A PENALLY pilot who risked his life flying humanitarian aid missions in war-torn Angola has turned his experiences into a high-octane adventure novel, Fly Free, which is now available in local bookshops

Belgian-born Frank Dassen, of Flemish Heights, trained as an officer in the Belgian Tank force during his military service.

After 18 months, he left the forces and gained his professional pilot's licence and, after a period training pilots for the Royal Antwerp Aviation Club, he joined Delta Air Transport, becoming their chief pilot in 1973.

In 1976, Frank became project manager and chief pilot for Belgian Air Charter company, Young Cargo, which was operating humanitarian and medivac flights in Angola at the height of the civil war between MPLA and UNITA for control of the former Portuguese colony.

While operating in Angola, Young Cargo was also asked to fly aid missions for the Red Crescent in another hot spot, war-torn Lebanon.

In 1979, when Young Cargo suffered severe financial losses and closed, Frank went on to work for Saudi Arabian Airlines.

Elevated to the Knight Order of King Leopold for his services to aviation by King Albert II of Belgium in 1999, 59-year-old Frank joined Singapore Airlines in 1991 and is now a captain flying commercial aircraft between London and the Far East.

It's a far cry from his days in Angola when he used to fly his Bristol Britannia at almost ground level on aid missions, barely scraping the tops of the trees to avoid missile attack.

While his plane was often peppered by small arms fire, his luck held, although Frank recalls the Canadian crew of a C130 Hercules were less fortunate, all four being killed when it was struck by a SAM 7 missile.

It's incidents and memories like this that Frank has drawn upon to make Fly Free such a page-turning good read.

Set against the backdrop of terror and civil war and spanning two decades, Fly Free is the explosive tale of Rob Stanfort, who uses his job flying aid relief flights in Angola in 1995 to find out more about the disappearance of his father's plane carrying a fortune in diamonds 20 years earlier.

Always at risk of falling victim to the Angolan secret police as they delve deeper into the mystery, Rob and his crew become embroiled in a spiral of political intrigue, passion, triumph and tragedy.

Frank really captures a country ripped apart by civil war, and his understanding of the political machinations of the African country are palpable throughout.

His gripping narrative gives you a feeling of being there and the book really takes off in the flying sequences when Frank's technical expertise gives you a feeling of actually being in the cockpit with the characters as they buzz the African savannah.

His national service experience as a tank commander also comes to the fore, with some searing battle sequences that horrifically capture the brutality of war.

Frank penned his autobiography six years ago, and admits that the public response to it inspired him to turn his hand to fiction.

"People kept telling me that I'd had so many experiences in my life that I should use them as the basis for an adventure novel," Frank told the Observer.

"It's taken a while, because mine is not the sort of job where you can sit down from 9 to 5 everyday to write, but I always took my laptop with me and worked on the story while on lay-overs."

Frank also revealed that this may not be his only foray into adventure novels.

"It depends how well the book is received, but there are a couple of other exploits in my life that could form the basis of more books," he smiled.

If future novels are as good as Fly Free, they will be worth the wait, for Frank has a knack for telling a cracking good yarn as well as any contemporary action/adventure author.

Priced at £8.50, Fly Free is available from Harbour View Ceramic Cafe, Tenby; Penally Post Office; Victoria Bookshop, Haverfordwest and Ottaker's, Carmarthen.