But that's just what 50-year-old Andrew White did when he turned his passions for photography and flying model aeroplanes into a bird's-eye view with a difference.

Father-of-three Andrew, of Blackburn Road, Chorley, said it was the onset of digital technology that freed him to take pictures 200ft in the sky.

"About 16 years ago I strapped a disposable camera to the side of an electric powered glider.

"I could only take one picture per flight as I had to land to wind it on. The results were so good I invested in a motor drive compact camera, but this was 35mm film so there was always that frustrating wait for the photos to be developed.

"Now digital media has made it all so much easier."

Andrew, who works as an engineer, has taken photographs of nature reserves, sports arenas and the stranded Riverdance ferry in Cleveleys and admits that getting the right shot can be painstaking.

He said: "Knowing what the camera is seeing is probably the hardest thing to learn.

"It is mostly down to practice and more practice. I will sometimes take dozens of images before the magic picture occurs, other times it can be the first photo I take."

For the full article and more remarkable photographs see Thursday's LEP.

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