"It is a fascinating read. The author has produced a real masterpiece with this absorbing account of his life in this most demanding arena of military support aviation."

Fleet Air Arm Officers’ Association newsletter - May 2023 edition

Engagingly written, with self-deprecating humour, it should appeal to everyone.

Highly recommended.

'The Pennant’, the Journal of the Forces Pension Society - Autumn 2022

I have been looking forward to reading and reviewing this book for quite some time. Army Aviation is considered by many in aviation circles as a niche activity that attracts a specific type of person... flying in the Royal Marines is definitely a niche within that niche! With that long-confirmed belief firmly in place I tackled this detailed account of thirty years of helicopter flying with the Royal Marines.

This is a fascinating story that tracks the author's varied flying career from his early experiences in 1965 to retirement from flying duties in 1995. This was a really exciting time in the development of military helicopters. The types that appear in Robert Wilsey's very full log book(s) range from the Westland Sioux, to the iconic Scout, the Gazelle and finally the Lynx. The feel and experience of flying all of these very different types is described in the forensic technical detail that you might expect from an experienced QHI. The role and deployment of the Royal Marine Air Squadrons & Flights over the years ensuring that those descriptions include informed narratives of the challenges of flying in almost every climate and type of terrain on the planet.

This really is a book about flying, whether that be the pressures of flying on military operations, or leading the Army Air Corps Helicopter Display team in its all-Lynx equipped heyday. There is a personal narrative underpinning and complimenting every chapter, but thats clearly not what the book is about. So, if you are an aviation nut, consumed with a hunger for detail and expert insight into the challenges of flying military helicopters, then you will love this absorbing book.

Mike Peters - Guild of Battlefield Guides, RHQ Royal Anglian Regt

Robert Wilsey was clearly a very gifted and well respected pilot as is manifested by the awards, appointments and recommendations bestowed on him by the other services. He was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air for N Iraq and the United States Legion of Merit. He writes very modestly and certainly does not brag, although he would have considerable justification in so doing. He does not hide his mistakes, but always learns from them, and describes some very close calls including a near-fatal crash.

Col Brian Carter

As Featured in

Model Aircraft Monthly, October/November 2021

You know that you are in for a treat when you are drawn into the narrative within the first few paragraphs; as is the case here, with initial references to Vikings, Ambassadors, Meteors, Austers, Chipmunks and T.38 Grasshoppers! In the words of Roger Bacon (Straight and Level, Flight Magazine diarist in days of yore) Colonel Wilsey is a ‘total aviation person.’

That said, I have read many enthusiastically written aircrew memoirs and by no means all of them have been up to scratch. Quite often an author may be a highly competent aviator but, unfortunately, also a very poor writer, who refuses to avail himself of the necessary services of an editor or proof-readers. This is certainty not the case here, happily, as this author tells his absorbing tale factually, anecdotally and technically with considerable aplomb.

A key part of my pleasure in reading this book has been the care and trouble taken over the endnotes, these really enhance and illuminate the main text. So while reading, I would suggest, keep a marker in this section for quick reference.

We follow the author through his training at Middle Wallop, flying Chipmunks, Bell 47s and Sioux, where the developing theme was, ‘How to use the aircraft and not just fly it.’ The attitude of the instructors was robust, summarized pithily as, ‘stop talking and get on with it.’ This produced, ‘sound, self-reliant pilots - if they survived training.’ Conversion to the brand new Gazelle followed immediately, which was a quantum leap from the Sioux, as, amongst other qualities, it cruised twice as fast. His first posting to 3 CBAS in 1975 included deck landings on the Commando Carrier, HMS Bulwark and smaller platforms, which, counterintuitively, were less challenging as there were likely to be fewer aircraft on deck.

Over the course of his long flying career the author flew Gazelles, Sioux and Lynx in such diverse locations as Malta, Brunei, Northern Ireland, Germany, France, Norway, Canada, Belize and Northern Iraq, as well as having considerable experience as a QHI and as an air display pilot with the Sparrowhawks and the Silver Eagles. A surprising fact is that this latter Lynx-based team sometimes added a Beaver to the mix. He also achieved command of 3 CBAS in 1989, culminating in 1991 with the challenges of Operation HAVEN in Northern Iraq.

Reading this well-crafted account felt much the same to me as if I were sitting in the Mess Bar or Anteroom listening to this highly experienced airman’s ‘dits’, told with verve, along with detailed explanations of flying techniques, tasks and terrain in each of the theatres covered.

As may have been gathered, I really enjoyed reading this book - highly recommended!

Guy Warner, Ulster Aviation Society

A clear insight into the era of light helicopter support to the Royal Marines

The author's experience follows the evolution from embedded unit flights through to a 3 Commando Brigade capability. This description from a pilot / aviation commander's experience is both an excellent historical record and a fitting tribute to all who were involved. Highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in military aviation or the campaigns where the author served.

Amazon UK Review

"The best step by step description of the Army Pilots Course I have ever read."

5 Stars

Amazon UK Review

"For flying adepts this book is undoubtedly a recommendation."

Read the review here

Aviation Book Reviews.com

A marvellous insight into life a Royal Marines helicopter pilot.

This book recounts the progress of the author through his long Royal Marines career from commando training to fly helicopters and onto exercises operational deployments. Through his experiences we learn not just about complexities of flying but the also the history of the the 3rd Brigade Air Squadron. You read about the struggles and pitfalls of early helicopter operations, struggling against poor engine performance and the quirks of the various helicopters handling and capabilities. Practising to land a helicopter with the engine turned off is not for the faint hearted or foolhardy!

The book is very well written with lots of details and illuminating chapters as he recounts his progression from student to display pilot and qualified helicopter instructor. Along the way you traverse the globe on deployments both in peacetime and conflict, from arctic warfare training, the humid jungles of Brunei and the hot and dusty mountains of northern Iraq, each with their own hazards.

Flying can be a dangerous occupation and whilst the author luckily walked away from his prangs we also learn of his colleagues and friends who were not so fortunate serving our country. I highly recommend this book for its detail and wealth of colourful accounts.

5 Stars.

Amazon UK Review

A Fitting Tribute to Royal Marines Rotary Wing Aviation.

Over a long and distinguished flying career the Author kept detailed records of every aspect of operating the military helicopters he flew. In this book he shares a very readable and full account of his time in Royal Marines' aviation - from flying training, to the realities of operations in some of the harshest and most demanding of flying conditions (arctic, maritime, mountain and jungle), and finally what it was like to be in command during Operation Haven in Iraq.

For anyone interested in military light helicopter operations generally this is a very good and informative read, but it also forms a fitting tribute to those that served at that time, especially in 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron.

5 Stars

Amazon UK Review

Featured in

Aeroplane - January 2022

This captivating book by Colonel Robert Wilsey, Royal Marines, is an excellent account of the who, when, how, what, why and where were the RM helicopters in the 20th century last few decades. I loved the detailed account of his carrer as a Royal Marines soldier and pilot. I learned a lot from the numerous events he recalled, mostly good and some scary ones as well. If you ever changed an helicopter transmission in the field, this book is for you. I particularly enjoyed reading and travelling around the world with him via my iPad Google map app. Thank you for this superb book!

5 Stars

Amazon Review

As in his other books and articles Robert writes with a light touch and what could have been a boring, stodgy book is in fact very readable and even exciting. Once started the reader is compelled to continue to the end. This book will particularly appeal to other aviators and those with an interest in the operation of helicopters in the military.

RM Historical Society magazine ‘The Sheet Anchor’

The author served in the Royal Marines from 1969 to 2000, qualifying as a pilot and eventually becoming the Commanding Officer of its only Air Squadron. He thus flew globally in support of the Marines Commando operations, and this book is a series of collective tales, covering his initial training, operating from ships at sea, in the jungles of Borneo and the Arctic etc. All is told with dashes of humour and in an immersely readable style that is difficult to put down. The result - Highly Recommended…

Helicopter International - Volume 43, Number 01, 12th January 2022

Over a long and distinguished flying career the Author kept detailed records of every aspect of operating the military helicopters he flew. In this book he shares a very readable and full account of his time in Royal Marines' aviation - from flying training, to the realities of operations in some of the harshest and most demanding of flying conditions (arctic, maritime, mountain and jungle), and finally what it was like to be in command during Operation Haven in Iraq.

For anyone interested in military light helicopter operations generally this is a very good and informative read, but it also forms a fitting tribute to those that served at that time, especially in 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron.

Alastair Rogers

"This is the most definitive and well-written account I have ever read of military helicopter flying. Superb."

5 Stars.

Amazon Review

As featured in

Aeroplane Monthly

Well written book, of a life well lived. If you ever wanted to know more about a career in the Royal Marines flying helicopters, this is a great read.

5 Stars

Amazon Review

Featured by

Royal Aeronautical Society

Throughout the book, the author provides a fascinating journey through 31 years as a Royal Marine aviator which will appeal to all who are interested in aviation and I can say, without hesitation, this is one of the best books I have read in recent years.

Very Highly recommended.

Richard K Parkhurst, IPMS Portsmouth