He flew 24 wartime missions over northern Europe in Wellington bombers. After the war, he spent 20 years in weapons research in the Royal Air Force.
He was an avid photographer. He combined his skills in photography and flight to help police in aerial reconnaissance, the search for Lord Lucan, and the Loch Ness monster.
He was made an MBE in 1996.
He was the James Bond stunt double who flew the autogyro in You Only Live Twice (1967). The seven-minute sequence took 44 hours of flight time to record.