Eric "Winkle" Brown RIP

[Bighoose]

Captain Eric Melrose Brown CBE DSC AFC

Sorry to see that one of Leith's own has passed away.

What a life this man lived.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-35626854

[Mr White]

Absolute legend. Well worth reading about his life. RIP.

There was an excellent documentary about him a couple of years back.

[lord bunberry]

Absolute legend. Well worth reading about his life. RIP.

There was an excellent documentary about him a couple of years back.
I watched that. He was an amazing man. RIP.

[Mr White]

I watched that. He was an amazing man. RIP.

He was indeed. A mate of mine is a pilot and his explanation of eric browns skills in landing on frigates was pretty mindblowing tbh. Unbelievable control of an aircraft.

[marinello59]

He was CO of HMS Fulmar, (Now RAF Lossiemouth), when my Dad served there. He was talking about him just a few weeks ago, a very popular figure. I remember having to phone him from the gatehouse at the base as part of a Cub Scout treasure hunt. He had to provide an answer to a question about himself. Obviously he had been primed in advance to expect a series of calls from tongue tied wee boys and he did most of the talking.

[Hibs Class]

There was an excellent programme about him on the BBC a year or two back - hopefully the link here works. Amazing man, and such a full life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEe5ul37Q7g

[Godsahibby]

If you haven't had the chance to listen to it, download the Podcast when he was picked for Desert Island Disks, Kirsty Young's interview with him was fantastic.

His story of flying under the Forth Rail Bridge was something else!

RIP

[--------]

I was given one of his books a few years ago - it was a collection of his assessments of wartime Luftwaffe aircraft he had test-flown at the end of the war. You would think a complete snore-fest, but he wrote so well and so amusingly I couldn't put it down and ended up buying another two similar about Allied aircraft and Royal Naval aircraft. He had the knack of explaining quite obscure technical details in very simple ways so that even a layman could understand him.

A test pilot risks his life every time he takes a plane off the ground - he really hasn't a clue what it's likely to do, and he flew more individual aircraft tests than anyone. I think it's fair to say he was the greatest and most gifted pilot of the 20th century, bar none.

His autobiography, "Wings On My Sleeve" is well worth a read.