Celebrated British Pilot Dies, aged 97
Feb 22, 2016 08:04:50 #
I have a documentary about this man saved in my Netflix list. I'll have to watch it.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-35626854
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-35626854
Feb 22, 2016 08:08:50 #
Feb 22, 2016 08:48:45 #
From another article:
"Captain Eric Melrose Brown CBE, DSC, AFC, KCVSA, PhD Hon FRAeS, RN is his full title. Charlier says Brown is one of the only pilots who - on top of all his campaign medals - has the Distinguished Service Cross as well as the Air Force Cross."
Another giant passes.
Yet, I do not think he flew in the Battle of Britain. Anyone know otherwise?
"Captain Eric Melrose Brown CBE, DSC, AFC, KCVSA, PhD Hon FRAeS, RN is his full title. Charlier says Brown is one of the only pilots who - on top of all his campaign medals - has the Distinguished Service Cross as well as the Air Force Cross."
Another giant passes.
Yet, I do not think he flew in the Battle of Britain. Anyone know otherwise?
Feb 23, 2016 05:50:40 #
I put up a post yesterday with an obituary and a radio link. See it here. They don't make em like that any more.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-370472-1.html
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-370472-1.html
Feb 23, 2016 09:49:32 #
I love the extract below from his book: Wings on my Sleeve p205-6. Well worth finding and reading the whole book if you love aircraft.
In the February of 1952 HMS Perseus arrived at the US Navy Yard in Philadelphia to demonstrate the new British steam catapult. The carrier had brought her own Sea Furies with her, but the Americans wanted to see how the new device handled their jets.
I was chosen to fly the Panther for them, as it was my project, and an American pilot was to handle a Banshee fighter. The first trial looked like being an exacting business. The carrier was to stay alongside in the Navy Yard while the aircraft for the test were to be lifted on board by crane from the airfield inside the dockyard, shot off from this position, then immediately landed back on the airfield and the test repeated. After some launches from the field at Patuxent I flew up to Philadelphia.
On the day set for the trials the carrier was alive with VIP American brass and officials. To everyone's chagrin a five-knot tail wind was blowing over the flight deck- instead of the ten-knot head wind which had been hoped for.
A huddle of frustration gathered. The Americans shook their heads firmly at the idea that a jet could be shot off with the ship tied up and a tail wind blowing over the catapult.
But Commander Mitchell, the inventor of the catapult, was there - a man with whom I had worked closely many times on catapult trials in Britain. Without a flicker of emotion he said, 'Of course we'll launch. These are just the sort of conditions this catapult likes.'
The Americans protested. The risk was unjustifiable. Then the Perseus' Engineer Commander spoke out of the awkward silence. 'We'll risk the British pilot if you'll risk the aircraft.'
There was a hush. I had not been consulted, of course, but the gauntlet was down now. The Americans agreed.
So I, the innocent in this drama, climbed into my cockpit and was flung off at 4.3'g' at a speed of 126 knots through a maze of dockyard cranes and workshop chimneys.
We had proved our British invention.
Trials continued into the next day, when the awkward tail winds increased. Eventually I was shot off at 4.5'g' and 132 knots and thanks to the new machinery it was the smoothest catapult ride I had ever had. In fact a launch from this steam catapult was so smooth that for a second one imagined it had misfired. In contrast to the ordinary catapult, which starts with a fierce kick up to the 'g' level, the new one took one gently up to 'g', then held it until the plane was airborne. Afterwards we went to sea and continued trials in Chesapeake Bay, with the aircraft loaded up to maximum weight. There were no hitches.
In the February of 1952 HMS Perseus arrived at the US Navy Yard in Philadelphia to demonstrate the new British steam catapult. The carrier had brought her own Sea Furies with her, but the Americans wanted to see how the new device handled their jets.
I was chosen to fly the Panther for them, as it was my project, and an American pilot was to handle a Banshee fighter. The first trial looked like being an exacting business. The carrier was to stay alongside in the Navy Yard while the aircraft for the test were to be lifted on board by crane from the airfield inside the dockyard, shot off from this position, then immediately landed back on the airfield and the test repeated. After some launches from the field at Patuxent I flew up to Philadelphia.
On the day set for the trials the carrier was alive with VIP American brass and officials. To everyone's chagrin a five-knot tail wind was blowing over the flight deck- instead of the ten-knot head wind which had been hoped for.
A huddle of frustration gathered. The Americans shook their heads firmly at the idea that a jet could be shot off with the ship tied up and a tail wind blowing over the catapult.
But Commander Mitchell, the inventor of the catapult, was there - a man with whom I had worked closely many times on catapult trials in Britain. Without a flicker of emotion he said, 'Of course we'll launch. These are just the sort of conditions this catapult likes.'
The Americans protested. The risk was unjustifiable. Then the Perseus' Engineer Commander spoke out of the awkward silence. 'We'll risk the British pilot if you'll risk the aircraft.'
There was a hush. I had not been consulted, of course, but the gauntlet was down now. The Americans agreed.
So I, the innocent in this drama, climbed into my cockpit and was flung off at 4.3'g' at a speed of 126 knots through a maze of dockyard cranes and workshop chimneys.
We had proved our British invention.
Trials continued into the next day, when the awkward tail winds increased. Eventually I was shot off at 4.5'g' and 132 knots and thanks to the new machinery it was the smoothest catapult ride I had ever had. In fact a launch from this steam catapult was so smooth that for a second one imagined it had misfired. In contrast to the ordinary catapult, which starts with a fierce kick up to the 'g' level, the new one took one gently up to 'g', then held it until the plane was airborne. Afterwards we went to sea and continued trials in Chesapeake Bay, with the aircraft loaded up to maximum weight. There were no hitches.
Feb 23, 2016 12:52:42 #
jerryc41 wrote:
I have a documentary about this man saved in my Netflix list. I'll have to watch it.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-35626854
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-35626854
I'd like to see that film on Netflix also. Would you please share the title of it? Thanks.
Feb 23, 2016 14:01:42 #
I think he was the first man to land a Jet aircraft on an Aircraft Carrier.
Feb 23, 2016 14:40:08 #
davefales wrote:
As a naval pilot, he did not fly in the Battle of Britain. See his obituary in the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12167611/Captain-Eric-Winkle-Brown-obituary.htmlYet, I do not think he flew in the Battle of Britain. Anyone know otherwise?
A truly remarkable pilot.
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