Eric 'Winkle' Brown, the nickname comes from his small size allowing him to get into the cramped cockpits of some exotic designs, has died at 97.
Not well known outside the UK perhaps, he flew well over 400 aircraft types in a long career in combat and as a test pilot.
Perhaps less known due to his WW2 service being in the Fleet Air Arm rather than the RAF.
Had it not been for a decision made in 1946, he might even have been the man to have first broken the sound barrier but the Miles M.52 was not to fly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-35626854
A documentary made not long ago;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEe5ul37Q7g
[Edited 2016-02-21 12:18:44]
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RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
487 different aircraft, not different models.
2407 carrier landings, including the first ever jet landing and take off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_(pilot)
A true gentleman and will be missed....
2407 carrier landings, including the first ever jet landing and take off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_(pilot)
A true gentleman and will be missed....
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- Revelation
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RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
| Quoting GDB (Thread starter): Eric 'Winkle' Brown, the nickname comes from his small size allowing him to get into the cramped cockpits of some exotic designs, has died at 97. Not well known outside the UK perhaps, he flew well over 400 aircraft types in a long career in combat and as a test pilot. |
Saw a documentary featuring him a while ago, don't know if it's the linked one or not, but was very interesting. Talked about his dad taking him to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and since his dad was in aviation, they had gone to meet Goring!
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- MD11Engineer
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RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
He spoke fluent German and was also involved, as an interpreter, in the liberation of Bergen Belsen camp and as such had to interview war criminals, like Irma Greese and Josef Kramer (who he both detested and who both were hanged by Mr. Pierrepoint as war criminals one year later).
He was also involved in testing captured German aircraft, and was the only Allied pilot to fly the Me163.
Jan
He was also involved in testing captured German aircraft, and was the only Allied pilot to fly the Me163.
Jan
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- kurtverbose
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RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
I've been reading 'Wings on my sleeve'. Amazing he survived so many incidents. Just a fantastic story - unbelievable really it's so extraordinary.
This in his obituary in the telegraph: -
| Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 3): He spoke fluent German and was also involved, as an interpreter, in the liberation of Bergen Belsen camp and as such had to interview war criminals, like Irma Greese and Josef Kramer (who he both detested and who both were hanged by Mr. Pierrepoint as war criminals one year later). |
This in his obituary in the telegraph: -
| Quote: “Two more loathsome creatures it is hard to imagine”, adding that Grese was “the worst human being I have ever met”. |
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RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
Funny that he got introduced into flying by Ernst Udet, former German WW1 fighter pilot.
Jan
Jan
RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
I just read his obituary in the New York Times. GR1 summed it up very nicely.
http://nyti.ms/1LE7u1l
http://nyti.ms/1LE7u1l
RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
A very good obit fanofjets, this one contributes to the one thing the NYT one did not have info on, his survivors;
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2.../feb/22/eric-winkle-brown-obituary
(Though oddly in the printed one I read today they spelled the FW-200 which Brown shot down properly as 'Condors' but still not in the on-line version!)
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2.../feb/22/eric-winkle-brown-obituary
(Though oddly in the printed one I read today they spelled the FW-200 which Brown shot down properly as 'Condors' but still not in the on-line version!)
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RE: Eric Brown Record Breaking Pilot Dies At 97
Thanks for the links above, all worth reading.
His wikipedia page ties a lot of this together:
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_%28pilot%29
Obviously there's much more on that page.
| Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 3): He spoke fluent German and was also involved, as an interpreter, in the liberation of Bergen Belsen camp and as such had to interview war criminals, like Irma Greese and Josef Kramer (who he both detested and who both were hanged by Mr. Pierrepoint as war criminals one year later). |
| Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 5): Funny that he got introduced into flying by Ernst Udet, former German WW1 fighter pilot. |
His wikipedia page ties a lot of this together:
| Quote: In 1936, Brown's father, an ex-Royal Flying Corps pilot, had taken him to see the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hermann Göring had recently announced the existence of the Luftwaffe, so Brown and his father met, and were invited to join social gatherings by members of the newly disclosed organisation. It was here that Brown first met Ernst Udet, a former World War I fighter ace. Brown soon discovered in himself and Udet a shared love of flying and Udet offered to take Brown up with him. Brown eagerly accepted the German's offer and after his arrival at the appointed airfield at Halle, he was soon flying in a two-seat Bucker Jungmann, which Udet threw around much to Brown's delight. Udet told Brown he "must learn to fly" and that he "had the temperament of a fighter pilot". He also told Brown to learn German. In 1937, Brown left the Royal High School and entered The University of Edinburgh, studying Modern Languages with an emphasis on German. While there he joined the university's Air Unit and received his first formal flying instruction. In February 1938 he returned to Germany, where, having been invited to attend the 1938 Automobile Exhibition by Udet, by then a Luftwaffe Major General, he saw the demonstration of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 helicopter flown by Hanna Reitsch before a small crowd inside the Deutschlandhalle. During this visit he met and got to know Reitsch. Brown was later to renew his acquaintance with her after the war, in less pleasant circumstances, she having been arrested after the German surrender in 1945. |
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_%28pilot%29
Obviously there's much more on that page.
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