Meet the Team

Chris Cannon

Chris has grown up around Aircraft, living beside RAF Wyton most of his life. In fact his first foray into filming was at RAF Wyton in 1992 with six T17 Canberras.

Chris has worked closely with the RAF, USAF and many Air Shows and private operators over the years and continues to add to his extensive film and video archive.

Bob Franklin

Bob has been an aviation photographer for well over 30 years. Consistently attending air shows both in the UK and abroad, as well as press events at RAF stations. Bob's photographs have been used in various magazines, books and brochures over the years, including The Battle of Britain Flight at Coningsby.

Stuart Thurtle

Stuart lives in North Norfolk getting his aviation and photography bug in the mid 1970s from visits from RAF Coltishall, he has now over thirty years of photography behind him with work in several books. calendars and websites.

Stuart has been a part of Simply Planes since 2011 and you can visit his own website at www.aircraftimage.zenfolio.com

John Bradshaw

John Bradshaw served as an Engineering Officer in the RAF for 33 years, retiring in 2000.

Although he has been photographing aircraft enthusiastically for 50 years, it has only been since he finally retired in 2009 that he has had the equipment, opportunities and time to develop his technique significantly.

John’s other main interest is scale aircraft modelling and this has had a major impact on his portfolio. However, since joining Simply Planes in 2012, flying shots have begun to outnumber wheel hubs and airbrake interiors in his new photo sets.

John’s main contribution to the site will be in researching and writing the material to back the video and images, particularly for the squadron histories and aircraft type sections. However, living very near Chris, he is available to undertake short notice photo tasks when more experienced team members are not available.

Mark Young

Mark has lived in Cambridgeshire for the past 26 years and can often be found taking photos around the remaining military airfields of East Anglia and further afield; he also usually travels at least once a year to the US to visit their numerous active bases and museums. His specialist aviation subjects are the VC10 and C-135 family, and his photo journalism has appeared in Scale Aircraft Modelling, Military Aviation Review, Flypast and World Air Power journal. In addition to aviation photography and research, he is an enthusiastic scale aircraft modeller and a member of 101 Sqn Association

Stewart Jack

My Aviation journey started in April 1990 whilst on a school trip to Shropshire. This was the first time I saw a Tornado GR1 in Camo colours winding its way straight towards me at what and felt like only a 100ft. From that moment I was hooked! After an unforgettable experience that day, I knew aviation was a passion. I bought various magazines and subscribed to Airplane magazine on a monthly basis. As I got older my interest was still very much there but only from reading magazines and a visit to the Clacton or Southend Airshow every year. In 2015 I bought my first proper DSLR a Canon 70d paired with a Sigma 150-600 Sport. After about a year I purchased a Canon 7dmk2 and a Canon 500mm USMII prime lens. Over the next couple of years I attended as many Airshows as possible at home in the U.K. and Europe. In 2018 I moved to RAF Lakenheath to fulfill my hobby of Aviation photography.

Richard Hall

Richard’s interest in aviation was sparked from a very young age after his father pointed to a tiny triangle, a Vulcan, drawing four vapour trails across a clear blue summer sky. From then on, the young lad was hooked, and the hobby became a passion, ultimately leading to the ownership of BAC Lightning T.5 XS420. Along with aircraft preservation, Richard is a published aviation photographer and author with a keen interest in Bomber Command, a subject he continues to research with regular article contributions to the Lincolnshire Lancaster Association.

Bob Archer

Bob suggests that he is probably the grand daddy of the team, as he began aviation as a hobby in July 1957, although his interest began in the early 1950s at London Airport. Initially a spotter, and eventually from 1967, a photographer. He began a newsletter called SPY International in 1967 catering for US aircraft movements in East Anglia, before switching to presenting the new US section for the prestigious publication British Aviation Review. Subsequently began writing features for monthly aviation journals, and has written eight aviation books with the ninth in preparation.

As a photographer he has attended public and private events on five continents, and flown in a host of types ranging from the Tiger Moth through to the Phantom and Tornado. Bob lives under the approach to Mildenhall near Honington.

Richard Clarke, Public Relations

Richard has been involved in aviation since the 1980's and first caught the 'aviation bug' when working in Lincolnshire in the halcyon days of the Vulcan and Lightning. From that point he became a committed aviation fan and adopted a particular interest in the Vulcan, following the aircraft around to many airshows and being present when the final aircraft in RAF service - XH558 - made her 'last flight' in March 1993.

When a Club was formed to support XH558 at Bruntingthorpe he was quick to join and thus began a chain reaction which eventually led to him becoming the Press and PR Manager for the Vulcan to the Sky Trust and eventually a member of the Board of Trustees. As he readily admits he had the 'best job in the world' when XH558 was flying for those highly memorable eight years, having close access to the aircraft and her crews and being able to have a unique 'behind the scenes' experience.

Since XH558's retirement in 2015 he has continued his involvement with the aircraft and also been a contributor to the premier aviation magazine 'Flypast' in addition to working closely with Simply Planes on a number of projects.

James Feneley Videographer

James has been an aviation enthusiast for many years. His parents took him all over the U.K. & Scotland to all the Airbases & Airshows from a very early age. James has been all over Europe, America & Japan and started taking photographs of Aircraft when he was 11-12 years old, and then decided to do videography in 1992. He has amassed many hours of footage during his 30 year career.