Biggles Learns To Fly
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Book Description
Biggles is back! And with new retro-style covers he'll be bigger than ever!
Product Description
He tilted the machine on to its side, holding up his nose with the throttle, and commenced to slip wing-tip first towards the ground. Whether he was over British or German territory he neither knew nor cared; he had to get on to the ground or be burnt alive.
This is the story of the very beginning - of the Air Service and of Biggles. It's the First World War and Biggles is just 17; the planes are primitive; combat tactics are non-existent; and pilots and their gunners communicate by hand signals and have no contact with the ground. This is where Biggles learns his craft and finds he has a certain aptitude for flying in battle...
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was not the first Biggles book to be published (that was THE CAMELS ARE COMING, of 1932), but chronologically it is the first book of Biggles' adventures in WWI. Although many of Biggles' exploits and experiences recounted here actually befell Johns and his fellow officers during the air war, there is a curious absence of real grit and immediacy, such as I have found in actual autobiographies of WW I fighting aces. I assume Johns, who quickly realized that young readers were his main audience, simply left them out. [I haven't had a chance to compare the original 1935 edition with later editions, revised as late as 1955. I assume what we have here is the 1955 version.]
One annoying feature of the present edition is a number of usually completely unnecessary footnotes. Quite often, the footnoted name or term is actually explained in the text itself, a line or two after the footnote! Bad editing by some casual meddler who was unwisely involved in the preparation of this circa 1992 paperback.
Anyway, if you love Biggles, and many do, including me, you'll want to read of these exploits that
take place just before he joined the famous 266 squadron and met Algy Lacey. Quite a bit of air-war excitement, and some of it authentic too.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
this book is brilliant but sometimes quite sad. The last chapter about his old observer being wounded and his old flight commander being killed is very moving. The language is fantastic and suitable for 10+ readers.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Throughout this outstanding tale of bravery, courage, bravado, human moral and (occasional) comedy, Biggles' early days in the RFC is astonishingly detailed and accurate. It is clear that the author 'knew his stuff', a fact backed up by his considerable first-hand experience of a war with 55 Squadron. The story is remarkably written, with enough action to keep you interested, but not enough to make it appear as fiction. The events in this book make it seem as though you are reading an historically accurate, non-fiction, account of life in the aviation sense of the front lines. Whilst entirely unreal, this book lends itself a credibility as to being a real pilot's account.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Second time around
I read this book when I was a ten year old in 1963. Having just purchased this copy and read it, I think I can say it was like traveling back in time! Read more
Published on 27 May 2009 by Digger Dave
Biggles becomes a WW1 fighter
This is an excellent introduction to Biggles as a combat pilot for it brings together so many of the experiences that one learns about in other early Biggles books. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2008 by Jane Grant
How it all began
I found it hard to believe that the future Squadron leader was at first AFRAID to fly. although he obviously soon gets over it. His first assigned squadron flys B.E. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2002
so thats how he got started
This book is packed with Biggles' early adventures when he was the pilot of a D.H.4 unlike his better known camel or spit, he has a certain peive with the airraft on the cover... Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2001
Absolutely Fantasic. Unputadownable
This book was wonderfully written, sharing the triumphs and tragedies of a young man in the war. With humor and sadness, this book is truly one of the best.
Published on 12 Mar 1999
Hilariously funny but sometimes quite sad!
This book has a lot of great laughs in it. It also shows how enraged a man can get. I loved the book and so would anyone else reading it. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 1999
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