A Brief Biography

The elder son of an army officer, I was educated at Ellesmere College  in Shropshire.  I learned to fly at Sywell Airport, Northampton, in 1977; the following year I joined the RAF as a University Cadet and studied Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College London. 

After qualifying as a fast jet pilot in 1985, I was posted to RAF Bruggen in Germany where I spent two tours flying Tornado GR1s.  I then enjoyed a short spell as a Tactics Instructor, flying Hawks at the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Chivenor in Devon, before returning to Bruggen  - and the Tornado GR1 - as a Flight Commander.  My military flying career encompassed both the Cold War and operations over Iraq after the Gulf War.

I left the RAF in 1997 and became an airline pilot, flying the DC10 and Boeing 777 as a First Officer, before becoming a Captain on the Airbus A320 and later the Boeing 787.

After a nomadic childhood and RAF career, I have settled in the Cotswolds.