A richly illustrated look at the aviation industry in Alderney, celebrating three special anniversaries.

Flight Lieutenant Thomas ‘Tommy’ Rose, a First World War fighter ace, was a pioneer of private flying. He installed and managed the UK’s first fuel pump for private aviation at Brooklands before becoming Sales Manager for Phillips and Powis Aircraft Ltd. The chief flying instructor at several early flying schools, Tommy became the Chief Test Pilot for Miles Aircraft and was the winner of air races and pageants. He was undoubtedly a pilot who could always be relied on to amaze the onlookers with his fast, accurate stunts and low-level flying. Mentioned in Despatches in 1916 and awarded the DFC in 1918, Tommy was attacked in his aircraft several times, yet his astonishing ability at the controls of his aircraft enabled him to land without serious injury. By the time of the Armistice, Tommy had been credited with eleven ‘kills’. He continued to demonstrate these skills after the war and though this true trailblazer was widely known in his glory days during the early part of the twentieth century, little is remembered about him today. Yet Tommy Rose achieved the most incredible feats of aviation and was considered one of the finest pilots of his era, completing over 11,200 flying hours up to 1949. In the 1930s, Tommy took the Imperial Airways route through East Africa, to set up a new world record on the UK to Cape Town passage, beating Amy Mollison (Johnson) who took the shorter course down the west coast. He also won the King's Cup Air Race in 1935. Tommy flew many of the early RAF fighters from Maurice Farman to the Spitfire Mk.IX, and, from late 1939, when he was appointed Chief Test Pilot for Phillip & Powis Aircraft Ltd at Woodley (forerunners of Miles Aircraft Ltd), he test flew all Miles monoplane training and target towing aircraft, leaving in January 1946. His last position was as General Manager of Universal Flying Services Ltd at Fairoaks Aerodrome in Surrey. The result of decades of research by the author, through this book the life and adventures of one of history’s most accomplished and daring aviators can finally be told.

This is a story of aviation, risk and the heart of the pilot. Four out of five fatal aircraft accidents are due to human error; three out of five to pilot error. This book examines the technical aspects of these issues from the viewpoint of one of the UK's most experienced aviation cardiologists. It spans the end of the Second World War through teaching cardiology in aviation on behalf of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) worldwide, via a history of powered flight, time in the cadet force, a flying scholarship on a Tiger Moth, training to be a doctor, later a cardiologist, and owing a series of aircraft. Michael Joy was appointed as cardiologist to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 1974 to assist the regulator in the development of standards of cardiological fitness. Error, risk and accident causation are introduced in the context of various fatal accidents. In this stimulating and highly informative autobiography, Michael looks back at his time with the ICAO and CAA, drafting cardiological standards for Europe and worldwide travel to spread the message, including the Khyber pass, an aircraft factory in the Indonesian jungle and the slave island of Goree in Senegal. Safety is no accident and history is its judge.

"It is surprising how little has been written about some of the more surprising inner workings of the aviation industry. This hilarious collection of stories seeks to address that and presents the pick of many scandals and scams to have plagued the aviation industry (but amused everyone else!). It includes the Zambian man who attempted to beat world superpowers in the Space Race with the help of a fifteen-year-old girl and a 40-gallon oil drum; the Middlesbrough man who wanted to restart flights from Durham to London and believed his proposed airline was 'backed by God' - apparently it wasn't as he was jailed shortly afterwards for fraud; skydiving smugglers and their novel way of trafficking cocaine; and an account of the only unsolved US airline hijacking in history. So whether you're after a funny story, some aviation anecdotes or just love having a laugh at blatant blockheads, this book is for you."--Publisher's description.