Overview

The inspiration for this brilliant anthology is the ""I Learnt About Flying from That"" articles that first appeared in the RAF flight safety magazine Air Clues in the 1940s and continue to feature in the magazine to this day. Flying Through the Ranks gets a five-star start with an extraordinary tale from a marshal of the Royal Air Force and continues in the same vein. Men and women of every rank--pilots, navigators, engineers, a RAF regiment officer, and airmen too--reveal similar intriguing experiences in both war and peace. Exciting, amusing, poignant too at times, their stories say as much about the development of the RAF and the making of the Cold War warrior as they do about the individuals themselves. It's impossible not to be moved by these rousing stories of courage and leadership, risk-taking and pressure, invention and adventure. Starkly exposing human fallibility at times, they highlight the skill and improvisation central to the flying business. Other common themes across some uncommon accounts are the sheer exhilaration of flying, the role that luck plays in everyone's life, and the unspoken bond of respect that binds aviation professionals together. Strap yourself in for a top flight experience!

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Air Marshal G. A. 'Black' Robertson picked up his nickname when he entered the RAF College in 1963. Three years at Cranwell were followed by a further thirty-three in flying, staff, and command appointments, including tours of duty in Bahrain, the USA, Germany, and the Falklands. He flew all the RAF's front line fighter aircraft and later qualified as a helicopter pilot. On retirement, he spent some five years with British Aerospace (subsequently BAE Systems) before setting up his own consultancy business. After a period as clerk and company secretary to The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire, the unearthing of copious family memorabilia led to the publication in 2020 of Fighters in the Blood. Afterwards, concerned that he hadn't done his father, a decorated Spitfire ace, full justice he began work on a prequel. Drawing on new material-letters, documents, and his father's log book-A Spitfire Named Connie paints an intimate and authentic picture of life, love, and loss in a bygone era. A third book followed: From Spitfires to Vampires and Beyond, the edited story Wg Cdr Owen Hardy, a New Zealander with whom his father served in 1942. His most recent book, Flying Through the Ranks, is a collection of fascinating stories from nearly forty contributors, from a marshal of the RAF to a junior technician. A Cranfield Trust mentor and a David Vaisey trustee (the annual Vaisey Awards reward Gloucestershire libraries for initiatives that encourage more book reading), he regularly gives talks both on his books and a personal fascination: the Battle of Britain. Elliot Fitzpatrick is an actor from London who has performed in the West End, at the Rose Theatre and with Shakespeare's Globe. He has a large number of audio credits to his name, including Bear Grylls's audiobooks Soul Fuel and True Grit, as well as radio commercials and audio guides. With a vast selection of accents and character voices at his disposal, he is just as at home in the booth recording fiction and nonfiction. Elliot Fitzpatrick is an actor from London who has performed in the West End, at the Rose Theatre and with Shakespeare's Globe. He has a large number of audio credits to his name, including Bear Grylls's audiobooks Soul Fuel and True Grit, as well as radio commercials and audio guides. With a vast selection of accents and character voices at his disposal, he is just as at home in the booth recording fiction and nonfiction. Marian Hussey is a voice talent and an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. Marian Hussey is a voice talent and an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator.

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