Derek Piggott
Alan Derek Piggott MBE is one of Britain's leading glider pilots and instructors.
Piggott's flying career has been long and varied. He was the chief flight instructor for the Royal Air Force Central Flying School from 1951 to 1953, having previously flown troop transports and gliders in the Second World War. In the 1960s Piggott became stunt pilot and technical advisor on several feature films. He has also been a test pilot for several Olympia glider designs from Elliott's of Newbury.
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Gliding achievements
Piggott is perhaps best known as a gliding instructor. In addition Piggott had success as a competition glider pilot, was the U.K. National aerobatic glider champion and held the UK altitude record. From 1953 to 1989, Piggott was the Chief Flying Instructor at Lasham Gliding Society and is still a leading authority on gliding having written six books on the subject, an autobiography, several monographs and many magazine articles. In 2003 he completed a 505km task in an Me7 glider with a 12.7 metre span in a national competition in a time of 7hr 14min at the age of 81. (Several much younger pilots with superior machines failed to complete this task.)
Stunt flying
Piggott's role as a stunt pilot, began in 1965 with the film The Blue Max which tells the story of the competitive rivalry between two German pilots in the First World War. Piggott was enlisted as one of several pilots who helped recreate the live dog fights scenes for the film. However he was the only stunt pilot to agree to fly for the climax of the film in which the two rivals challenge each other to fly beneath the arch of a bridge. Taking the role of both German pilots and with multiple takes from contrasting camera angles, Piggott ended up flying through the arch of this bridge in Ireland 30 times. The director had placed a flock of sheep next to the bridge so that the would scatter as the biplane approached, in order to demonstrate that the stunt was real. However by the 30th take, the sheep had become accustomed to the planes and continued to graze, creating a continuity error which can be seen in the finished film. Piggott was able to fly through the arch reliably by aligning two posts that he had put in the field on the far side.
Another notable film role, was Piggott's contribution to Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines in which he flew and advised on the construction of several of the early aircraft recreated for use in the film. Many of the planes employed wing warping for directional control, which involved re-discovering how to fly them safely.
Piggott also flew some or all the aerial stunts in the following films:
A replica of the Sir George Cayley's first heavier-than-air flying machine was built in the early 1970s. The machine was flown by Piggott at the original site in Brompton Dale in 1973 for a TV programme and again in the 1984 for an I-Max film.
In 1987 Piggott was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Bibliography
- Derek Piggott (1977). Delta Papa A Life of Flying. Pelham Books. ISBN 0720709792.
- Derek Piggott (1978). Going Solo: A Simple Guide To Soaring. A & C Black. ISBN 071361899X.
- Derek Piggott (1997). Gliding: A handbook on soaring flight. A & C Black. ISBN 0713643803.
- Derek Piggott (1998). Gliding Safety. A & C Black. ISBN 0713648538.
- Derek Piggott (1996). Understanding Flying Weather. A & C Black. ISBN 0713643463.
- Derek Piggott (1996). Understanding Gliding. A & C Black. ISBN 0713643439.
- Derek Piggott (2002). Beginning Gliding. A & C Black. ISBN 0713663529.