BIGGLES CHEATS DEATH!
Pilot, 57, escapes WWI biplane crash
A REPLICA First World War ‘Biggles’ biplane plummets to the ground during a mock dogfight with German aircraft. Incredibly, pilot Matthew Boddington escaped serious injury.
The 57-year-old, pictured below, was taking part in practice for the Duxford Air Show when his replica 1914 BE-2c crashed at Sywell Aerodrome, near Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, on Wednesday.
Mr Boddington, a member of the Great War Display Team, which appears at shows in Britain and France, suffered cuts, a cracked rib and a bang to the head. He remained in hospital yesterday. Team leader Gordon Brander said: ‘ Matthew’s OK. There’s nothing lifethreatening. He’s got a few bad cuts on his head. We have no idea what happened.’
The plane’s co-owner, Steve Slater, said: ‘Matthew is among the most experienced vintage aircraft pilots in the country. We don’t know why he lost control.’ Photographer Glyn Dobbs, who was watching the practice session, saw the two-seater biplane, which Mr Boddington was flying alone, spiral from the sky. ‘It went straight down and then disappeared into a field. It was horrific,’ he said. The replica BE-2c was built in 1969 by Mr Boddington’s father Charles for a Biggles film starring James Fox as the fictional RAF hero, but the production was cancelled. Charles was killed while flying another vintage biplane for a movie stunt two years later. The BE-2c was sold and discovered, badly damaged, at a US airfield. Mr Boddington, who followed his father in becoming an aeronautical engineer, shipped it back to Britain and spent six years restoring it.