After surviving a horror crash on a racing motorbike Justyn Gorman decided he needed something a little safer to keep him busy.

So he became one of the world's top stunt pilots, instead.

Justyn had raced motorbikes at British and European levels winning the Formula 400 and 250 production bike championships in 1999 before he was injured.

But his need for speed meant he was never destined to keep his feet on the ground for long.

Once he had recovered the air ace took to the air to carve himself a career as a top stunt pilot and instructor.

The aerobatic ace, dubbed The Stig of the air after the Top Gear star, constantly stuns crowds with his aerial prowess at events across the UK and Europe.

The 43-year-old Shoreham Airport-based pilot, who now has been flying for nearly ten years, said: “I can be flying in front of one million people at Sunderland air show at 3pm on a Saturday.

“A little later on I could find myself pushing a trolley around Tesco and nobody has a clue what I have been doing.

“It is almost like another world up there. I am completely alone in the machine.”

He added: “I am incredibly passionate about flying. There is nothing else like it because it is a very strange world.”

The 43-year-old has admitted being the pilot who put the heart-shaped vapour trail over Brighton to mark the His next outing will be the Royal Air Forces Association's charity cheesedrop at Storrington on June 2.