph" ... real understatement! lol

[glengustafson]

You tell the story so well it made my toes curl. In '73 I was a student pilot at the flying club on naval air station Key West with only a few hours in a Cessna 150. The phone rang in the club office and it was the tower ordering all of our general aviation aircraft be moved behind the hangar within an hour. A C5 was making an unscheduled landing and they were afraid the wake would damage them. Another student and I were the only ones there so we grabbed all of the keys and had to start and taxi twin engine planes and whatnot hoping we didn't accidentally retract the landing gear. I can't imagine being launched in an open cockpit fighter jet without training....wow.

[Houndini]

I still once or twice a year love watch this 1. Poor Taffy. He was trying his best. Wrong place Wrong time.

[ceterfo]

You sir, know how to tell a historical tale. Thank you for being here.

[kenycharles]

An unforgettable and traumatizing experience for Taffy Holden, and an amazing tale for me to hear. Thank you for your enthusiastic telling of this tale.

[madcapmagician]

I work at what was RAF Lyneham, it’s now operated by the Army, but I love learning about the history of the place. Military trucks now carry out brake tests and recovery operations on the tarmac that Holden ‘taxied’ down.

[hertsish]

I grew up in a RAF family on bases with Lightnings. My father would take me to the end of the runway to watch them take-off. The mention of its ability to go vertical after take-off is absolutely true. It blew my mind watching this as they would disappear from sight in that vertical climb. I also remember asking my father why they called it the flying brick and his response was that once it ran out of fuel it shared the same flying qualities as a brick.