High flyer

I just had to put pen to paper after reading your piece on the breath-taking aerial photography of Captain Alfred Buckham in the January issue of Scottish Field [Eye in the Sky].

In a world where health and safety has gone mad the tale of how he tied his own leg to the seat of the plane in order not to fall out while taking a shot must put the fear of god into any HR person reading Scottish Field.

How many people could say that they had been involved in nine, yes nine, plane crashes? It seems that Captain Buckham had more lives than a cat. Any man who continued to take to the skies after the joystick of his plane going through his voicebox and rendering him unable to speak deserves the utmost respect in my book.

And the photographs he produced were so very far ahead of their time that it is tricky to believe they were made without digital enhancement. What a fabulous record of our capital city and a shining example of bravery he has left for future generations. Charles M White, Edinburgh