In the short story Yellow Freight, Bert Makin was a pilot with the Nile and North Africa Aviation Company. When fellow company pilot Trevor Dawlish crashed and died and his cargo of gold stolen, Makin undertook the next flight willingly. He laughed off the risk even though the signs were that his colleague's plane had been sabotaged and the pilot murdered by bandits who were intent on stealing the gold.
Makin subsequently crashed in the same area as Trevor. His death triggered a crisis for the company. With two crashes in rapid succession, no other pilot was willing to continue flying consignments of gold. Desperate, Colonel Grivin, the manager, turned to Biggles for help.