08/31/2015. Joe Merchant became introduced to aircraft as a youngster in the 1940s when his Father placed him in the cockpit of a Spitfire. In 1954 Joe began flight instruction with 56 Squadron Air Training Corps and then attached to the Royal Auxiliary AF Biggin Hill in Kent. He obtained his Private Pilots License flying Chipmunks with the Surrey & Kent Flying Club located there, and was the pilot of the Chipmunk in the photo with a happy passenger aboard.

Joe was involved with Biggin Hill until his retirement, when he completed writing two books "Biggin Hill Airfield - Beyond the Bump 1" and "2". Biggin Hill was given the name the 'Bump' in the early RFC days as it sits on a plateau 600 ft (183 m) above sea level. The book documents the unwritten history of Biggin Hill from the last days of an operational fighter station through to the transition of a general aviation airport. Contact Joe for more information.