In brief, I’m loving my job again!

I joined Eastern Airways (UK) Ltd in February 2014 as a Jetstream 41 Captain and was initially based at Aberdeen carrying out oil and gas charter flights between Aberdeen and the Shetland Islands. I moved base to Leeds in May 2015 where I operated the company's passenger schedule to Aberdeen or Southampton with frequent nightstops around the UK and French network.

A freelance Citation Excel/XLS Captain at Eurojet from October 2012 until the company ceased trading in January 2014.

In December 2010 I was asked by Hangar8 to deliver to India and operate a Citation XLS which had been sold to one of India's largest companies. This was a fantastic experience but, sadly, only a temporary contract, I formally handed the aircraft over to Air One Pte (Delhi) in April 2011 following its transfer to the Indian register. The aircraft was the last XLS in the Hangar8 fleet and upon my return I was commended for a job well done in India and promised a transfer to another type, but sadly this never materialised.

I joined Jersey European as a First Officer on the Fokker F27-500 at Leeds Bradford in June 1998. I then moved to a new fleet of Bombardier DHC8-200/300s in 1999 when the F27 fleet was phased out. I was promoted to Captain in 2002 and moved onto a new fleet of DHC8-Q400s at Birmingham. I was offered a BAe 146 Command but turned that down (perhaps a mistake in hindsight) in favour of staying on the ultra-modern EFIS/FADEC-equipped DHC8. I enjoyed flying the DHC8-400 immensely and, with a state of the art flightdeck and jet-like performance, it proved to be a perfect stepping stone for my next position on the Citation Excel/XLS.

At the end of August 2001 I was offered a First Officer position at bmi Regional on the Embraer 135/145 and was due to start training in December 2001, unfortunately the job offer was withdrawn a few weeks later due to a bmi Group business review brought about by the events of 11th September 2001.

In the months running up to my last day in the RAF in March 1996, I assessed the available routes towards gaining a Frozen* ATPL/IR. I chose the modular route and began intensive flying in order to accrue the necessary hours to gain a BCPL, whilst simultaneously studying for and taking the required CPL ground examinations. After passing all 15 CPL technical & navigation subjects by August 1996 and completing the BCPL flight test, I attended an approved 10-week intensive BCPL to CPL/IR upgrade course at SFT, Bournemouth. I graduated from there in March 1997, gaining a first time pass in the Combined Instrument Rating Test. The final stage was to pass the required ATPL ground examinations, which I did just a few months later.* 'Frozen' in this context has nothing to do with the weather in the UK! It means that a trainee commercial pilot has gained a CPL/IR and has passed all the necessary ATPL ground examinations. The licence becomes unfrozen and a full ATPL/IR issued when a minimum of 1,500 hours of flying experience has been achieved.KEY:BCPL = Basic Commercial Pilot LicenceCPL = Commercial Pilot LicenceATPL = Airline Transport Pilot LicenceIR = Instrument Rating

After being awarded a prestigious Royal Air Force Flying Scholarship in 1983 whilst a CCF cadet at Batley Grammar School, I joined the RAF in 1985 as a Direct Entry Electronics Technician, initially on airborne Radar equipment and then later cross-trained to include Communications and Flight Systems equipment. I trained at RAF Cosford from May 1985 to September 1986 and was then posted to the Dominie Handling & Rectification Flight at RAF Finningley. My primary duty there was the rectification of on-aircraft equipment faults, but I was also involved in all other aspects of aircraft handling.Following promotion in 1989 I also became responsible for the supervision of aircraft line operations; duties included rostering, control and supervision of a 30-strong team of line personnel carrying out all aspects of aircraft ground handling in a time and mission-critical environment.I was posted to RAF Scampton in 1991 as a result of contractorisation at RAF Finningley and then to RAF Waddington on Sentry E3D AWAC aircraft in 1993 when RAF Scampton also contractorised. Later in 1993 I was selected to join the Red Arrows and in 1995 I undertook several industry-sponsored worldwide tours as part of the 'Circus' back-seat technical team.I took voluntary redundancy from the RAF in March 1996 to retrain as a Commercial Pilot.