An RAF veteran's book shares memories of everything from looking after Royalty to a close encounter with Air Force One.
Ascot Airways reached the bestseller list
Robert D Whittingham, who lives in Swindon, was stationed at RAF Lyneham, RAF Brize Norton, and lived in married quarters at RAF Fairford.
Both of his children were born at RAF Wroughton, and he also worked at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom at Shrivenham.
He said: "After I retired I decided to write my memoirs. It was a difficult but most enjoyable task. I was told that I would be lucky to sell fifty copies of my book, as that is the normal amount for a non famous person.
"To the contrary my book did exceptionally well worldwide and reached number four in Amazon's top 100 titles on aviation history."
His book, Ascot Airways: The Life and Times of a Royal Air Force Steward, puts a fresh spin on the life of a steward, from working in a grand house to flying around the World, and looking after Royalty, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Government Officials and Service personnel.
It details events and adventures including:
- Robert raced to Ethiopia to rescue survivors of a terrible plane crash
- Approaching Air Force One, the aircraft of the US President, only to hear the words: "Stop, or I will shoot!”
- A Concorde test flight
- When a passenger complained about his Duty Free as he was rescued from the invasion of Cyprus
- An encounter with an angry octopus in the Maldives
- The revelation that elephants in Sri Lanka have tail-lights
Following the success of the first book, the author decided to write a children's book, The Story of Vicky Ten. The Queen of the Skies.
He said: "Aimed at young children, this book is written to keep the memory alive of the Vickers VC10, an iconic British Airliner, sadly no longer flying."
Both of his children were born at RAF Wroughton, and he also worked at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom at Shrivenham.
He said: "After I retired I decided to write my memoirs. It was a difficult but most enjoyable task. I was told that I would be lucky to sell fifty copies of my book, as that is the normal amount for a non famous person.
"To the contrary my book did exceptionally well worldwide and reached number four in Amazon's top 100 titles on aviation history."
His book, Ascot Airways: The Life and Times of a Royal Air Force Steward, puts a fresh spin on the life of a steward, from working in a grand house to flying around the World, and looking after Royalty, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Government Officials and Service personnel.
It details events and adventures including:
- Robert raced to Ethiopia to rescue survivors of a terrible plane crash
- Approaching Air Force One, the aircraft of the US President, only to hear the words: "Stop, or I will shoot!”
- A Concorde test flight
- When a passenger complained about his Duty Free as he was rescued from the invasion of Cyprus
- An encounter with an angry octopus in the Maldives
- The revelation that elephants in Sri Lanka have tail-lights
Following the success of the first book, the author decided to write a children's book, The Story of Vicky Ten. The Queen of the Skies.
He said: "Aimed at young children, this book is written to keep the memory alive of the Vickers VC10, an iconic British Airliner, sadly no longer flying."
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