BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)
Pic: C&TAuctions/BNPS

When not risking their lives in the air the officers took part in motorbike racing and hill climbs.

A fascinating photo album which documents the adventures of a captain in the fledgling Royal Naval Air Service has been unearthed after 100 years.

The photos were compiled by Captain Denis Carey who was based in Maidstone, Kent, and they provide a fascinating insight into the air arm of the Royal Navy during the First World War.

They show the thrills and spills of the pioneering early days of aviation in a world before health and safety had been invented.