Biggles and the Plane that Disappeared

Biggles #78

by W.E. Johns

Biggles is called in to investigate the disappearance of a plane from Kingsmead Flying Club. Taffy Welsh, the club's chief pilot was giving a half hour 'joy ride' to a paying member of the public in a Piper Cub aircraft and has not been seen since. Biggles, Ginger and Bertie set out on the trail (Algy being in India) and after a week or so, their diligent enquiries give them a lead.

Genres: Adventure

159 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 1963

About the author

Invariably known as Captain W.E. Johns, William Earl Johns was born in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Richard Eastman Johns, a tailor, and Elizabeth Johns (née Earl), the daughter of a master butcher. He had a younger brother, Russell Ernest Johns, who was born on 24 October 1895.

He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.

In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.

On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.

With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.

He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.

He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not the most exciting or enthralling of Biggles' tales, but a fun read, nevertheless, especially given that I have not been able to get hold of a copy until now. I was recently given an award that included a sum of money and the local secondhand book store happened to have a copy available. It is a first edition in excellent condition with clean pages, no foxing and an intact dustjacket with a few signs of wear.
My collection is now one book closer to completion!

[Inno van Lieshout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeugdsentiment. Fantastische avonturen!

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reviewing the series as a whole, rather than the books individually
The Biggles series is great adventure fiction: we get high stakes, aerial action (in most of the books), and a hero who is endlessly loyal, competent, and calm under pressure.

I love the dogfights, recon missions, and wartime scenarios.

Where the series falls short is character depth. Some attitudes and simplifications reflect the period in which the books were written. There are very definitely dated elements, but considering the era the books were written - overall the series performs well. More than a few of the stories defy plausibility, but who doesn't love to curl up with a good adventure book or 10?

“Never say die.”

[Edwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Niet het meest spannende verhaal uit de Biggles-serie.

Het verhaal:

Tijdens een rondvlucht verdwijnt een toestel en er wordt niets meer van vernomen. De eigenaar van het toestel neemt na een paar dagen contact op met de luchtvaart-politie en die stelt een eigen onderzoek in. Zij komen tot de ontdekking dat de passagier van het vermiste toestel een piloot is die door de RAF is ontslagen.
Bertie weet deze piloot te vinden en volgt hem. Helaas moet zijn toestel een noodlanding maken, op dezelfde weiland waar het achtervolgde vliegtuig landde. Bertie krijgt de keuze om mee te doen met een smokkel-operatie.
Tijdens deze operatie wordt het toestel beschoten en stort neer in een moeras in Frankrijk.

Samen met Gaskin, Ginger valt Biggles de boerderij binnen waar piloot gevangen wordt gehouden.