I’ve been flying, instructing, and examining for over 35 years; 12 in the RAF, and the rest in airlines. Along the way I’ve picked up many hints and tips, HFDC is my way of passing on some of those thoughts. I aim to start each post with a short quote, one liner, or acronym, and then offer some rambling discourse on what it means to me. I’m not an original thinker, but throughout my career I’ve been happy to use and modify other people’s ideas.

Why ‘Have Fun, Don’t Crash’? Well, in the RAF, each sortie is individually authorised, either by the aircraft commander or a Duty Authoriser. The ‘Auth’ has to satisfy himself that the sortie is adequately planned and briefed before authorising the trip. Sometimes this requires a short Q & A session to establish the facts. Often though the Auth implicitly and instinctively knows that the pilot or pilots will have prepared adequately. For those occasions my Auth Brief consisted of just four words – Have fun, don’t crash.

I very much view aviation as a successor to maritime traditions and skills, so don’t be surprised to see seamanship sneak into this aviation dominated blog. I have a foot in both camps, having been trained by the finest in both traditions – HMS Conway Merchant Navy Officer Cadet School, and the Royal Air Force.

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to become qualified on many civil and military aircraft, and my friends have let me ‘have a go’ at quite a few more. I currently operate the Boeing 757 & 767 as an examiner, instructor, and line Captain on short, medium, and long haul routes.

Before the Boeings I flew the Airbus A320/321 for eighteen years. I also have type ratings on McDonnell Douglas MD83, Partenavia P68, and Piper Aztec. In the RAF I was qualified on the Harrier, Hawk, Hunter, Lightning, Jaguar, Jet Provost, and Chipmunk. I have also logged time on the Comet, Hercules, Andover (military HS748), and Westland Whirlwind helicopter (pre Harrier course). Other than those, my mates have let me have a go on the Lockheed Tristar, and the Westland Puma and Scout helicopters. I am a qualified paraglider student pilot (The rating is no longer issued, it was pretty useless as you couldn’t fly unsupervised). I’ve been up twice in a hot air ballon, but only as a passenger (a great experience, I would highly recommend a trip). I’ve never parachuted; many of my Harrier mates have (but not out of choice!).

On the nautical side I’ve been a professional sailing instructor and have an advanced powerboat qualification. I also recently retired from duty as a Senior Coxswain of my local Lifeboat.

Away from aviation and nautical matters, I’m a husband, father, biker, builder of garden decks, and tyro saxophonist.