Having wanted to be a pilot for as long as he could remember, Chris Taylor gained his private pilot’s license at the age of 17. He joined the Royal Navy whilst studying for a degree in Electrical Engineering and, after serving as a Navigation Officer on numerous ships, went on to operate Wasp and Lynx helicopters.

After five years instructing, he became a test pilot and flew all manner of experimental aircraft for research and development purposes before returning to the Empire Test Pilot’s School as a tutor. Having served at Boscombe Down for ten years he joined the UK Civil Aviation Authority as an aeroplane and rotorcraft test pilot. With the closure of the CAA’s Flight Test Department, he formed Dovetail Aviation Ltd and has continued to test fly a wide variety of aircraft ever since.

Chris has flown 400 different kinds of aircraft, is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and is a licensed Category 1 Test Pilot and Flight Test Instructor for both aeroplanes and helicopters, which arguably makes him one of the best qualified and most widely experienced test pilots working today.

Review:

Well, what an excellent read!

Chris Taylor has that rare gift – the ability to write engagingly and in detail about a subject that is alien to most people and yet he invites them warmly onto a comfortable sofa within this unfamiliar world.

A book written about test flying by a test pilot? Surely only a pilot would understand? I’m not a pilot and that was my (soon to be confounded) expectation. This is an excellent book and it takes the reader through a career that has more variety than Heinz and which required more lives than a lucky cat.

Even the hairiest of experiences is described in a reassuringly down to earth manner that brings the reader fully into the experience. There are technical details that will fascinate the flying community and yet not baffle or bore those whose only flying experience is sitting in a commercial airliner. By the end of the book it wouldn’t be hard to convince yourself that you could fly any of a number of aircraft.

This book isn’t just a series of tales about flying and close escapes. It’s also about a man who clearly has an instinctive grasp of how the physics of flying works that is beyond mere training. It’s about that tight community of airmen, test pilots or not, who quietly share a mutual understanding of the risks and pleasures of aviation. It’s about the relationship between those who fly and those who make things fly – that intimate interplay between aircrew and engineers. Above all it’s about the pioneering spirit that must reside in every test pilot who pushes the envelope whenever they get into an untried aircraft.

Inevitably in a world where gravity leads to the final frontier, there are emotional highs and lows, but they only add to the richness of this book.

Whether you are a pilot or not, this is a terrific read. Leave yourself some time when you open it. You probably won’t put it down until the final page.

Hardback

336 Pages

132 Illustrations

Paul Tremelling was just seven years old when he watched the Royal Navy's Sea Harriers leave their home base in Somerset to do battle against the Argentine Air Force in the Falklands War. Two decades later he would join this exclusive club, one of an elite band of Fleet Air Arm fighter pilots, charged with standing in the way of Her Majesty's enemies.

This is the story of what it takes to make it in the dog-eat-dog arena of fighter combat. In the cockpit or crew room, the pressure is relentless, the humour merciless. It's no place for the faint-hearted.

Whether landing on a pitching aircraft carrier deck in the middle of the night or screaming in to save the lives of heroes under fire in Afghanistan, there was no room for self-doubt; only honesty, confidence and do-or-die hard truth. Big Boys Rules.

In return Tremelling and his fellow airborne warriors enjoyed levels of exhilaration and job-satisfaction that would almost unimaginable in any other walk of life.

Either Winston Churchill or George Orwell (or maybe neither of them ...) is reputed to have said 'we sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm'.

For nearly twenty years, Tremelling was one of those men. And never happier than when he was in the cockpit of the legendary British jump jet.

Combining visceral action with sharp intelligence, laced with acerbic humour, Harrier pulls no punches in bringing to life the hi-octane, unforgiving world of the fighter pilot, in the air and on the ground.

Strap-in ...

About the author:-

Paul Tremelling joined the Royal Navy in 1996 & flew the Sea Harrier on 800,801 & 899 Naval Air Squadrons. Qualifying as an Air Warfare Instructor he transitioned to the GR9 & served on the Naval Strike Wing where he became Senior Pilot. Selected for exchange duties with the USN Tremelling flew F/A-18E Super Hornet with VFA-25, The Fist of The Fleet. He fitted in three desk tours, two Battle Staff jobs and operational duties in Afghanistan and off Libya. He was Mentioned in Despatches following an action fought in Afghanistan.

These chopping/bread boards are made from finest Oak and bear the proud Fly Navy logo.

An excellent and practical addition to any kitchen, they are great for cutting anything from lemons for your G & T to a fresh baked farmhouse loaf. 

Very solidly made (they are almost an inch and a half thick!), these boards will look good and last for many years.

Length 320mm

Breadth 195mm

Thickness 37mm

Weight 1.6kg

The Sea Harrier has become a British icon for ground breaking engineering and performance. It has an enviable service record through numerous conflicts and it always shone wherever it served and under whatever flag. Perhaps most remembered for an outstanding contribution during the Falklands War, but also in the Middle East and the Balkans.

The surrounds of these dramatic mirrors are made from elements of the Sea Harrier's vectored thrust system.

These mirrors are big and bold and certainly make a statement as well as being practical and stunning additions to the home.

Design 1 - Overall diameter 58cm - Mirror diameter 34.5cm

Design 2 - Overall diameter 54cm - Mirror diameter 46cm 

Commemorating the extreme bravery and sacrifice that occurred on February 12th, 1942, when six Fairey Swordfish were pitted against an overwhelming force of the Kreigsmarine and Luftwaffe.

In this doomed attempt to sink the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, all six Swordfish were shot down and only 5 of the 'Gallant Eighteen' aircrew survived. Their flight leader, Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde, was posthumously awarded the Victoria cross.

A supreme example of courage and duty.

The German Admiral, Otto Ciliax, who viewed the attack from the bridge of the Scharnhorst, observed that the “handful of ancient planes” had been “piloted by men whose bravery surpasses any other action by either side that day”.

330ml capacity

(We recommend hand wash only and avoiding use in a microwave oven)

A practical reminder of flying days on your desk. These desk tidies are unique and incorporate a genuine piece of instrument panel from an historic aircraft.

Availability is limited, so these are very special pieces.

Design 1 - ASH (21cms x 15cms x 7cms) Ash - Wessex V - Engine start/fuel computer/port/stbd cock

Design 2 - ASH (25cms x 14cms x 6cms) Ash - Sea Vixen - Fuel pumps/pitot heaters

Design 3 - (35cms x 10cms x 10cms) Mahogany - Power/lights/heating

Design 4 (24cms x 11cms x 12cms) Spalted Birch - RP Selectors and guns

Volume One: Cold War Through The Falklands 1969-1990

Volume Two: New Threats, New Technology, New Tactics, 1990 - 2010

In Harrier Boys, Volume One: Cold War Through the Falklands 1969-1990, Bob Marston, who flew Harriers for many years, draws together accounts from others who worked with this unique jet through its history. The excitement, camaraderie and pride of Harrier operators shine through in the personal stories of those whose lives were changed by their experience of this iconic aircraft, both on land and at sea. In this first volume, events of the Cold War years are brought to life by contributors including Graham Williams, who flew the Transatlantic Air Race, Peter Dodworth, a member of the original Harrier Conversion Team, Peter Harris, a participant in the early defence of Belize, Sir Peter Squire, OC 1 (F) Squadron during the Falklands conflict, and Australian Dave Baddams, who commanded the Royal Navy Sea Harriers of 800 Squadron.

In the second volume of Harrier Boys, as with the first, the history of this remarkable aircraft in service with UK armed forces is illustrated through personal reminiscences of the people who worked with it. The book begins with explanations of the mature concept of operations with the Harrier GR3 in the Cold War. It then progresses through the evolution of Harrier II, starting with the GR5, and updates to the Sea Harrier, while the potential battles to be fought necessitated ever-changing tactics and technology. The new Harriers used digital developments for airframe, engine and weapons control. Conflicts in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan saw ground-attack missions move towards the delivery of smart weapons from medium level, rather than the dumb bombs and low level of the Cold War era meaning that the Harrier had once more to demonstrate its legendary versatility. The introduction of the Sea Harrier FA2, with its beyond visual range air-to-air missiles and improved radar, gave much improved air defence. The UK Harrier story ends with the closer integration of the RN and RAF forces, before the aircraft's all-too-early retirement in 2010, possibly decades before other countries forsake this unique capability.

This dramatic image created a strong reaction when we first published it.

So often Remembrance imagery is centred around 'Flanders field' and the relationship to those who lost their lives at sea is lost. We thought that we would remedy that with this powerful sunset image of three Swordfish flying over an expanse of poppies on the 'wind harrowed meadows of the sea'.

The print includes the following poem.

Remember the Poppies of the Sea

No grave to mark the man. No cross, alone or serried ranked. No poignant blooms to salute the loss or the love or the tragedy of fading memories.

On steel steed and white horsed plain they did their duty. They fought and gave and gave their all and, when all was done, they took the sea's embrace.

Somewhere, a gypsy ripple monument roams tirelessly still. A metamorphic headstone. Improperly anonymous. Incongruously humble.

Named and nameless, warriors all. Now fathoms deep, at peace on pillows of softest sand, their drifting spirits but gentle shadows, dancing forever with sunbeams.

At the going down of the sun, and in the mourning, remember the poppies that grow on the wind harrowed meadows of the sea.

A3 print.

250gsm

If the poem is not required, it can be removed and framed without.

This dramatic image created a strong reaction when we first published it.

So often Remembrance imagery is centred around 'Flanders field' and the relationship to those who lost their lives at sea is lost. We thought that we would remedy that with this powerful sunset image of three Swordfish flying over an expanse of poppies on the 'wind harrowed meadows of the sea'.

The notecard includes the following poem.

Remember the Poppies of the Sea

No grave to mark the man. No cross, alone or serried ranked. No poignant blooms to salute the loss or the love or the tragedy of fading memories.

On steel steed and white horsed plain they did their duty. They fought and gave and gave their all and, when all was done, they took the sea's embrace.

Somewhere, a gypsy ripple monument roams tirelessly still. A metamorphic headstone. Improperly anonymous. Incongruously humble.

Named and nameless, warriors all. Now fathoms deep, at peace on pillows of softest sand, their drifting spirits but gentle shadows, dancing forever with sunbeams.

At the going down of the sun, and in the mourning, remember the poppies that grow on the wind harrowed meadows of the sea.

DL/Compliment slip size