Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. Brown was one of few pilots to successfully fly one of these, having signed a disclaimer for the German ground crew. [63] Eric 'Winkle' Brown: The man who seemed not to notice danger". Bbc.co.uk. 14 November 2014 . Retrieved 21 February 2016. Brown read modern languages at Edinburgh, specialising in German, joined the university air squadron, and spent a year as an exchange teacher in France and in Germany, where he renewed his aquaintanceship with Udet and Reitsch. Meeting the latter after the war, Brown found that her fanatical loyalty to Hitler “made my blood run cold”. Eric Brown flew so many planes and helicopters that it might be a surprise to learn he had two clear favourites. Of piston-engined craft he chose the de Havilland Hornet, which he said was “over-powered”. He called it a “Ferrari in the sky”. When it came to jets, Brown singled out the F-86 Sabre Model E, which he said had “perfect harmony of control”. The 86E had a moving tailplane which helped pilots manoeuvre the aircraft at high speed – even beyond the speed of sound. He very much believed in keeping our heritage aircraft flying as a record of the courage, endeavour and technological achievements of British naval aviation. “After I am gone, I hope that the aircraft will be well looked after, and that the men who flew them and those who laid down their lives in them will never be forgotten.” He died on 21st February 2016, aged 97.

He also held the world record for the most carrier landings, 2,407, partly compiled in testing the arrestor wires on more than 20 aircraft carriers during the Second World War. Brown had two favourite aircrafts. When it came to piston-engined planes, Brown favoured the de Havilland Hornet (which he said was “over-powered” and like a “Ferrari in the sky”); when it came to jets, Brown preferred the F-86 Sabre Model E (which had a moving tailplane that helped pilots manoeuvre at very high speeds). 10. Brown flew more aircraft than anyone else in history Desert Island Discs: Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC . Retrieved 12 September 2020. List of Articles and publications by Eric Brown via https://web.archive.org/web/20110110021804/http://www.theaviationindex.com/Brown wrote several books about his experiences, including ones describing the flight characteristics of the various aircraft he flew and an autobiography, Wings on My Sleeve, first published in 1961 and considerably up-dated in later editions. Other books were 'Wings of the Luftwaffe', 'Wings of the Weird and Wonderful' and 'Miles M.52' (with Dennis Bancroft). He was also the author of dozens of articles in aviation magazines and journals. [61] Brown, Eric (1981). The Helicopter in Civil Operations. Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 978-0-24611-221-7. During this period, Brown was asked by Brigadier Glyn Hughes, the Medical Officer of the British Second Army occupying the newly liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, to help interrogate the former camp commandant and his assistant. [28] Agreeing to do so, he soon interviewed Josef Kramer and Irma Grese, and remarked upon the experience by saying that; "Two more loathsome creatures it is hard to imagine" and further describing the latter as "...the worst human being I have ever met." Kramer and Grese were later tried and hanged for war crimes. [29] [30] Post-war career [ edit ] The captured Heinkel He 177 A-5 variant in British markings flown by Brown at Farnborough in September 1944

Thus, in 1945 Brown was appointed Chief Pilot on a joint UK/US mission to retrieve Germany’s most closely guarded technological secrets, flying many captured German aircraft, including their top fighter, which was 125 mph faster than the British equivalent. “It was exciting but hairy at times!” said Eric. “The Germans were developing highly sophisticated aircraft and the aerodynamics of the wing configuration for Concorde stemmed directly from that mission.” Polmar, Norman; Minoru Genda (2006). Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events: 1906–1945. ISBN 978-1-57488-663-4. It was while on this mission that Brown’s War took quite a different turn. Fluent in German he was asked to accompany a medical unit to help liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The experience was to affect him deeply for the rest of his life including interrogating Hermann Göering, founder of the Gestapo and other senior members of the Nazi regime. Subsequently, Brown and Martindale, along with several other members of the Aerodynamics Flight and assisted by a co-operative German pilot, later ferried twelve Ar 234s across the North Sea and on to Farnborough. The venture was not without risk, as before their capture, the Germans had destroyed all the engine log books for the aircraft, leaving Brown and his colleagues no idea of the expected engine hours remaining to the machines. Because of the scarcity of the special high-temperature alloys for use in their construction, the Junkers Jumo 004 engines had a life of only 25 hours – it was thus not known whether the engines were brand new or just about to expire. [27] Fluent in German, Brown helped interview many Germans after the Second World War, including Wernher von Braun and Hermann Göring, [35] Willy Messerschmitt, Ernst Heinkel [36] and Kurt Tank. However, he described the interviews as being minimal, due to the need to begin the Nuremberg trials, and limited to matters related to aviation. [4]

Clips

Ailes, Emma (23 April 2013). "Captain 'Winkle' Brown: Is he the greatest pilot ever?". BBC News Scotland . Retrieved 24 February 2016. a b c d e f g h Pociask, Martin. "Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown: Officer, Gentleman, Test Pilot Extraordinaire" (PDF). The Helicopter Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2019 . Retrieved 24 April 2018. My favourite in the piston engine (era) is the de Havilland Hornet. For the simple reason it was over-powered. This is an unusual feature in an aircraft, you could do anything on one engine, almost, that you could do on two. It was a ' hot rod Mosquito' really, I always described it as like flying a Ferrari in the sky.