A photo was taken soon after the ejection and, as can be seen, caught the pilot inverted with his parachute still unopened and the Lightning plummeting earthwards close to him
The Lightning was the Royal Air Force’s first genuinely supersonic aircraft, and its arrival instantly doubled Fighter Command’s top speeds. This major leap in performance required a sophisticated design, and extensive test flying was carried out before production aircraft began reaching the Central Fighter Establishment in December 1959. The first frontline squadron received its Lightning fighters six months after that.
Throughout its twenty-eight years on the front line, the Lightning was consistently known as an air defense aircraft. While it was primarily linked with intercepting unidentified aircraft entering British airspace, it also served widely overseas, including in the Middle East, the Far East, and Germany.
The Lightning is also linked to a well-known photograph of an ejection captured by Jim Meads on Sept. 13, 1962, which appears as the featured image in this post.
According to the article “The story behind a famous photograph of an ejection from a Lightning,” which appeared in Issue 5 – English Electric Lightning of Aviation Classic, was published in newspapers worldwide. Because it was so widely circulated, it naturally drew the interest of the manufacturer Martin-Baker.
At the time, Jim was living next door to de Havilland test pilot Bob Sowray in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and on that particular day, both of their wives had gone to London to shop for clothes. Bob had mentioned he was scheduled to fly a Lightning, and later Jim’s children asked if they could go and watch the flight. Although Jim was a photographer, he normally wouldn’t bring his camera on an outing like this. On this occasion, however, he decided to take it along to capture a photo of his neighbor flying. The camera he took had just two exposures on it.
The onlookers positioned themselves at a good viewing spot near the end of de Havilland’s Hatfield runway and waited for the Lightning to return. As XG332 was on final approach at about 200 feet, its nose suddenly lifted and the pilot ejected. The Lightning had become uncontrollable because an engine fire had damaged a tailplane actuator.
Jim snapped a photo just after the ejection, capturing the pilot upside down with his parachute still unopened and the Lightning plunging toward the ground nearby. The tractor driver, having heard the loud report of the ejection seat, is shown after quickly turning to see what was happening, likely very thankful he hadn’t been working farther out in the field. Jim used his final exposure to photograph the thick column of black smoke that rose after the jet crashed.
Luckily, the pilot lived after landing in a greenhouse packed with tomatoes. He sustained multiple fractures to his arms and legs, along with cuts from the shower of glass that fell on him as he crashed through the greenhouse roof. It turned out, however, that it wasn’t Bob Sowray flying; he had decided to let fellow test pilot George Aird take the flight instead.
XG332 was one of 20 pre-production Lightning aircraft and made its first flight on May 29, 1959. Throughout its service life, it was operated by BAC and de Havilland for Firestreak and Red Top missile trials, and it crashed while involved in the latter program.
Photo by Jim Meads via www.rafjever.org
