Around the world in 16 million miles: Fred Finn’s journey from Devon to the skies

Fred Finn is the world’s most travelled man, according to the official websites it’s 15,000,000 miles but that may well be out of date information by now as I spoke to him just before he climbed onto yet another plane for yet another journey.

To catch him in the UK is a rarity as he is in the air around the world month after month and year after year.

Fred was born in Kent but grew up in Devon and he’s heading back this way to launch his book, ‘Sonic Boom’ which details a large part of his travelling life.

I have known Fred for many years and have travelled with the man and have witnessed him producing a passport which, at one point, was an inch thick with extra paperwork. But can he remember his first flight?

"I was born just a stone’s throw from Lympne Airport in Kent and as a youngster used to pester people to take me up in one of those magnificent flying machines. Finally, somebody gave in, and I climbed into a Tiger Moth. At some point in the flight, about 800 feet up, the pilot turned it upside down. I was held in place by a couple of straps of hessian, I thought that was absolutely fantastic. In 1958 I did my first transatlantic flight. I was working for Esso, and it was in a DC4B, which is like a DC3 with four engines. They flew me from Blackbushe airport in Hampshire and as we taxied down the runway there were flames coming out of one of the engines. I think it took three times before we could actually take off. We flew to Prestwick and Keflavík in Iceland and then onto some American airbase which had very greasy sausages for breakfast, I seem to remember. It took 19 hours and four stops. On the reverse of that, on Concord I once did America in two hours 55 minutes, non-stop. Concord is not flying anymore and the DC4’s are! All of that got me into flying."

It has been a lifelong passion and you have met some incredible people.

"Because of the charity work that I do I got invited to fly with the Red Arrows, I took along Richard Branson. He did well with the sortie and flew in the main formation. Then I was invited to fly in the last flight of the Phantom jet. I have been so lucky to have been a part of some incredible experiences and it is still on going. I think I am just about to clock up 16 million miles. If you want a bit of trivia, that is 31000 hours in the air which is one hour for every day of my life."

And how many flights on Concorde?

"718! I used to sit in seat 9A, that was the seat they gave me the first time I flew, and they seem to have kept it that way. However, if they sold ‘my’ seat, they allowed me to sit in the flight deck and as I travelled more and more, in the end the captain would ask me, are you flying with us or going in the back! I got to know the captain’s really well, and I was staying with one of them when he asked me if I wanted to come along as he had to test the brakes on a Concorde. At one point he  handed me the throttle and I took it down the tarmac, therefore I must be the only passenger in the world ever to taxi a Concorde down a runway and just to reassure everybody I did not take off!"

Are all these stories in the book?

"And more. Geoffrey Boycott has written a wonderful forward for me, I met him in 1968 and we’ve been friends ever since. Cricket has been my absolute passion throughout my life. Recently I was in Barbados and via Geoffrey got to meet Gary Sobers. I found myself in his home drinking Bajan rum with the great man, by the way he drinks whisky. There are chapters in the book about Concorde, obviously, and my infant life in Canterbury. I was devastated when my parents moved to Exmouth, I was 16 and I hated it. It was a long way from my beloved Kent and at the time there was no cricket team. But soon I grew to love Devon and started training with Somerset Cricket club. But flying will be the main theme of the book, not all wonderful happy ending stories. I’ve landed with the wheels up, flew with a bomb on board and also a plane which was stormed by hijackers. Travelling like this has had its downside. It is safe to say that I’ve had a longer relationship with Concord, 47 years, than I have had with my three ex-wives!"

You still have family down in Devon?

"Oh, yes, my sister is in Devon and nieces and nephews, I love the county and that’s why I am coming down to launch the book. I hope to get venues in Exeter, Plymouth and Torquay. The only issue at the moment is that I am due back in America, Kansas City at a travel conference and then looking at the TWA retro hotel in New York for a launch. Until that is in place I cannot guarantee the dates in Devon but I will let you know as soon as possible."

Any general travel advice?

"Always travel with your seat belt on. Turbulence is always an issue, as we have seen recently. I have been on a flight which has dropped a thousand feet, not a great experience but at least I was held in my seat."

Do you ever see yourself stopping travelling?

"No … I am 84 now and will go on as long as possible."

With that he was gone as he had to get a car to the airport and was off The States once again. As soon as he can he will be back in Devon