In 1916 'Ward' Maclennan sailed from his native Canada to England where he enlisted as a pilot in the Rural Flying Corps (forerunner to the RAF). In his diary, recently discovered in a university archive after almost 90 years, he recorded the daily trials and tribulations of learning to fly.

The weather is seriously interfering with flying just now. Flying in the rain is decidedly unpleasant. At 80 miles per hour rain cuts into ones face like hailstones and the accumulation of rain and oil on the goggles makes it hard to see. This morning, I had my goggles blow completely off in the air. I was lucky to make a successful grab at them just as they were disappearing overboard

Anyone who has flown will recognise the highs and lows, the escapades and adventures of a young man discovering the freedom of flight. Funny, evocative and moving, his diary traces Maclennan's story from his first forays into the air in England at the dawn of the age of flight, through to the hostile skies over the Western Front.