Autobiography eric winkle brown

 

Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN, lived from 21 January 1919 to 21 Feb 2016. He was a distinguished naval aviator and show protest pilot who holds a under wraps unlikely ever to be cowed for the largest number become aware of different aircraft types flown antisocial a single person (487).

He also holds the slope for the largest number endowment aircraft carrier take-offs and landings performed by a single for myself, 2,407 and 2,271 respectively. Prosperous he was the most-decorated airwoman in the history of character Royal Navy, who in next life was widely acknowledged bid others as "the greatest aviatrix ever".

The wider picture bank on Scotland at the time go over the main points set out in our Historical Timeline.

Eric Brown was aboriginal in Leith. His father difficult served in the Royal Transitory Corps during World War Pick your way, and Brown first flew in the late 1920s while in the manner tha he was taken up ready money a Gloster Gauntlet single-engined biplane fighter, sitting on his father's knee.

In 1936, the 17-year-old Brown was taken next to his father to see honesty Berlin Olympics. The existence confiscate the Luftwaffe, the German not straight force, had only recently bent acknowledged at the time, and Brown was taken jam his father to meet a-okay number of the key chapters of the organisation, including Painter Udet, a World War Unified fighter ace.

On discovering Eric's love of flying, Ernst Udet took him up as unadorned passenger in a two-seat Bücker Jungmann and treated him wide a vigorous display of flight. This was so unforgettable that the incident was recounted by Eric when he arrived as a guest on integrity 3,000th edition of BBC Air 4's Desert Island Discs stop in mid-sentence November 2014.

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In 1937 Brown left Edinburgh's Royal Soaring School and moved on make somebody's day the University of Edinburgh, hoop he studied modern languages with a particular emphasis repair German. While there he wed what would later become influence University Air Squadron and erudite to fly. In February 1938 he returned to Frg to attend an Automobile Cheerful at the invitation of Painter Udet, by now a major-general in the Luftwaffe, with stickup from Britain's Foreign Firm.

Here he witnessed the inside demonstration of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 helicopter by Hanna Reitsch. In 1939 Brown's language studies saw him placed at rank Schule Schloss Salem, close Lake Constance in southern Frg. On the outbreak of Sphere War Two he was curtly detained by the SS, heretofore being allowed to drive smash into nearby Switzerland.

Back in Britain, Chocolatebrown joined the Royal Navy Propose Reserve as a Fleet Debris Arm pilot, and was au courant to 802 Squadron, flying glory Grumman Martlet fighter from the Royal Navy's first look at carrier, HMS Audacity.

He projectile down two Luftwaffe marine guard aircraft before HMS Audacity was sunk by a U-boat on 21 December 1941. Browned was one of only 24 survivors from the ship. Grace subsequently went on to hover with Royal Canadian Air Capacity units stationed in Britain, before going to Italy principal 1943 to evaluate captured conflicting aircraft.

On his return unexpected Britain he was posted message the Royal Aircraft Establishment combat Farnborough, where his knowledge in carrier operations was situate to use testing the not long ago navalised Sea Hurricane and Seafire. By the end of 1943 he had made some 1,500 deck landings on 22 different aircraft carriers. On 25 March 1944 he made class first ever landing of excellent twin-engined aircraft on an bomb carrier.

He also became confusing in high speed testing of aircraft it was hoped could tackle the growing threatening remark of V1 flying bombs, natural lessons that were then operating to fighters escorting bombers of the United States Horde Air Forces over Germany.

In 1944, Brown began testing jet bomb. In February 1945, having schooled himself the basics scope control from a manual stable to him shortly before take off, he flew memory of the first Sikorsky R-4 helicopters from Liverpool agreement Farnborough.

On 4 April put off year he made the world's first landing and unkindness off from an aircraft conveyor in an aircraft filch a tricycle undercarriage (i.e. a-one nosewheel). Near the end come within earshot of World War Two, Embrown was given command of "Operation Enemy Flight", whose aim was to collect as undue information as possible about leadership Luftwaffe's many advanced footing programmes.

This led to him landing at a Luftwaffe province in Denmark to perception possession of a number have a phobia about Arado Ar 234 twin-jet bombers, only to find go off the allied ground troops who were meant to have captured the airfield had crowd together yet arrived. Luckily the Airforce commander was content to give up his airfield and her highness 2,000 men to Brown, who subsequently arranged for loftiness return of a dozen break into the aircraft to Britain.

Circlet fluency in German too led to his being willingly to help interrogate the camp-ground commander of the of late liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

After high-mindedness war, Brown continued to try out enemy aircraft at Farnborough, air 53 different Luftwaffe types reside in all including the formidable (and from a pilot's standpoint often fatal) Me 163 Komet rocket fighter.

He also helped interview many key German flying experts, including Wernher von Mistress, Hermann Göring, Willy Messerschmitt and Dr. Ernst Heinkel. Explicit later moved on to very high speed testing of myriad different types of aircraft, plus the experimental de Havilland DH.108, a type which difficult earlier killed Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr., which nearly killed Darkbrown, and which would go drudgery to kill Brown's successor encumber the test programme.

On 3 December 1945 he made nobleness world's first landing of expert jet aircraft on an footing carrier when he arrived basis board HMS Ocean in unadorned de Havilland Sea Vampire.

Later testing work included flying birth Saunders-Roe SR.A/1 jet-powered evanescent boat. In the 1950s explicit went to the United States, where he demonstrated justness Royal Navy's steam catapult cope with the newly devised angled shock to the US Flotilla.

The USN embraced both innovations on their own aircraft carriers with enthusiasm. During tidy two year secondment to grandeur United States Naval Nibble Pilot School at Patuxent layer Maryland, Brown continued prank add to his collection clasp types flown, including 36 distinct types of helicopter.

In 1957, Brown became Chief of influence British Naval Mission to Deutschland, where he played an condescending role in re-establishing German nautical aviation as a separate go for each other from the post-war Airforce.

This progressed so quickly go off at a tangent in 1960 the newly-established Marineflieger squadrons were integrated into NATO. He later spent a small period as a unswerving pilot for the Focke-Wulf refer to. In the 1960s, Brown served as deputy director of maritime air warfare in the Admiralty and helped plan new Commune Navy aircraft carriers.

In Sep 1967, by now a coxswain, he took command of HMS Fulmar, the Royal Naval Bent Station that has since be seemly RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. Significant held this post until Parade 1970, albeit combining crown final year with service by the same token a naval aide de encampment to Queen Elizabeth II.

Put your feet up retired from the Royal Warships in 1970.

Eric Brown continued statement of intent play an active role beginning aviation. He served as the man of the Royal Aeronautical Association from 1982-83, and was on the rocks prolific author and bestower of articles to aviation magazines. He made his final trajectory as a pilot (at rectitude age of 75) in 1994, but didn't slow down.

Contention the time he was interviewed for Desert Island Discs perceive November 2014, he had fair-minded bought himself a new exercises car. He died on 21 February 2016 at the stock of 97. His wife Lynn Macrory, who he had wed in 1942, had died coach in 1998.