Eric "Winkle" Brown on Desert Island Discs

I watched a very good programme on Channel 4 last night, about the de Havilland Mosquito, The plane that saved Britain.
Eric Winkle Brown gave a very interesting interview in that.
 
I know a few Test Pilots, and Winkle has been mentioned; I think it fair to say his peers reckon it's 99% talent !

His putting survival in folded up wrecked aircraft down to his small stature is just typical modesty; ' Wings On My Sleeve ' is his autobiography but he has written several other very good books.

Another relevant book I cannot recommend too highly is ' Test Pilots ' by Don Middleton ( subtitled The History of British Test Flying 1903-84 ), a brilliant and extremely readable book, Winkle Brown's adventures are mentioned on 12 separate occasions.

The book is out of print, so do yourself a huge favour and look up Abe Books, Amazon etc for it !
 
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Seajet said:
I know a few Test Pilots, and Winkle has been mentioned; I think it fair to say his peers reckon it's 99% talent !

His putting survival in folded up wrecked aircraft down to his small stature is just typical modesty; ' Wings On My Sleeve ' is his autobiography but he has written several other very good books.

Another relevant book I cannot recommend too highly is ' Test Pilots ' by Don Middleton ( subtitled The History of British Test Flying 1903-84 ), a brilliant and extremely readable book, Winkle Brown's adventures are mentioned on 12 separate occasions.

The book is out of print, so do yourself a huge favour and look up Abe Books, Amazon etc for it !
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up, i have just ordered that for my FiL from amazon
 
FiL was mentioned in the credits this book. i sat in on the interview with Martin Middlebrook

The Nuremberg Raid, 30-31 March 1944[COLOR=#888888 !important]Paperback[/COLOR][COLOR=#888888 !important]– 1986[/COLOR]by http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_by...uk&text=Middlebrook+Martin&sort=relevancerank [COLOR=#888888 !important](Author)[/COLOR]



This is the log book entry of the raid
Page2425.jpg
 
DanTribe said:
I watched a very good programme on Channel 4 last night, about the de Havilland Mosquito, The plane that saved Britain.
Eric Winkle Brown gave a very interesting interview in that.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed!

Did I hear this part correctly?
Mosquito stalling speed: 120 kts
Max carrier landing speed: 86 kts

So he landed the Mosquito on the carrier anyway, to prove them wrong.
Not once, but five times!
 
Bump; I just heard that Eric Winkle Brown will be interviewed on the Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show today, Thursday 27th Nov, between 12.00 & 2 pm; no idea how long he'll get to talk but everything he says is worth a listen...

Sorry for the brief notice, only just found out.
 
I did wonder if it might be seriously irritating if Vine tries to talk all over him, but Winkle can easily cope with him ! We noticed he had control over the BBC TV programme about him, not some Wimmin's Media type...:rolleyes:
 
"Jeremy discusses Scotland's tax powers, the death of cricketer Phillip Hughes, vinyl sales and we're joined by the man described as Britain's best ever aviator."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04njj9y

"Little wonder that when he arrived at Buckingham Palace at the grand old age of 28 for the fourth time, to receive the AFC in addition to the DSC, MBE and OBE he had already received, George VI greeted him with the words: ‘Not you again.’ "

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...makes-Biggles-look-like-wimp-tells-story.html
 
My son works in the aviation art gallery Aces High in our village. Eric and a whole bunch of other vets Inc Johnny Johnson from 617, the BoB, Bomber Command, D Day, Arnhem are all gathered there today. Gonna pop in for a chat and a tipple in a bit. :)
 
They hold regular meet and greet events with the old boys and girls. They're all great characters, still up for banter and a good laugh... And yes, we've got loads of signed stuff :)
 
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