A PILOT whose plane crashed into a tree on a golf course said reading Biggles adventure stories as a kid saved his life.

Vince Hagedorn's two-seater came down at the 15th hole of the course in Dundee when he ran out of fuel.

Afterwards, he revealed: "As a boy I remember reading a Biggles story where he was shot down over a wooded area. He managed to pancake' the plane sideways into a tree and he walked away unscathed.

"So as I hurtled towards the ground at about 70 knots I still managed to think What would Biggles do?'"

The pilot, who was the only person on board, suffered a head wound after repeating the Biggles manoeuvre.

He was freed by firefighters before being taken to hospital for checks.