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Having wanted to be a pilot for as long as he can remember, CHRIS TAYLOR gained his private pilot’s licence at the age of seventeen. He joined the Royal Navy whilst studying for a degree in Electrical Engineering and, after serving as a Navigation Officer on numerous ships, went on to operate Wasp and Lynx helicopters, flying in all weathers from frigates deployed worldwide. Despite domestic challenges he became a highly respected and experienced ‘Exceptional Qualified Helicopter Instructor’ and spent over two years as the Commanding Officer for the Lynx Simulator training facility at RNAS Portland before being accepted for training to become an Experimental Test Pilot. He flew all manner of experimental aircraft for research and development purposes before returning to the Empire Test Pilots’ School as a Flight Test Instructor. Having served at Boscombe Down for ten years he joined the UK Civil Aviation Authority as an aeroplane and rotorcraft test pilot. With the closure of the CAA’s Flight Test Department he formed Dovetail Aviation Ltd and has continued to test fly a wide variety of aircraft ever since. Chris has flown over 400 different kinds of aircraft, is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and is a licensed Category 1 Test Pilot and Flight Test Instructor for both aeroplanes and helicopters, which arguably makes him one of the best qualified and most widely experienced test pilots working today. Additionally, he finds time to be a Helicopter Examiner and Flying Instructor for helicopters, aeroplanes and autogyros when he is not to be found playing with his grandchildren. Following the success of his previous books, Test Pilot and Experimental Test Pilot, Chris felt inspired to write this ‘prequel’ about service in the Royal Navy as an operational Wasp and Lynx pilot.