The Case of the Unknown Aircraft is the second short story in Biggles Takes the Case. The anthology, the second one about Biggles in the Air Police, was published in 1952. This particular story is believed to have made its debut in this anthology. It was also published in Adventure Stories for Boys by Odhams Press. This is a collection of stories by various authors and is not dated but the British Library catalogue lists this book as being published in 1956 and so this would make it a reprinting of the story.[1]
In the anthology, this story is preceded by Skyway Robbery and followed by The Renegade.
In the 1950s, the story was adapted as the second of two stories in issue 5 of the Australian Adventures of Biggles comic series Comics series. In 1966, Studio Vandersteen published a loose adaptation of the story in comic strip form entitled De onbekende piloot (The Unknown Pilot).
Synopsis[]
Biggles is asked to investigate an unknown aircraft which has crashed in the Scottish highlands with a lump of uranium on board.
Plot[]
See article under Lowenski for a summary of the plot.
Characters[]
The Special Air Police/Scotland Yard[]
- Air Commodore Raymond
- Biggles
- Algy Lacey
- Ginger Hebblethwaite
- Bertie Lissie
Others[]
Aircraft[]
- Percival Proctor
- Unknown American secret prototype aircraft - single seat with 1000 hp 12 cylinder air cooled radial engine
- twin-engined low-wing monoplane of unknown type from Poland
Places[]
Visited[]
(Some places below are relevant to The Poor Rich Boy Trail.)
- London, Scotland Yard - see research notes below.
- The Cairngorms - halfway up the western slope of Ben MacDhui
- Marsh near Nethy
Mentioned[]
- Aviemore
- Lossiemouth
- Perth
- Warsaw
Other points of interest[]
Cars[]
- Lowenski had an unspecified car
Newspapers/magazines/books[]
- News of the crash of the unknown aircraft was published in various newspapers.
Firearms and other weapons[]
- The dead pilot of the unknown aircraft had a Luger.
- Biggles and co. used handguns.
- One of the pilots in the aircraft which landed at Nethy had a handgun.
Brands/products[]
- Bars of uranium
- Ginger was told to bring binoculars
Food and Drinks[]
- Rescue team brought tins of bully, biscuits, tea, sugar and condensed milk which they left with Biggles. Biggles promised to "sign a chit"!
- Biggles brewed tea on a spirit stove
Organisations[]
- R.A.F. had all aircraft accounted for
- Air Ministry was notified by Aviemore police of the crash
- R.A.F. Alpine Rescue Squad - arrived at the crash site.
- Air Ministry Inspector of Accidents (Accidents Branch) - inspected wreckage
Research Notes[]
- Where does the first scene take place? There is some difficulty establishing where the first scene takes place. Raymond walks unannounced into the "Operations Room of the Air Police Service", an act which the text says is "unusual". In many other stories, the Operations Room is at Gatwick. But then he asks Biggles if he has a plane "standing by at the airfield". Biggles replies that Algy is on duty "there". He can call him on the phone and he can have a plane ready "by the time I get there". If they were at Gatwick, Biggles only needed to walk outside. All the words used suggest that Algy, the airfield and the plane are some distance away, hence this suggests that Raymond and Biggles are at Scotland Yard.