Why the Maple Leaf?

I'm proud to have the Maple Leaf form the main part of my company logo and it may be worth explaining why. The poem "High Flight" was an iconic verse in aviation some years ago, although some of the younger pilots these days seem not to have encountered it.

It was written by an American, Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, who enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in order to get to Europe and play his part in the war.

Following training he qualified on the Spitfire, but was to later lose his life in a mid air collision. His parents discovered the poem in his personal items some years after the war.

During my military service I was fortunate enough to complete a three year exchange tour with the Canadian Armed Forces at Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan, it was arguably the highlight of my career. The Canadian Armed Forces are an extremely capable service and I learned much from them. They were quick to make me feel welcome and I quickly felt part of their organisation. They even made me, the "Brit" exchange officer, the Chief Standards Officer! (Well, I couldn't play hockey for the life of me, so it gave me something to do in the winter).

I also made a very dear friend that I was to fly with for many years, Captain Bryan "Mav" Mitchell. Mav and I served and flew together in Canada, the UK and finally Saudi Arabia. Together we had many adventures and flying with Mav was always "memorable". Mav made cloud dancing an art, and I'd pursue him up and around towering cumulus clouds whenever the opportunity arose (although we were always 1000 feet vertically and 1500m horizontally separated from cloud...). I will also never forget the "12 Fly by's of Christmas" we completed as a pair in 1994. Mav led the first six, I led the second six. 12 airfields in one hour 30 minutes, we were awesome!

Mav was to sadly lose his life in 2008 whilst flying for 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, the Canadian Snowbirds formation display team.

My use of the Maple Leaf is my salute to a great service, a great time, and a very dear friend.