"I always wanted to be a pilot - ever since the age of 7. My family and I went to Bournemouth when I was that age - and it took us 5.5 hours in a coach to get there from Bedfordshire. I remember sitting on the beach once we had reached the coast when I saw a plane overhead - it was on its way to France. I worked out that that would have taken me 20 minutes to get from Bedfordshire to Bournemouth - and I said to myself then - ‘that’s what I want to be, a pilot’. It was the same thing when I saw Concorde for the first time. I knew immediately that I wanted to be Concorde pilot. Now I am manager of the Concorde fleet - flight manager Concorde to be precise. I am responsible for maintaining technical standards, the training of pilots and engineers, man management, and the day to day running of the fleet - plus the commercial aspect of British Airways’ 7 Concordes. Plus I get to fly Concorde at least once a week. I devote the rest of my time to my wife Chris and we have a 4.5 year old daughter, Amy.

I feel so privileged to flown Concorde. It is the ultimate in commercial aviation. Most pilots would love to have to go. It is such a responsive aeroplane - it travels at twice the speed of sound, can get across the Atlantic in 3hr. 20 minutes and goes twice as high as other aircraft. It is technically demanding - but very personally rewarding too. You cannot become blase about flying Concorde. You have to fly it with precision. You are on the edge of space - travelling faster than a rifle bullet.

She is one of the three lady loves of my life. Concorde, Chris and my daughter Amy. And out of those 3 she is the only one that I can control! With Concorde its a very real love too: I still get a buzz when I come to work, especially when I know that at I am going to fly - and that’s after 22 years since I first flew the aircraft. If you are lucky enough to have met your dream, which I have done, and you can still do it - you are bound to be in love. She is beautiful, stimulating and graceful - never infuriating or frustrating at all.

There is no sensation about going through the sound barrier whatsoever. That’s the clever part. But the whole flight is fun. The satisfaction is reinforced every time we go to a new destination. We have been to 245 around the world - 70 of them in the USA. But when a new one crops up we attract tens of thousands of people - and that reminds you of how special the aircraft is.

We do a number of ‘special flights’ through leading travel companies. They tend to take place around lunch time - and they last around 1hr 40 minutes - out to the Atlantic and back. We call it around the Bay. On such a day I will usually I get up around 7.30 am - that’s when Amy gets us up. It takes me just 13 minutes to get to the office - I live in Staines, just down the road from our Headquarters at Heathrow. I check out what needs to be done - technical, training, management. Around 11 I change into my uniform and get ready for the flight. I meet up with the rest of the crew, flight engineers, another flight crew member - and our specially selected team of 6 cabin crew. We put an extra person on because on these flights almost everyone, without exception, wants to come up to the flight deck.

Then the passengers will arrive - all very excited - 100 of them. The vast majority will be on Concorde for the first time. They come from all walks of life and all age groups. Often their ticket (around £675) is a present. A special treat. Which means that an entire family might be on board. We taxi out - no particular priority. Take off is quite sensational - we don’t use any reduced power for take off. We use full power - which is designed for the maximum weight. But we may well be 50 tons or so lighter than the maximum - which means performance is enhanced, and acceleration is very invigorating. We get airborne around 220 mph, climbing out at 300 mph. Then we climb rapidly. Once we are out over Swansea we open her up to full speed - and go through the sound barrier. You just feel two slight nudges of acceleration as those reheats come in. The indicators in the cabin go through Mach 1.

By the time we are over the Scilly Isles we will be around 10 miles high. The customers will be having a light champagne lunch - salmon and so on. They will have taken photographs in front of the Mach meter. We don’t fly supersonic over land because of the sonic boom, which is present whenever we are supersonic.

In the flight deck we are navigating, looking at all of the systems, getting clearances and operating the aircraft as efficiently as we can. The aeroplane has a superb safety record and is extremely reliable.

The landing back at Heathrow is also sensational. We use all of our stopping ability. Sometimes the passangers applaud on touchdown If you thought they were smiling when they got on, then you should see them when they get off - absolutely elated and invariably pledging to return. People love it - it’s the aviational equivalent of Disneyland - everyone going home with a smile.

I return to the Compass Centre at Heathrow. I am pleased, not relieved, that everything has gone well. We pilots are extremely highly trained, with acute capabilities, in the hope that our skills are never needed. A good day is when things are nice and quiet. Then I might head off to Bristol, where our simulator is. I still train crews. I love training other flying crews, although it is a very demanding course - the whole process take 6 months because the plane is so complex. These pilots are dedicated and enthusiastic and above average in capabilities. Vacancies are heavily oversubscribed - there were 110 applications for the last post that cropped up, I seem to recall.

If I do all of this in one day, which is unlikely, I would get back at about 10.30 at night. The lovely aspect about this job is that it allows me to see the family every day. Even when I go to New York and back in the same day!

A perfect day for me will end with my daughter sitting on my knee and my reading her an Enid Blyton story. Then having dinner with my wife.

Tucked up in bed I love to read. I am a great Tom Clancy fan - I am currently reading Executive Orders. I have no difficulty whatsoever in falling asleep anywhere in the world. I am passionate about Concorde - my dream has come true. I’m sure that’s why I sleep so well.