Discovery Call: Air Force, Aviation Stories & International Publishing

Hemasiri Wijayagunawardene is a retired Sri Lanka Air Force officer and CEO of an export company in Marvela. He called from his car, parked outside a factory he was in the middle of relocating — 24 years of service compressed into a 62-minute conversation on a moving screen.

The story

Before Wijayagunawardene could rescue the Kfir jets, he helped bring them to Sri Lanka. He led the SLAF delegation to Israel three times — 1996, 1998, and 2000 — as part of the team that negotiated and delivered the aircraft. He knew those jets before they ever touched Lankan soil.

On 24 July 2001, the LTTE attacked Bandaranaike International Airport. Wijayagunawardene — then AVNICS officer at number 10 squadron — led the team that pulled Kfir jets from a burning hangar. The Commanding Officer later referenced it publicly: "One officer, when they went to number 10 squadron and started pulling the aircraft — everybody knows that story."

He led the operation. He was never named.

The officer standing beside him that night was Sudharshana Pathirana. He later became Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

The material

He has been writing for years. A published exchange with Arthur C. Clarke — who wrote about unidentified aircraft over Anuradhapura — drew a counter-argument grounded in direct radar knowledge. As AVNICS officer, Wijayagunawardene had access to SLAF radar systems and knew the coverage radius. His position: anything within range would appear. Clarke engaged because the argument was technically credible. They went back and forth. It ended in a draw.

He has already written the opening of the Katunayake piece. "The sound before dawn, the sky turned orange, the choice running towards the fire, aircraft in the hangar. The attack became personal."

A second story: a driver under his command kept crossing the perimeter fence at night to get home to his wife. Caught twice, sent to Wijayagunawardene on a punishment posting. He gave the man evening leave instead of a third strike. Months later, the man called. His wife was pregnant.

He had written that one too. Huffington Post. Rolling Stone. Neither responded.

What AngryPages built

Lehan demonstrated the platform live — story cards, paywall tiers, and a pre-order landing page built around the hangar rescue. A game prototype, Hangar at Dawn, had been built from his material in a few hours before the call. Wijayagunawardene watched a character move through the map — a figure he recognised. An old colleague from the squadron. In the game.

"I was blown away," he said. "Like a Sri Lankan Chuck Norris." He proposed a Kfir rescue mission as a game scenario and asked for an AI-generated image — himself, pulling a jet from a burning hangar.

He then described the platform back to Lehan unprompted — interactive story, voice recording, images, game format, Apple Store. He had absorbed it fully and was already designing his own version of it.

He tested Elle, AngryPages' AI companion. Later in the call, describing the platform to someone else: "I was brought in by Lehan. And Elle will help you. She's a good AI agent."

Terms: 80% of direct sales to the author. 50% of ad revenue. AngryPages handles distribution. Stripe handles payment in any currency.

Outcome

Wijayagunawardene agreed to send existing drafts for editorial review. Target: a mobile-first interactive story anchored by the Katunayake rescue, with village origins and management writing woven around it. The game prototype evolves alongside it.

He offered to connect AngryPages with Admiral Priyantaper and a wider network of Army, Navy, and Air Force officers who served in live operations — contributors he would personally introduce.

He gave permission to review any drafts saved to the platform.

"You can read it," he said. "Absolutely, yes."