GNAAS welcomes pilot Iain to the team

From a young age, Iain, who was born and raised in Acklam, Middlesbrough, has always wanted to be a pilot.

His childhood passion for flying has led to an exciting and varied career which has seen him fly into the battlefield in Afghanistan to take injured soldiers back to safety and winch casualties off the side of a mountain in a snowstorm.

After nearly ten years of commuting from Teesside to Prestwick, Iain jumped at the chance to be closer to home and joined GNAAS as one of our pilots in January.

We caught up with Iain to find out more about his incredible career and most memorable flights.

Could you talk me through your career from the beginning up until now?

I joined the RAF as a pilot in November 1999 after completing my degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Loughborough University. After around three years of flying training, I was sent to the front line to fly the Chinook helicopter which took me all over the world on various operations.

In 2009 I decided to ask for a transfer to the Search and Rescue (SAR) fleet and this gave me the opportunity to move back to the North East, flying the Sea King based out of RAF Boulmer near Alnwick.

In 2015, around the same time that my RAF commission was coming to an end, the SAR contract was being privatised, and I applied for a position as a SAR Commander flying for the Coastguard. I spent just under 10 years commuting from Teesside to Prestwick where I flew the AW189 covering most of Scotland, the North of England and Northern Ireland. During this period of my career, I also qualified as a type rating instructor and examiner which involved training and testing the next generation of SAR pilots which was really satisfying.

Ultimately, the lure of a return home was too good and when the opportunity to join GNAAS came up I jumped at the chance and began flying with them in January this year.

What has been your favourite job outside of GNAAS?

The most rewarding job I’ve ever had has to be flying MERT (Medical Evacuation Response Team) missions in Afghanistan. We would be tasked to fly into the battlefield with a highly skilled medical team onboard to recover injured soldiers back to safety. It was this sort of rapid response flying that made me realise I wanted to be constantly involved in emergency helicopter flying.

What made you want to be a pilot?

It’s what I’ve always wanted to do and have no memory of ever wanting to do anything else. My parents told me that when I was younger, I would get very excited whenever a helicopter flew over and I’d pretend to be the pilot.

What was the experience of flying by yourself for the first time as a pilot like?

Very surreal. I flew my first solo at RAF Dishforth in a Firefly and flew a circuit over the A1M after only 10 hours of flying training, thankfully I didn’t crash.

Where has your job taken you in the past?

I have been very fortunate to have flown in some of the most stunning parts of the world. My career has taken me to most parts of Europe including Germany where I flew past Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in The Alps, France, Italy, Netherlands and Scandinavia.

Further afield I have flown in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, the Falkland Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Back home I have spent most of my career flying in the highlands of Scotland and northern England including the Lake District and Northumberland.

What’s the best thing about being a pilot?

Being a pilot has allowed me to travel the world and get to see things that most people only dream of. The views from the sky give you a completely different perspective of the world than when you’re on the ground. I’ve regularly flown along the River Thames taking in the sights of London without having to deal with crowds.

Where in our region is the best place to fly over?

The Lake District and the Northumberland coast certainly have the best views, but I do get a little buzz whenever I fly over my hometown of Middlesbrough and can see where I grew up and my old school.

Is there anywhere you haven’t flown over yet where you would love to fly?

I’d love to fly over South America and see the Amazon rainforest, although I wouldn’t really want to land on and meet the local wildlife!

Do you have a standout job from your career?

In a strange way I’m able to remember nearly every callout that I’ve ever been on and it’s difficult to pick a standout one as they were all significant in their own way. I’ve been tested to the extent of my abilities on numerous occasions including landing in a minefield, landing back on base to find bullet holes in the aircraft on MERT missions, and winching casualties off the side of a mountain at night in a snowstorm during a SAR tasking.