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Biggles
James Bigglesworth, nicknamed "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the title character and hero of the ''Biggles'' series of adventure books, written for young readers by W. E. Johns (1893–1968). Biggles made his first appearance in the story ''The White Fokker'', published in the first issue of ''Popular Flying'' magazine and again as part of the first collection of Biggles stories, ''The Camels Are Coming'' (both 1932). Johns continued to write "Biggles books" until his death in 1968. The series eventually included nearly a hundred volumes – novels as well as short story collections – most of the latter with a common setting and time. The chronology of the canon, spanning both world wars, set up certain inconsistencies over the unavoidable ageing of Biggles and his friends. Also later editions had to be somewhat edited in line with changing norms of acceptability, especially regarding race, and in view of the pre-teenage readership who increasingly favoured ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Dickson
Neil Dickson (born November 26, 1950) is an English actor, who has worked extensively in both American and British film and television. Biography At the age of five, Dickson contracted poliomyelitis, but he was fortunate enough to make a complete recovery a year later. He attended Worksop College in Nottinghamshire playing Coriolanus in the Junior Play 1966. He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and spent several seasons working in repertory theatres in Sheffield, Manchester, Leicester and Oxford among others. Career In 1975, he made his West End debut in Pinero's '' The Gay Lord Quex'', opposite Dame Judi Dench, which was directed by Sir John Gielgud at the Albery Theatre. While playing Dean Rebel in ''Trafford Tanzi'' at London's Mermaid Theatre, he was spotted by the producers of the NBC mini-series '' AD'', who cast him in the lead role of Valerius. He spent the following nine months on location in Tunisia working opposite James Mason, Susan Sarand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the best known fighter aircraft of the Great War. The Camel was powered by a single rotary engine and was armed with twin synchronized Vickers machine guns. Though difficult to handle, it was highly manoeuvrable in the hands of an experienced pilot, a vital attribute in the relatively low-speed, low-altitude dogfights of the era. In total, Camel pilots have been credited with downing 1,294 enemy aircraft, more than any other Allied fighter of the conflict. Towards the end of the First World War, the type also saw use as a ground-attack aircraft, partly because the capabilities of fighter aircraft on both sides had advanced rapidly and left the Camel somewhat outclassed. The main variant of the Camel was designated as the F.1. Other variant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Bigsworth
Air Commodore Arthur Wellesley Bigsworth & Bar, AFC (27 March 1885 – 24 February 1961) was a pioneer aviator who had a distinguished military career in the service of the British armed forces. Early life Arthur Wellesley Bigsworth was born on 27 March 1885, the son of Arthur Wellesley Bigsworth Sr and Kate Box. Career Bigsworth received training as a Mercantile Marine officer, later joining the Royal Naval Reserve as a sub-lieutenant, being promoted to lieutenant on 19 January 1913. He attended the first course at the Central Flying School, gaining his Aviator's Certificate no. 396 on 21 January 1913. He transferred to the Royal Navy at this rank with effect from 1 April 1913, achieving the rank of wing commander in the Royal Naval Air Service on 31 December 1916. On 1 April 1918 he was appointed Officer Commanding No. 10 Group RAF; a year later he was awarded a permanent commission as a lieutenant colonel and was appointed Staff Officer First Class (Air) in Headquarte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Lowe
Cyril Nelson "Kit" Lowe, (7 October 1891 – 6 February 1983) was an English rugby union footballer who held England's international try scoring record for over sixty years, a First World War flying ace credited with nine victories, and supposedly the inspiration for W. E. Johns' character "Biggles". Early life Lowe was born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire. He attended Dulwich College where he was a boarder in Orchard House. He edited the school magazine, ''The Alleynian'' from 1910–11, as his fellow alumnus P. G. Wodehouse had done previously. At Dulwich, he excelled at a number of sports, and represented the school in boxing, athletics, swimming, cricket and rugby. He captained the Athletics squad in 1911 and in the same year played for the first XI cricket squad. In this same cricket side, he played alongside future England captain, Arthur Gilligan, the future Essex wicket-keeper Frank Gilligan and R. K. Nunes; the future captain of the West Indies. Eclipsing these sporting ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battles_label = Wars , battles = First World War , disbanded = merged with RNAS to become Royal Air Force (RAF), 1918 , current_commander = , current_commander_label = , ceremonial_chief = , ceremonial_chief_label = , colonel_of_the_regiment = , colonel_of_the_regiment_label = , notable_commanders = Sir David Henderson Hugh Trenchard , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Roundel , identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = Flag , aircraft_attack = , aircraft_bomber = , aircraft_ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scout (aircraft)
The term scout, as a description of a class of military aircraft, came into use shortly before the First World War, and initially referred to a fast (for its time), light (usually single-seated) unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. "Scout" types were generally adaptations of pre-war racing aircraft – although at least one (the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2) was specifically designed for the role. At this stage the possibility of air-to-air combat was considered highly speculative, and the speed of these aircraft relative to their contemporaries was seen as an advantage in gaining immunity from ground fire and in the ability to deliver timely reconnaissance reports. Almost from the beginning of the war, various experiments were carried out in the fitting of armament to scouts to enable them to engage in air-to-air combat – by early 1916 several types of scout could fire a machine gun forwards, in the line of flight, thus becoming the first effective single-seat fighter aircraft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Composite Character
In a work of media adapted from a real or fictional narrative, a composite character is a character based on more than one individual from the story. Use in film *Several characters in the movie '' 21''. *The character Henry Hurt in the docudrama ''Apollo 13'' is portrayed as a NASA public relations employee assigned to the wife of astronaut Jim Lovell, and who also is seen answering reporters' questions. This character is a composite of the NASA protocol officer Bob McMurrey assigned to act as a buffer between the Lovell family and the press, and several Office of Public Affairs employees whose job was to actually work with the press. *Buffalo Bill in '' The Silence of the Lambs'' is a composite based on the serial killers Jerry Brudos, Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, Gary M. Heidnik, Edmund Kemper, and Gary Ridgway. *The character Commander Bolton in the 2017 film ''Dunkirk'' is a composite of several real life people, including Commander James Campbell Clouston and Captain Bill T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Ball
Albert Ball, (14 August 1896 – 7 May 1917) was a British fighter pilot during the First World War. At the time of his death he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories, and remained its fourth-highest scorer behind Edward Mannock, James McCudden, and George McElroy. Born and raised in Nottingham, Ball joined the Sherwood Foresters at the outbreak of the First World War and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in October 1914. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) the following year, and gained his pilot's wings on 26 January 1916. Joining No. 13 Squadron RFC in France, he flew reconnaissance missions before being posted in May to No. 11 Squadron, a fighter unit. From then until his return to England on leave in October, he accrued many aerial victories, earning two Distinguished Service Orders and the Military Cross. He was the first ace to become a British national hero. After a period on home establishment, Bal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who can exit from an aircraft at height and descend safely to earth. A parachute is usually made of a light, strong fabric. Early parachutes were made of silk. The most common fabric today is nylon. A parachute's canopy is typically dome-shaped, but some are rectangles, inverted domes, and other shapes. A variety of loads are attached to parachutes, including people, food, equipment, space capsules, and bombs. History Middle Ages In 852, in Córdoba, Spain, the Moorish man Armen Firman attempted unsuccessfully to fly by jumping from a tower while wearing a large cloak. It was recorded that "there was enough air in the folds of his cloak to prevent great injury when he reached the ground." Early Renaissance The earliest eviden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain (land)
The army rank of captain (from the French ) is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery (or United States Army cavalry troop or Commonwealth squadron). In the Chinese People's Liberation Army, a captain may also command a company, or be the second-in-command of a battalion. In some militaries, such as United States Army and Air Force and the British Army, captain is the entry-level rank for officer candidates possessing a professional degree, namely, most medical professionals (doctors, pharmacists, dentists) and lawyers. In the U.S. Army, lawyers who are not already officers at captain rank or above enter as lieutenants during training, and are promoted to the rank of captain after completion of their training if they are in the active component, or after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
