Norman spent twenty nine years in the Royal Air Force flying a variety of aircraft including Shackleton, Nimrod, Dominie and VC10 in the Air Transport role and also In-Flight Refuelling, spending most of his time at Brize Norton on instructional and examining roles.  Opting for redundancy from active service in 1996, he took up an appointment as a civilian simulator and ground school instructor (his old job!) at the VC10 Conversion Unit.

In civilian life, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace and sat on the North Oxfordshire bench, becoming Chairman for two years from 2010.  He was a member of Carterton Town Council for some years, serving as Mayor in 2010-12. He is a member of WODC, serving as Chairman 2013-17 and is now a member of the Cabinet of the Council.

He maintains links with the military as a member of South East Reserves and Cadet Association; as an ex officio member of the Board of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum; a member of the Civilian Management Committee of 2267 (Brize Norton) Sqn, Air Training Corps.