Lightnings to Spitfires: Memoirs of an RAF Fighter Pilot and Former Officer Commanding the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

For forty-four years, Clive Rowley flew with the Royal Air Force and for thirty-one of those years he specialised as an air defence fighter pilot. Such was his love of fast fighter aircraft that, in order to stay flying, he transferred to Specialist Aircrew terms of service, relinquishing any chance of further promotion above his rank of squadron leader. During those years Clive flew Lightnings, Hawks and Tornado F.3s but, perhaps more intriguingly, for eleven years he flew Hurricanes and Spitfires with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), the RAF's, if not the world's most famous 'warbird' display team, which he ultimately led and commanded. Many readers will have watched him, perhaps unknowingly, as he flew these iconic aircraft, often alongside the Lancaster, at air shows and large-scale commemorations around the UK and Europe. During the Cold War Clive flew the BAC Lightning from Gutersloh in Germany and in the UK, becoming an expert in the art of air combat in the process. Then for sixteen years he flew the Tornado F.3 as the RAF moved into expeditionary operations. Packed with humorous and often hair-raising anecdotes, but also revealing the shock and sorrow he felt at the deaths of friends and colleagues, this book is a highly detailed account of life as a fighter pilot in the RAF in the last three decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Clive is open about the fears he sometimes felt in this dangerous world and how he allayed them to continue flying for more than four decades. This book is illustrated with wonderful photographs from his time on the front line as well as with the BBMF, many of which have never been published before. If you have ever wondered what it is like to fly supersonic jet fighters, like the Lightning and the Tornado F.3, or iconic 'warbirds', such as the Hurricane and Spitfire, Clive Rowley brings you into those cockpits and shares his experiences.

About the Author :
SQUADRON LEADER CLIVE ROWLEY MBE, RAF (Retd.) served with the Royal Air Force for a total of forty-five years. In full-time service he flew continuously as a pilot from 1971 to 2006 and was still flying fast-jets when he was 52 years old. As a fighter pilot with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) Clive displayed the unit's Spitfires and Hurricanes for eleven years up to 2007\. Nine years of flying as a volunteer reservist followed, completing a period in which Clive accumulated over 8,500 hours, all in aircraft which he 'could turn upside down'. During his RAF service, Clive also commanded the Lightning Training Flight and was the Officer Commanding the BBMF. Since retiring, Clive has become a respected military aviation historian and writer.