W E Johns’ adventure book series truly came to life yesterday morning as a James ‘Biggles’ Bigglesworth tribute jumped on board one of our balloons with pilot Martin Collinson in Yorkshire.
The hero character, a pilot and adventurer, had a lengthy fictional career spanning nearly 100 volumes from his debut ‘The Camels are Coming’ (1932) to his final adventure in ‘Biggles Air Ace: The Uncollected Stories’ (1999).
The Biggles fan who enjoyed a hot air balloon ride with Virgin Balloon Flights was Mr Andrew Hayden of Redcar north Yorkshire who is originally from Cleveland, and an obvious adventurer himself. Pilot Martin said:
“He carried off the part with great humour...”
On the same flight yesterday morning which launched from York Racecourse, the 15 lucky passengers got a splendid bird’s eye view of Elvington Air Museum which is the largest independent air museum in Britain and is also the location of The Allied Air Forces Memorial.
A truly educational hot air balloon ride in real aviation spirit! The passengers enjoyed a Champagne toast after landing, sipping to the history of flight before packing away the balloon and being taken back to their original launch site.
You too can take to the skies in an iconic red balloon in Yorkshire or from one of 100+ launch sites in England, Scotland and Wales. Start your airborne adventure with Virgin Balloon Flights!