Mail from Julian Mincham (Herts UK)
Hi Rolf I have been looking through your home page with interest. I thought you might like to know that I got interested in flying by reading the Biggles books in Australia as a boy many years ago. Later my work took me to England and i eventually fulfilled a life long ambition to fly, get my licence and IMC instrument rating (Biggles would have had none of that!!) and buy a 4 seater Piper Archer.
I could have learnet at several little flying clubs around north London where i lived but chose to fly at Panshanger, Hertfordshire, a little grass strip with rusty hangars which predated WW 2.
After I gained my licence and the plane I learnt that I had actually learnt at WE John's local airfield--he was born and lived a few miles away and, when taking off on runway 11 you virtually fly over his house--which has a blue plaque on the wall and which, as a sort of shrine, I have visited. I think that he describes the airfield in at least one of his short stories.
I also found that he had donated his joystick to Tranmere air museum where you can see it to this day.
I am trying to get hold of the biography of Johns but it is very hard to get hold of. I am also trying to collect all the Worrals books--but they too are very rare.
Best of luck with the home page.
RE: Thank You for Your mail. Can I put your story on my Biggles page?
- By all means.
I have also visited a house he lived in which has a blue plaque on the front. Also (I forget in which book) I think I identified his description of the local airfield (Panshanger) where I fly from and which would have been his local airfield.
Also do you know that the joystick of his WW1 plane is in an air museum at Tangmere? Apparently he donated it to the museum.
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