Biggles'
plane | Chocs
away - Biggles is an iconic hero for children |
W.E. Johns is
a legend. He was born in Hertfordshire and raised in Norfolk. Although
never a fighter pilot, his flying career was just as risky though. As a
flying instructor and bomber pilot, he once crashed three planes in as many days,
and in 1918 was shot down and captured.
But he used his experiences
to create the most legendary aviation hero of all time - James Bigglesworth -
best known as Biggles. The adventures of Biggles, Algy, Ginger and Bertie
have captured children's imaginations over the years. Many chose a career
in aviation after reading of Biggles' heroics. W.E. Johns wrote more than
a hundred books about his fictional aviator, and was half way through a novel
when he died in 1968. The Biggles books were a huge hit all over the world.
Flying high BIGGLES FACT FILE | Biggles
was created by William Earl Johns who was born in 1893 at Mole Wood Road, Bengeo
in Hertfordshire.
Ninety six Biggles books were published between 1932 and
1970 plus two further books published in the late 1990's. There are an additional
six omnibus editions. Biggles books from various periods of his career include:
*
Biggles of the Camel Squadron * The Cruise of the Condor * Biggles, Air
Detective * Biggles in the Jungle * Orchids for Biggles * Biggles Defies
the Swastika |
In the 1960s Hollywood beckoned and Biggles
made it onto the big screen. Two Northamptonshire men were chosen to make
Biggles fly.
Charles Boddington and his brother David Boddington were
to make the plane for this movie.
The test flight took place here at
Sywell in Northamptonshire. It was a success. It looked as though every
schoolboy's hero of the skies was about to hit the silver screen聟 in his
replica Be-2C. Charles Boddington never got to fly the Biplane again.
In the seventies, while filming another war movie, he was killed in an air crash.
And the plane which should've brought Biggles to cinema audiences crashed
in Wisconsin in 1977.
| Journey
of discovery - Biggles' plane is finally located in USA |
The
remains of the aircraft disappeared, but, in the true spirit of Biggles, it certainly
wasn't the end.
A few years ago Matthew Boddington, Charles' son and his
colleague Steve Slater went to America to try and find the wreckage.
Hidden
in a barn in a town called Rhinebeck, there she was - Biggles' bi-plane.
It
was an emotional moment for Matthew Boddington.
Getting the Biplane back
to England was just half the battle. Now Matthew, Steve and David Boddington
are restoring the plane to fly again. Links relating to this story:The 成人快手 is not responsible for the content
of external websites |