Wings on My Sleeve: The World's Greatest Test Pilot tells his story

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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”. BBC Two – Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown (at 05:35 of the documentary)". bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 1 June 2014. Test instrumentation on Brown's flight recorded during the oscillations accelerations of +4 and −3g's at 3Hz. Brown described the DH 108 as; "A killer. Nasty stall. Vicious undamped longitudinal oscillation at speed in bumps". [44] All three DH 108 aircraft were lost in fatal accidents.

In 1945, Brown and his colleague Anthony F Martindale, were tasked with bringing two Sikorsky R-4B helicopters from RAF Speke to RAF Farnborough. Although they’d never flown these aircraft before, they were simply handed a manual by the American master sergeant who said, “Here’s your instructor”. World's greatest' aviator Eric Winkle Brown dies at 97". Edinburgh News. 21 February 2016 . Retrieved 21 February 2016.Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown. Short Extracts from DVD". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 . Retrieved 1 June 2014. Secret life of Eric 'Winkle' Brown: war hero's extraordinary story". Herald Scotland. 10 June 2023. 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.

Harrison, William A. (1998). "Fairey Firefly Variants". Wings of Fame. Westport, Connecticut: AIRTime Publishing. 12: 113. ISBN 1-880588-23-4.Throughout his career, Brown’s bravery, ingenuity and indomitable spirit was matched only by his fierce commitment to keep the Navy’s historic aircraft flying as an inspiration to future generations. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Admiralty Official Collection - IWM / Public Domain 2. He rode in a ‘wall of death’ stunt – with a real lion a b "Guild News" (PDF). Gapan.org. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2012 . Retrieved 14 November 2014.

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. Because of the special circumstances involved, Brown didn't think that this record would ever be topped. [58]

Here, then, are seven excerpts from that life story that could, indeed, raise 007’s eyebrows and serve as a reminder that the aviation community is unlikely to see his like again. In his book Wings on My Sleeve, Brown records his admiration of a number of colleagues who deserve recognition:-

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.To me it was the most exciting thing on the horizon, a totally new experience. I remember watching the ground crew very carefully before take-off, wondering if they thought they were waving goodbye to me forever or whether they thought this thing was going to return. The noise it made was absolutely thunderous and it was like being in charge of a runaway train; everything changed so rapidly and I really had to have my wits about me. [31] a b Guinness World Records. "First landing on an aircraft carrier". Guinnessworldrecords.com . Retrieved 14 November 2014. Robert F. Dorr (15 November 2013). Fighting Hitler's Jets: The Extraordinary Story of the American Airmen Who Beat the Luftwaffe and Defeated Nazi Germany. MBI Publishing Company. p.157. ISBN 978-1-61058-847-8. a b c d "Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown". Bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 1 June 2014.