AN aircraft enthusiast has been setting his sights on military top guns.

Chris Gurney has been taking pictures of some of the amazing craft that land at Kirkbride airfield for a number of years.

Last weekend he managed to get some wonderful pictures of the military on while training.

The airfield dates back to May, 1939, when its main role was as a storage and maintenance base.

Between 1939 and 1960, almost every plane in RAF history, from Austers to Liberators, were looked after there.

Many were also dismantled and scrapped. One summer’s day in 1945, an air crew landed their in their much-loved Mitchell bomber, which had survived the war unscathed, only to find it was to be scrapped. They just had time to take the clock from the instrument panel as a souvenir.

The airfield became a giant storage area for unwanted airframes. It’s now a recreational aerodrome, with its hangars and runways still intact. The old officers’ mess has become part of the White Heather Hotel.

Mr Gurney has a faithful love for aircrafts. He said: “It started when I was young and my parents would take me to airfields. I loved seeing all the different planes in the air.

“As I got older, I developed an interest in photography and put my two passions together.

“In the past, we have had lots of different crafts land and take off and they’re amazing to see.

“The military do use the base for training and we get lots of different one landing.

“Taking pictures of the Apache helicopters is great. We only ever know they’re coming just before hand.

“It’s a shame we’re not able to let more people know but in the current climate it’s not safe for hundreds of people to turn up to see them.”

The airfield is owned and maintained by Solway Light Aviation Ltd and has witnessed its fair share of excitement in its history, including the Red Arrows.