Travelling by Sound and Smell: My world of Aircraft, Airlines, Airports and Attractions is a lookback at my years of flying on aircraft from the early 60's through to the present and the many countries and people I got to meet and befriend.
My love of aircraft started when I was about 8 years old looking up at aerobatic displays, building balsawood planes and collecting model aircraft. Watching in wonder at these jet pilots performing miracles in the skies: I was hooked. I wanted to be that pilot in the cockpit.
It wasn't about their smart uniforms, but all about the majestic sight of those planes flying in formation and that sense of bird-like freedom.
However, an accident at 10 years old left me blinded, and just like the disappearing jet contrails my hopes and dreams of becoming a pilot at that moment also vanished into thin air. In that split second, the childhood dreams of one day becoming a pilot had gone.
Little did I know in the decades to follow I would fly in planes like the 1931 JU 52, the 1935 DC 3, the Vickers Viscount, fly at twice the speed of sound on the Concorde, all the Boeing aircraft from the B707 through to B787, and most of the Airbus aircraft.
Believe it nor not, the most disappointing flight was in Concorde. Even though Concordes are no longer in the air, and a few can only be seen in various museums I doubt if the 100 passengers if blindfolded would have known we were flying at more than twice the speed of sound. I certainly didn't know we had twice broken the sound barrier.
One aircraft which I have yet to fly in is the B737 max 9. I must admit I am not in a hurry, especially after a panel was blown out on one of the B737 max 9 aircraft thanks to missing bolts, and the ongoing lack of Boeing quality control issues.
This book is also all about my life as a young plane enthusiast through to becoming a passenger and eventually becoming an aviation journalist and travel writer along with some of the interesting destinations and people I met throughout the years thanks to mainly Boeing and Airbus.
I had no idea as the years went by it would take 60 years before my wish to take control of an aircraft finally came true and my dashed dream turned into reality.
The book is also in loving memory of my beloved dogs Minky and Poppy who asked for so little but gave so very much.
Wherever a beautiful soul has been, there is a trail of beautiful memories.
They made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. They walked and ran with the universe on their shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings.
My mind still talks to you. My heart still looks for you. My soul knows you are at peace. I am thankful for having had you, but I still miss you both so much.
I wish you could know the amount of happiness you brought into my life, and how I wish I could have taken you both with me on many of those flights and how you would have enjoyed exploring the different countries and places and like me loved the different smells.
Thanks to NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft programme which allowed a number of names to be included on the flight Poppy's name has been included. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles to explore Jupiter's icy moon and will take 5 and a half years to reach the planet.
No matter how far or how long the space trip takes, I am sure Poppy will continue to visit me in my dreams.
Even though you never got to go with me, you were always with me in my heart and in my thoughts and nothing has changed.
My Minky and Poppy, there will never be a day when I don't think of you and wish you were by my side.
Hopefully the day will come when we are together again, and the three of us can fly and play amongst the stars.
