Hedley Hazelden
Encyclopedia
Squadron Leader
Hedley George "Hazel" Hazelden DFC
and bar (7 June 1915 - August 2001) was a British test pilot
.
in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
before the outbreak of the Second World War. He joined the Royal Air Force
in May 1939 and completed his flying training on Ansons
at 12 Flying Training School located at RAF Redhill
in Surrey
. He joined No. 44 Squadron RAF
with Bomber Command
at RAF Waddington
in September 1940, flying Handley Page Hampden
twin-engine bomber
s.
In 1941, Hazeldon underwent operational conversion training for the Avro Manchester
twin-engined bomber at RAF Finningley
in Yorkshire
. He joined No. 83 Squadron RAF
at RAF Scampton
in Lincolnshire
. He remained with No. 83 Squadron during its conversion to the Avro Lancaster
four-engined bomber.
In July 1942, after a tour of operations during which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
, he became a flying instructor at RAF Bassingbourn
, then RAF Wescott, and finally RAF Oakley
. He was later chief flying instructor for the Vickers Wellington
and he was a member of the inaugural class at the Empire Test Pilots' School
at RAF Boscombe Down.
military transport
, the Victor
four-jet nuclear weapon
carrying V-bomber (and later tanker aircraft), and the Hermes
and Dart Herald
airliner
s.
His skill as a pilot enabled him to survive several in-flight failures of prototype aircraft, including that of the prototype Dart Herald, which he was able to crash-land after a catastrophic engine fire en route to the Farnborough Airshow on 10 August 1958. With his wife and seven other passengers on board, he belly-landed the airliner in a small field, getting over 80 feet (24.4 m) trees, under some power lines, and avoiding a farm roller parked in the field. The aircraft was a total loss, but there were no deaths or serious injuries, as all on board escaped though a hole torn in the aircraft by a concealed tree stump.
A Victor suffered a landing gear failure and had to be belly-landed on the grass runway at RAF Scampton
. More damage was caused by the recovery of the aircraft than by the crash. In all cases Hazelden was able to report in meticulous detail the events leading up to the crash.
. He became president of the Handley Page Association in 1978.
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
Hedley George "Hazel" Hazelden DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
and bar (7 June 1915 - August 2001) was a British test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
.
Royal Air Force career
Hazelden trained as a pilotAviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve consists of a number of groupings of individual military reservists for the management and operation of the Royal Air Force's Air Training Corps and CCF Air Cadet formations, Volunteer Gliding Squadrons , Air Experience Flights, and also to form the...
before the outbreak of the Second World War. He joined the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
in May 1939 and completed his flying training on Ansons
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and numerous other air forces prior to, during, and after the Second World War. Named for British Admiral George Anson, it was originally designed for maritime reconnaissance, but was...
at 12 Flying Training School located at RAF Redhill
Redhill Aerodrome
Redhill Aerodrome is located southeast of Redhill, Surrey, England, in green belt land.Redhill Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee .-Early history:The airfield came into use in the...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. He joined No. 44 Squadron RAF
No. 44 Squadron RAF
No. 44 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is no longer operational. For most of its history it served as a heavy bomber squadron.-History:...
with Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
at RAF Waddington
RAF Waddington
RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England.-Formation:Waddington opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training station in 1916 until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance....
in September 1940, flying Handley Page Hampden
Handley Page Hampden
The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a British twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force serving in the Second World War. With the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane...
twin-engine bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s.
In 1941, Hazeldon underwent operational conversion training for the Avro Manchester
Avro Manchester
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Buttler, Tony. British Secret Projects: Fighters and Bombers 1935–1950. Hickley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 978-1857801798....
twin-engined bomber at RAF Finningley
RAF Finningley
RAF Finningley is a former Royal Air Force station at Finningley, South Yorkshire, partly within the traditional county boundaries of Nottinghamshire and partly in the West Riding of Yorkshire, now wholly within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster....
in Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
. He joined No. 83 Squadron RAF
No. 83 Squadron RAF
No. 83 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II.-Establishment and early service:...
at RAF Scampton
RAF Scampton
Royal Air Force Station Scampton is a Royal Air Force station situated north of Lincoln in England, near the village of Scampton, on the site of an old First World War landing field.-First World War:...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He remained with No. 83 Squadron during its conversion to the Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
four-engined bomber.
In July 1942, after a tour of operations during which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
, he became a flying instructor at RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Bassingbourn is a former military airbase located in Cambridgeshire approximately north of Royston, Hertfordshire and south west of Cambridge. During World War II it served first as an RAF station and then as a bomber base of the U.S. Eighth Air Force...
, then RAF Wescott, and finally RAF Oakley
RAF Oakley
RAF Oakley was a World War II three-runway airfield between Oakley and Worminghall, Buckinghamshire. It was located in a flat, damp wooded area.-World War II usage:...
. He was later chief flying instructor for the Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
and he was a member of the inaugural class at the Empire Test Pilots' School
Empire Test Pilots' School
The Empire Test Pilots' School is a British training school for test pilots and flight test engineers of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, England. It was established in 1943, the first of its type...
at RAF Boscombe Down.
Civilian test pilot career
Hazelden left the RAF in 1947 and he was appointed as the chief test pilot of Handley Page. Notably, he carried out the flight test development of the HastingsHandley Page Hastings
The Handley Page H.P.67 Hastings was a British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and built by Handley Page Aircraft Company for the Royal Air Force...
military transport
Military transport aircraft
Military transport aircraft are typically fixed and rotary wing cargo aircraft which are used to deliver troops, weapons and other military equipment by a variety of methods to any area of military operations around the surface of the planet, usually outside of the commercial flight routes in...
, the Victor
Handley Page Victor
The Handley Page Victor was a British jet bomber aircraft produced by the Handley Page Aircraft Company during the Cold War. It was the third and final of the V-bombers that provided Britain's nuclear deterrent. The other two V-bombers were the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. Some aircraft...
four-jet nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
carrying V-bomber (and later tanker aircraft), and the Hermes
Handley Page Hermes
The Handley Page HP 81 Hermes was a British civilian airliner built by Handley Page in the 1940s and 50s. Closely related to Handley Page's Hastings military transport, the Hermes was a low-wing monoplane powered by four piston engines...
and Dart Herald
Handley Page Dart Herald
The Handley Page Dart Herald was a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft.-Design and development:In the mid 1950s the Handley Page Aircraft Company developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the venerable Douglas DC-3, particularly in third-world countries...
airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
s.
His skill as a pilot enabled him to survive several in-flight failures of prototype aircraft, including that of the prototype Dart Herald, which he was able to crash-land after a catastrophic engine fire en route to the Farnborough Airshow on 10 August 1958. With his wife and seven other passengers on board, he belly-landed the airliner in a small field, getting over 80 feet (24.4 m) trees, under some power lines, and avoiding a farm roller parked in the field. The aircraft was a total loss, but there were no deaths or serious injuries, as all on board escaped though a hole torn in the aircraft by a concealed tree stump.
A Victor suffered a landing gear failure and had to be belly-landed on the grass runway at RAF Scampton
RAF Scampton
Royal Air Force Station Scampton is a Royal Air Force station situated north of Lincoln in England, near the village of Scampton, on the site of an old First World War landing field.-First World War:...
. More damage was caused by the recovery of the aircraft than by the crash. In all cases Hazelden was able to report in meticulous detail the events leading up to the crash.
Later career
When Handley Page went into voluntary liquidation in March 1970, Hazelden flew for small airlines for several years, and then retired to LincolnshireLincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He became president of the Handley Page Association in 1978.
Personal life
He married Esma Jones in 1947, with whom he had a daughter. After the death of his first wife, he married Jean Vallee in 1987.Honours and awards
- 9 May 1941 - Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
- Pilot Officer Hedley George Hazelden (60323) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 44 Squadron.
- 22 September 1942 Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
- Acting Flight Lieutenant Hedley George Hazelden, D.F.C. (60323), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 82 Squadron.
- 12 June 1947 - King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air - Acting Squadron Leader H.G. Hazelden, D.F.C. (60323), R.A.F.V.R.
- 1 January 1959 - Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air - Squadron Leader Hedley George Hazelden, D.F.C., Chief Test Pilot, Handley Page, Ltd.
External links
- Hedley Hazelden biography - Test & Research Pilots, Aircraft Engineers and Designers
- Victor Origins - The Handley-Page Victor
- Problems with Hermes props at Handley page - News Shopper (14 August 2003)