A FORMER Concorde pilot has been left “devastated” after the
disappearance of his beloved travelling companion – teddy bear Mr
Biggles.
Captain Tony Yule, 73, has clocked up more than 1.6 million miles in
the air with his beloved mascot during his extensive flying career.
The pair have flown to the furthest corners of the globe during their
two decade partnership, but now he has lost his cherished co-pilot.
Mr Biggles mysteriously vanished from the steps of the Concorde at
East Fortune airfield on Saturday afternoon in East Lothian
He was accompanying pilot Tony who was giving a talk as part of
Scotland’s National Airshow, held at the Museum of Flight.
The disappearance has sparked a passionate plea for help, with
witnesses asked to come forward and help return the beloved friend –
no questions asked.
Tony said: “He’s just become part of me. It’s just so sad that he’s
gone. I really hope someone recognises him.”
He was gifted the teddy bear by his son 20 years ago.
Mr Biggles became a constant figure on deck as Tony flew the Boeing
757 and 767s fleet based in Edinburgh until his retirement.
Tony retired fully from aviation in 2005 after completing 46 years of
continuous aviation service.
Mr Yule started hisaviation career in the Royal Air Force, initially
training on the Hunting Percival Provost and then the Vampire T11
trainer.
He was then posted to the first of Britain’s “V” Bombers, The Valiant,
flying the aircraft for five years and along the way became its
youngest captain.
He completed his 15 years military time flying as a First Officer on
the Royal Air Force’s VC10 aircraft.
He landed his dream job as senior flight officer on the Concorde fleet
from in 1987 and remained until 1993.
He has only been separated from Mr Biggles once before.
On that occasion, Tony called a co-pilot and asked him to stop off in
Holland, retrieve the missing teddy from a houseboat and fly Mr
Biggles with British Airways up to Edinburgh to reunite them.
Tony said the pair had been through everything together, including
calming emotional Italians on board a malfunctioning plane.
He said: “While I was flying with Air Europe Italy, we had a small
incident. The Italians are unbelievable – they freak out about
everything.
“We managed to do a circuit and make a normal landing. I thought
afterwards if you’ve got the captain standing at the door of an
aeroplane holding a teddy bear after an incident, there can’t have
been an incident . So Biggs does a lot of things.”
Mr Yule and Mr Biggs still go everywhere together, with the teddy bear
even accompanying his master at motivational talks on cruise ships
across the world.
He added: “He always sits on the table beside me at the lectern. He’s
there keeping an eye on things. It’s lovely.”
