Education
He joined the Royal Air Force in May 1939 and completed his flying training on Ansons at 12 Flying Training School located at Royal Air Force Redhill in Surrey.
He joined the Royal Air Force in May 1939 and completed his flying training on Ansons at 12 Flying Training School located at Royal Air Force Redhill in Surrey.
Hazelden trained as a pilot in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve before the outbreak of the Second World War. He joined Number. 44 Squadron Royal Air Force with Bomber Command at Royal Air Force Waddington in September 1940, flying Handley Page Hampden twin-engine bombers. In 1941, Hazeldon underwent operational conversion training for the Avro Manchester twin-engined bomber at Royal Air Force Finningley in Yorkshire.
He joined Number.
83 Squadron Royal Air Force at Royal Air Force Scampton in Lincolnshire. He remained with Number. 83 Squadron during its conversion to the Avro Lancaster four-engined bomber. Hazelden left the Royal Air Force in 1947 and he was appointed as the chief test pilot of Handley Page.
Notably, he carried out the flight test development of the Hastings military transport, the Victor four-jet nuclear weapon carrying V bomber (and later tanker aircraft), and the Hermes and Dart Herald airliners.
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. 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 Royal Air Force 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.
When Handley Page went into voluntary liquidation in March 1970, Hazelden flew for small airlines for several years, and then retired to Lincolnshire. He became president of the Handley Page Association in 1978. 9 May 1941 – Distinguished Flying Cross (Distinguished Flying Cross) – Pilot Officer Hedley George Hazelden (60323) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Number.
1 January 1959 – Queen"s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air – Squadron Leader Hedley George, Chief Test Pilot, Handley Page, Limited.
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 Royal Air Force Boscombe Down.