“It took a lot of time and effort before a
clean bomb release could be assured.”RELOCATING TO RIYADH
“At the end of Course No.1 Dhahran was to
have the runway resurfaced and the best
bet seemed to be to operate from Riyadh
[location of the Lightning Storage Unit (LSU)
and the RSAF HQ], so in May 1970 four
aircraft were own down there.
“Unfortunately, the Lightnings were
immediately grounded for modi cations to the
fuel system.
“During July we began the ground school
for No.2 course, though there was no
prospect of the students being able to y, so
they would go to the control tower to watch
me take Lightnings for air tests.”
Hedley’s involvement with air tests gave
him a taste of the real heat at Riyadh. At
Dhahran the aviation medicine doctor had
measured a temperature of 180 ̊F (82 ̊C) in
the cockpit – and Riyadh was hotter.
Pilots wore air-ventilated suits set at ‘maxcold’, but no air owed until the throttles were
opened to 80% power, so on take-off the
pilots went from near boiling to near freezing
in a fraction of a second.
As 1970 drew to a close there were still
problems with aircraft spares: the number of
serviceable Lightnings was still very low.
On the positive side, the six students of
No.2 Course were about to pass out with a
ypast, and during 1971 the LCU achieved a
full complement of instructors – three QFIs,
three weapons instructors, an operational
instructor and four simulator instructors, many
seconded by the RAF.
The whole Saudi Arabian defence support
contract was transferred to BAC in 1973 and
British ex-pat instructors were supplemented by
two Central Flying School-trained RSAF pilots.
The F-86s and T-33s were also withdrawn
and Northrop F-5s began to arrive. On
October 6 the Yom Kippur Arab-Israeli
war broke out, led by Egypt and Syria, but
Dhahran was little affected apart from a few
anti-American demonstrations.The LCU suffered its only fatal accident
on May 21, 1974 when a T.55 (55-712 ‘B’)
disappeared from radar while returning from
an instrument ying sortie. Both crew died
after losing control when rolling out following
an inverted run.R OYA L FLY PAST
To celebrate the presence of King Faisal at
a passing out parade on December 3, 1974,
the LCU and F-5 OCU staged a joint ypast,
an ambitious box formation of 16 Lightnings.
Five, led by Tony Winship, ew formation
aerobatics.
Behind the Lightnings came 16 F-5s in
boxes of four. When the aerobatic ve had
split off, the main group of 11 Lightnings
formed up into a feathered arrow, and a
formation ‘F’ to honour the king.
The nal display was judged a great
success and also demonstrated a marked
improvement in Lightning serviceability.
Hedley Molland recalls: “The box-16 was a
great achievement for the edgling RSAFhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 37A 2 Sqn Lightning F.53 outside the QRA hangar at Tabuk. Red Top AAMs are tted and the gun bay door hangs open.The CO of the Lightning Conversion Unit leads an impressive box formation of 16 Lightning
F.53s and T.55s at Dhahran to celebrate the visit of King Faisal for a passing out parade.32-39_lightning_saudiDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 37 06/02/2017 14:51