The Case of the Submerged Aircraft

The Case of the Submerged Aircraft is the second short story in the sixth anthology of Biggles Air Police short stories entitled Biggles Presses On. The anthology was first published in January, 1958. In the anthology, this story is preceded by The Case of the Man on a Spot and followed by The Case of the Sabotaged Parachute.

Synopsis

Biggles investigates a report of a submerged aircraft in a highland loch. The trail eventually leads to a man wanted for many years for the murder of his wife.

Plot

See article under Alva Murray for a detailed summary of the plot.

Characters

The Special Air Police

• Air Commodore Raymond
• Biggles
• Algy Lacey
• Ginger Hebblethwaite
• Bertie Lissie

Others

• Alva Murray
• Party of Scottish police led by an inspector

Aircraft

• De Havilland Gipsy Moth - GB-XKL
• Otter amphibian

Places

Visited

• Scotland Yard - Raymond's office
• Lochnaglash
• Lochnaglash lodge nearby - once the Number Seven Commando Training Unit
• The River Glash

Mentioned

• The River Spey
• Balashin

Other entities/points of interest

Cars

• jeep belonging to the Scottish police

Firearms and other weapons

• Twelve bore shotgun
• The Air Police probably had handguns but declined to use them.
• Commando knife which Murray wore as a skean-dhu (Sgian-dubh)

Brands/products

• water wings

Food and Drink

• biscuits, cheese, coffee

Organisations

• Highland Hydro-Electric Board
• Air Ministry
• Forestry Commission
• Bird Protection Society

Research Notes

• In British aircraft registrations, the hyphen comes after the "G" and should read G-BXKL. As the letters after the "G" were allocated mostly in alphabetical order from AAAA onwards, BXKL was not used until the 1990s. G-BXKL was allocated in 1997 to a Bell 206 helicopter.