Posted on 11/14/2014 9:05:40 AM PST by the scotsman
'Pilot Eric "Winkle" Brown holds two of the most startling records from the world of flying. And that's just a part of his extraordinary life.
Brown's exploits run through some of the most momentous events of world history. He was at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he interrogated Hermann Goering, helped liberate the Belsen concentration camp and by chance managed to sing with the Glenn Miller band.
But his greatest achievements were as a Royal Navy test pilot. He mastered deck landings in the face of tremendous danger. Now 95, he is a hero among military pilots who fly far more safely thanks to the techniques and technologies he helped test.
Flew 487 different aircraft
Brown has flown 487 different types of aircraft - a current world record. Today's test pilots average fewer than 100 flights, says Rear Admiral Simon Charlier, former commander of the Fleet Air Arm. "Over 50 is deemed a large number. We can't imagine in this day and age how dangerous his job was."
"They didn't have the advantage of high-tech simulators. He just had to look at the aircraft and think what he was going to do with it", says Mark Bowman, chief test pilot at BAE Systems.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Amazing!
I guess that old pilots/bold pilots maxim does not apply to him.
I knew nothing about Eric Brown, what a treasure!
Wow! What a story! I had never heard of the guy.
One of the true greats!
Home Viewing Bookmark.
There are some really good pilots in the UK...I worked with this fella at Tonopah. All of us USAF crews liked him.
A really good guy who’s life was cut short in a crash at an airshow...made a fatal mistake. RIP Sqdn Ldr Wardell.
http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/4253
And he gets to be three feet from the gorgeous Kirsty Young.
Lucky *******.
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