HIGH-flying businessman Tom Cassells is safely back on the ground - after winning a coveted trophy for the third time.

Daredevil Tom, from Boroughbridge, won the Neil Williams Memorial trophy and the National Aerobatics Championship at Silverstone.

The managing director of Reed Boardall Transport, he competed against five others in the two-day powered aerobatics event flying his CAP-232.

Neil Williams, who died flying his plane in 1977, was the world's leading aerobatics pilot for many years and his championship records remain unbeaten to this day.

He was considered a big hero in the world of aerobatics and after his death the Daily Telegraph donated a trophy in his memory.

Tom won the trophy for the first time in 2002 and then repeated his feat for the second time in 2004.

"Now to have won it again this year is fantastic," he said.

"It's been an excellent year for me. In July I was the top British aerobatics pilot at the 2008 European Championships where I competed against pilots who, unlike me, fly as a full-time job."

Working at Reed Boardall, Mr Cassells is responsible for distributing nearly two million pallets of frozen and chilled food a year and he sees a great synergy between his work and flying.

He said both require co-ordination and accuracy - and neither can tolerate mistakes.