Eric " Winkle " Brown R.I.P. Flew 487 Different Aircraft.

This ex Pilot was a " Living Legend ".

He held the world record for the amount of different aircraft he flew. 487 in total.
He also held the world record for the number of Aircraft Carrier Deck Landings. 2.047 in total.

The US Navy were said to have given one man the specific job of breaking Brown's record. "To his everlasting credit he got up to 1,600 and then had a nervous breakdown," says Brown

First pilot to land a Jet Aircraft on an Aircraft Carrier
He was at Bergen Belsen when it was liberated.
He was one of only two survivors after the sinking of HMS Audacity.
He Interrogated both Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler.
A friend of Neil Armstrong

A true legend indeed. R.I.P..

www.bbc.co.uk...

www.bbc.co.uk...

Well, what can I say? We live in a time when celebrities are heroes!

Here's Wikipedia

Here's Desert Island Discs on the BBC (prob cannot get the podcas outside of the UK)

Proper legend. A witness to some of the key moments in aviation history and world war 2 history. Unbelievable life story, that could make a great film. The BBC documentary is a great watch, even if your not interested in aviation, this guy was more than an amazing pilot.

Just looked at the list of Aircraft he flew. Here.

en.wikipedia.org...


Incredible.

something called a Boeing Washington...on that cool list...gotta go looky up....some reason reminds me of Seattle's Lake Wash....

a reply to: woodwardjnr

I have just watched the documentary.

To have done just half of what Eric Brown did would have given most people more than a " full life "

Bravo that man.

a reply to: alldaylong it eminds me of a book. I read where the character keeps popping up during really important moments in history.. I'm surprised his life has never made it in to a film. I guess you wouldn't know what was the most fascinating period he lived through. But to be part of the Battle of Britain, to help liberate the concentration camps and to interrogate Nazi officials like Goering at the Nuremberg trials is a pretty epic life story. Not to mention any of the aviation and the dangers that came along with that. Truly a fascinating life.

a reply to: woodwardjnr

I disagree, I think Wayne Rooney or any number of celebrities, I cannot think of at the moment, have more to teach us about remarkable lives. These are the modern day exemplars.

I say this tongue in cheek.

a reply to: paraphi

Unfortunately, modern day heroes are short on the ground. in fact I can't even think of any.

I hope winkle gets the state funeral he deserves

originally posted by: alldaylong

Just looked at the list of Aircraft he flew. Here.

en.wikipedia.org...


Incredible.
I've gone over the list of aircraft flown and noticed several duplicated like Piper Cub and Piper Grasshoppers. This is the same airplane it's just one is civilian and the other is military. The only difference is the color of it's paint.

Please, understand I'm not trying to take away from this great man's reputation just point out the discrepancy.

I watched the BBC thing and was struck by his sang froid.

They aren't born like that any more. That's for damn sure.