BB Becomes a Biplane Once Again!

And what’s probably been thrown away.

Brian

‘in boxes that had been unopened for nearly 20 years!’
Just goes to show you the wealth of material that still must be out there!

I don’t know whether that was supposed to be the rule, but the RAF Museum has a considerable collection of logbooks (all eras) that I understand have been dontated by either the owners or their descendents.

In this particular instance the son had his father’s observers’ logbook but was unaware there should also have been a pilots’ logbook. That’s not so strange as might appear at first sight; the father never described his WW1 life and the son had no knowledge of service activities/requirements. The observers’ logbook was amongst the father’s documents when he died, but the pilots’ logbook was only found some years after his mother’s death – in boxes that had been unopened for nearly 20 years!

Brian

Interesting that the logbook was found – I thought they were all handed in to the RAF after the war, and possible destroyed? (Not so sure on the last part though)

Steve,

I’ve emailed you.

Both:

Although I thought I’d completed the work last autumn, just before Christmas his son found his father’s pilots’ logbook, so it’s all in the melting pot. The story is based mainly around meteorology as the pilot, Douglas, was to become the foremost forecaster of his generation – and played a considerable role in the D-day forecasts.

What I can say is that in the case of the photograph in question the FK8 had come from the RFC, later RAF, Communications Flight. I don’t know its earlier history. The Shooting Star motif on the side is that of the Comms Flight.

Brian

I’d be very interested too in reading the biography Brian, Steve is right, not exactly a great wealth of material out there on the ‘Big Ack’

I haven’t got any information on the source of the picture. It was sent to me last December by a friend in the USA as an e-Christmas card!

We just posted it on the BB site as part of a collection of seasonal images.

I’ll be fascinated to read your biography of the pilot when it becomes available. The pilots of two-seater aircraft such as the FK8 never seemed to get the recognition they deserve. Hopefully we can help redress that balance too when we get the BE-2 replica in the air.

Best

Steve

On the www.biggles-biplane.com website can I ask where the photo on the top left of page 4 of the Photo Archive (“Mind my bike”) came from? It’s an Armstrong Whitworth FK8 of the Meteorological Flight at Berck in 1919. I’m writing the biography of the pilot of this particular aircraft and I have a copy myself, provided by his son.

Brian

Congratulations guys.
She looks great.