At the scene of the crash of Boeing 707 G-ARWE at Heathrow in 1968. Alan reflects sadly that he has probably photographed more crash sites than any other UK photographer.
Alan has written, designed and published his book, It's Plane Magic which contains 24,000 words and 250 of his photographs, mostly on civil aviation, and printed in monochrome, taken over a 35 year period. He explains much of his motivation, and, whilst there is no pretence that the book is either a definitive or exhaustive record of the airline over this period, the detailed captions of his aircraft photographs are well researched.
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This Auster was totally rebuilt, owned and flown by engineer Jed Mackie
He and a colleague were invited to produce the BA Engineering Magazine in 1984, and he became its joint editor and photographic editor. Alan worked on every edition of this monthly magazine, which ran for ten years. During this period he was the only full-time professional photographer in the airline.
Alan joined British European Airways (BEA) in September 1954, as an engineering apprentice. But a burgeoning interest in photography soon persuaded him to switch tracks. Alan declined an invitation to become a Fleet Street photographer, preferring instead security with BEA, where he was able to turn from aircraft maintenance to specialised photojournalism.
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