My first interest in anything to do with flying was borne while watching an American TV series called Whirly Birds, about a team of police who used Helicopters:
For some reason I fancied the job of the 'observer' rather than that of the pilot! During a spell in the Army, I did some training in aerial photographic interpretation which included some images of high rise buildings in Hong Kong and this also wetted my appetite further.
However, it was many years before I got to fly in a Helicopter when working in Iran in 1976 (The year Southampton won the FA Cup!)
It was at about this time that I started to get the photographic bug, mainly due to my travels in the Middle East.
On arrival back home I took up flying lessons and did a bit of aerial photography, albeit through the window!
However House purchase clipped my wings but the bug had bitten! Over the next few years I dabbled in photography and managed to sell some images of my travels through photo libraries in London. The Aerial Photography bug though was getting bigger, and I was eventually able one day to hire a helicopter and take some views of my local area. I managed to sell enough prints to get my my money back but was unable to pursue matters due to the finanical cramp of a mortgage etc. In 1986, after working for two years in Nigeria, I had enough money to start an aerial photographic business.
Needless to say, life is not that easy and the business has had more ups and downs than a Yoyo.
Some years I flew almost every week, others I flew only perhaps four or five times in total.
I have on several occasions taken work overseas to generate more funds as well satisfy my travel lust and enlarge my photo library. I was also fortunate enough to 'get in' with BP who have an oil terminal near my home. Much of the work for BP is Public Relations, but this can be fun and helps pay the mortgage.
It was only after I started the business that I discovered my Grandfather's story. He, Jack Insall and his brother Gilbert, had gone on a joy ride with Bleriot, and had as a result ended up in the Royal Flying Corp in 1915. Jack went on to be an 'Observer' while Gilbert became a Pilot. What is quite fasinating is that Jack took some of the first aerial photographs ever while flying over the Western Front, in order to locate German Big Guns.
He was very much into photography and did a lot of work for the Imperial War Museum. Gilbert went on to undertake aerial photography around the Hampshire and home counties area, and in fact discoverd 'Wood Henge', a wooden version of Stone Henge, from Aerial Photos. I have also discovered that Jack worked for Shellmex/BP for many years until his retirement.
His book 'Observer' A history of the Royal Flying Corp was a incredable story of 'Boys Own' type adventures over the battle fields of the First world war. UPDATE AT 23.6.99 I have for several years hoped to get the chance to visit the First World War battle fields, and in particular the areas over which my Grand father operated. At last, and quite suddenly this June, everything came together. I had the time, the money, a reliable car and most importantly of all, a good weather forecast. I set off for France via the channel tunnel on Thursday 16th June, meeting up with a friend who was channel hopping with his wife for the weekly shopping! He would be able to show me the ropes as it were of using the tunnel.
In any event the trip is easy, and we were soon in France. As I aimed to drive down to the Arras area, I quickly set off and reached Arras at about 1730 hrs. However, the town did not look very appealing, so I headed on down to the small town of Bapaume, where I stumbled upon a rather nice small Hotel that charged only about £30 a night. It even had Sky on the TV, so I could watch THE wedding!
As it turned out, Bapaume is the ideal spot for visiting the Somme battlefields, and indeed there was even a small cemetery within 100 yards of the Hotel. The next day, Friday, I set off with the intention of finding an airfield where I could hire a plane for some aerial photography. I first drove along the main Bapaume/Albert road (D929) which I knew was very much a part of the front line area. Indeed, I soon came across one of the many British cemeteries in the area, right alongside the road at Warlencourt Eaucourt. While talking to another British couple, they told me about the famous 'Cafe Tommy' in Pozieres, which is a small cafe that the owner has made into a sort of museum.
I eventually arrived at the airfield at Amiens, and was able to arrange a flight at 1400 hours the following day when the weather would be even better. This was great, as Amiens airfield was used by the Royal Flying Corps extensively during the Somme offensive; pilots coming from England would cross the channel at Dover, fly down the coast, and then use the Somme river to navigate up to Arras. ( I must do that trip one day!) I drove back to Bapaume via the town of Peronne, where I visited the interesting local 1st WW Museum.
I set off in good time the following morning to visit a number of battlefield sites and the Thiepval monument for those lost during the Somme offensive whose remains were never found. The other key feature in this area is Beaumont Hemel where the trenches and many bomb craters have been preserved. In the summer months, Canadian students act as guides for this large well kept site. I also managed to make a quick visit to a small village called Bertangles just to the North of Amiens where my Grand Father was based for some time, and which included an interesting Chateau. However, his description of the village as being a quite miserable place was quite the opposite to the present affluent and tranquil place I found. The grand Chateau is still there, as it had been well away from the front line, where of course every building had been totally obliterated. After arriving at the airport it was some time before the plane and pilot appeared, albeit not from the same direction! The young pilot spoke very little English, and my French is less than basic, but by using an British born interpreter I was able to explain what I wanted to do, and how I did things, ie I like to position the plane, and then hand control over to the pilot.
We flew for about 90 minutes and managed to cover most of the sites I had visited on the ground, including Beaumont Hemel, Bapaume, Deville and High Woods and Bertangles. I would have liked to have remained aloft for longer, but apart from the clouds starting to come over, I was not absolutely sure how much the flight would cost me, and as I had to pay in cash, was a bit worried that I could become a bit embarrassed when presented with the bill! The main photographic problem I had was that the countryside now, particularly during the summer months, is a mass of rolling green fields much like Sussex. As a result any signs of the past are in the main completely lost.
However, I did manage to find one of the massive mine craters just outside Pozieres that even after almost eighty years is still some twenty feet or so deep. There are also numerous monuments and cemeteries, some large, and some small, which from the air would be impossible for me to identify at a later date.
On the last evening, I drove up to Deville and High woods, both of which are quite near to Bapaume, and watched the sun go down from the now most peaceful corner of High wood. I managed to cover a lot of ground in two days, but with hindsight would have done better to make the visit in perhaps September when the fields would be bare. But in any event it was a most interesting and poignant trip, and indeed now very easy by using the Chunnel.
It is quite possible in the words of General MacArthur, that "I will be back"