What camera for aerial photography?

[[ui]ICEMAN]

I'm currently doing my hour building towards my CPL (commercial pilots license) and will be doing a lot of flying around Europe with a friend. I'm looking to take a lot of photo's as its a memorable time and should also have some magnificent photo opportunities.

I'm a novice photographer but have spent quite a bit of time over the last couple of years taking various shots with my Mum's Nikon D1 so I have an idea at least of the various settings/modes. The camera will need to be digital, I'll be taking vast amounts of shots and since the camera will quite often be hanging out of a window to avoid the relevant parts of the airframe it needs to be reasonably light. What would you guys suggest? Cost isn't an issue so recommend whatever you like. Thanks.

- Edit, I should mention that I will be taking ground shots too, some of which will be at the Moto GP's since we're going to follow them around Europe over the summer.

 

[[ui]ICEMAN]

Went into COMPETITOR! today just to have a feel of some of the cameras in mind, no way I'd actually buy from there since their prices are insane compared with online but it gave me a better idea.

Tried a few of the IXUS ones, a powershot S3 IS and a 350D/D50, it turns out that I will be able to take the D1 for my ground photography anyway if I want it since my Mum bought a D2X a couple of months back and has the D1 spare. From what I saw earlier it would seem the Powershot S3 would make a great buy since I need an LCD viewfinder as I won't be able to actually hold the camera to my eye when flying or hanging out of a window if my friend is flying. There anything better than the S3? I've been able to find it for £290 online which seems a great price.

 

[[ui]ICEMAN]

Yes I had a play with the 350D in the shop, was nice and compact, I just think I may have a problem with the viewfinder being difficult to use as with any normal SLR camera since my shots aren't going to be behind a glass window, they're going to be hanging outside whilst the plane is banked over.

That's a great shot btw