Enthralled as a boy by tales of ace pilot Biggles, Vince Hagedorn could have little idea that the books would one day save his life.

Yesterday, however, he praised the First World War stories for doing just that.

Emerging almost unscathed from the wreckage of his plane on a Dundee golf course, Mr Hagedorn said: "Captain W. E Johns saved my life. As a boy, I remember reading a Biggles story where he was shot down over enemy lines and was flying over a wooded area. He managed to pancake' the plane sideways into a tree, which minimised the impact and he walked away unscathed.

"In the moment before impact, I was doing about 70 knots and managed to think, What would Biggles do?'"

His two-seater plane struck the tree almost 100ft up on the 15th hole at the city's Caird Park Golf Course, in a large area of parkland on the outskirts of Dundee, at about 4.50pm yesterday.

Firefighters placed a 44ft ladder against the tree to reach the stranded pilot. Pat Walmsley, of Tayside Fire and Rescue, praised Mr Hagedorn. He said: "When we got to the pilot he was conscious and able to speak. He did help us a lot with the rescue, putting the harness on for himself and it made it a lot easier for us to get him out of the predicament he found himself in.

"He just said he got into some difficulties en route and ended up in the tree, unfortunately."

The pilot was also praised by golfers for preventing the plane from coming down on nearby houses and roads. Greg Martin said: "It's incredibly lucky. The pilot has not just saved his own life, but avoided a catastrophe.

"It is a miracle he is alive. He must have been pretty capable at handling that aeroplane."

From his hospital bed at the A&E department of Ninewells hospital in Dundee, Mr Hagedorn, a business management consultant from Essex, spoke of the frantic moments when his plane ran out of fuel.

Mr Hagedorn, who has four years' flying experience in his own plane, a German-built Flight Design CT-SW, left in the morning and headed for RAF Kinloss where, he was hoping to visit his daughter Maggie in Lossiemouth.

Just north of Dundee, however, while one fuel gauge registered half a tank, the secondary gauges on the wings revealed that the aircraft was fast running out.

Faced with the prospect of an emergency landing when his engine cut out, Mr Hagedorn made a snap decision to aim for the golf course.

"I called the Dundee tower and said Mayday, mayday, mayday', and I was losing height rapidly.

"I saw that there was a small housing estate in front of the crop field, so I had to rule it out. If I hit a house, I would be killed instantly, and I would also kill others, so I looked elsewhere and saw the golf course.

"I couldn't land on the fairway because there were too many trees, so I lined up the tree, and did what Biggles did, and stalled, and pancaked' into it."

"I wasn't scared, though I admit that I was very lucky."

Mr Hagedorn praised the efforts of rescuers from Tayside Fire and Rescue, who used a 44ft ladder to pull him down from the tree where his plane was stuck. After a one-hour rescue bid, he was able to walk free with only minor cuts and bruises.

After the ordeal, he said: "I just want to go and see my daughter."

He was being held in hospital overnight.