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Hedley Molland
| Flight Lieutenant Hedley Molland (deceased) Flying Officer Hedley Molland. During air combat training Flying Officer Hedley Molland while Flying a Hunter made a cine attack on his target and followed it into a dive from 37,000 feet. At 31,000 feet the dive steepened uncontrollably, the aircraft diving vertically into the sea 7 miles east of Brawdsey, Suffolk. Flying Officer Hedley Molland survived the supersonic ejection at 25,000 feet, mach 1.1 - his left arm was broken on ejection as he only used his left hand to initiate ejection. He also suffered two black eyes and a fractured pelvis. His crash helmet, watch, gloves and one shoe were blown off during ejection. The parachute opened automatically at about 10,000ft and speed of descent was normal. Molland was unable, because of his injuries, to inflate his dinghy in the water. He is thought to be the second man ever to have baled out successfully at such a speed - the first was an American. Molland was rescued. The accident was finally attributed to the probable effects of using flaps at high speeds as an aid to combat manoeuverability. While with 111 Sqd RAF Flt. Lt. Hedley Molland also ejected from a Lightning over Battisford Hill, near Wattisham on the 29th September 1965. He died in February 2012. |
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Lightning Strike by Keith Aspinall. No text for this item |
QRA Scramble by Ivan Berryman. A pair of 29 Squadron Lightning F.Mk3s tuck their gear up and head skyward from the Wattisham tarmac in the summer of 1972. |
A Bolt for the Blue by Gerald Coulson. Gerald Coulson's dramatic painting Bolt for the Blue, published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Lightning, captures the very essence of this formidable fighter. Seen climbing out of RAF Wattisham, a Lightning F.3 of Treble One Squadron scrambles to intercept an unidentified intruder plotted on the RAF's early warning radar. Almost certainly it will be Russian, probably he will be escorted out of harms way, but the interceptor is armed with a pair of air-to-air missiles just in case. A superb collector print for all who remember one of the greatest British fighters ever built. |
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