Mayfly

Much has been written about aviation, nearly all of it focussed on the glamorous work of pilots. Even cabin crew have checked in their stories. However, though a hundred of us stand behind every pilot, virtually nothing has been written about groundlings, without whom there would be no flying. Mayfly is one man’s account of his two-and-a-half-decade adventure in aviation; the fun, the excitement, the tragedy, as witnessed (mostly) from the ground.

Born in Yorkshire, Mike James has lived in West Sussex since 1960. He joined the army from school and later, the Merchant Navy, as a deckhand. Coming ashore, he worked for twenty-five years in civil aviation and twenty more as a train driver, before retiring. Mike James is a pseudonym.