I was raised in the Canadian Rockies at a time when television and radio signals were unavailable. As a young boy, reading was a popular past time. It is there that I read the autobiographies of the great WW II aces the likes of Adolf Galland, Robert Tuck and Erich Hartmann. That fostered my interest in aviation and military history. Building scale models, a past time influenced by my late father, was a popular hobby and affirmed my interest in flight and history.
Leaving high school, I set out to achieve a career in aviation. Once I received all the required licenses, flying jobs were scarce. To keep my goals in sight, I was able to get a Canadian AME license. This ultimately led to a job flying a Piper Navajo, Cheyenne and Gates Learjet.
In 1989, now as an experienced pilot, I made a leap into the airline business. Most of my career was with a major Canadian regional airline, flying over much of Canada and the northern United States.
1992 was a pivotal year for me as I got married and had a chance meeting with Jerry Crandall of Eagle Editions. It was immediately apparent that our views on military history, especially the European Air War were eerily similar. Over time, Eagle Editions asked me to proof their new decal sheets. This eventually led me to doing the research and subject selection for many of their projects. Jerry always had his biggest interest in 1/32nd scale German aircraft models, an interest we shared.
During this time, I also worked with a few aviation artists. I assisted with their composition and ensuring historical accuracy of their work. The opportunity arose to befriend many wartime pilots, who gladly shared their experiences with me. I cherish those meetings as many are no longer with us.
As my reference library expanded, and my work with Eagle Editions increased, I began collecting original aircraft photos and artefacts. My primary interest was German aircraft of WW II. In 2004 I began writing for Eagle Editions. It was my first attempt, and I discovered that I enjoyed the work it entailed. Since then, I have authored several books for the Wings of the Black Cross and Wings of the Allies series. These books have many of my original photos are published within. Unfortunately, the time put into creating these books has limited any opportunities of model building.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 epidemic, the opportunity to take early retirement was too great to ignore. Thus ended a satisfying, 31-year airline career. I left as a captain involved with pilot hiring, training of new captains and flight test examinations.
With active flying in the rear view mirror, my archives/library have rapidly expanded. Now my photo collection captures aircraft of all types, nationalities and eras. Consequently, I can provide supplemental material enhancing the eBooks from KLP Publishing. Customers may notice my name in the photo credits of many of their books.
With the flame of flying now fully extinguished, I look forward to future endeavours with KLP and what ever the future may hold.
Photo Caption:
Mark (L) and Jerry Crandall at the Eagle Editions office in Hamilton, MT.