I’m just reading this, the autobiography of test pilot Eric “Winkle” Brown.
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I’m not keen on the cover, nor the title actually, but the book itself has been a pleasure to read – a real ‘Boys’ Own’ adventure story.
A natural and very skilful pilot, Eric Brown joined the British Fleet Air Arm in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. He flew against the Luftwaffe in the Atlantic, gaining valuable experience of aircraft carrier operations before his ship was torpedoed and sunk.
As an exceptional pilot and a fluent German speaker he was given the job of locating and evaluating various German military aircraft at the end of WWII, including the famously dangerous Me-163 Komet. He also conducted interviews with Herman Goering and other captured Nazi officials at that time.
Later, he became an acknowledged expert in aircraft carrier deck landings - he holds the world records for the most aircraft carrier deck take-offs and landings (2,407 and 2,271 respectively) and was the first person to land a jet aircraft on an aircraft carrier.
Brown went on to fly 487 different aircraft types, which is more than any other pilot in history.
The list of records goes on, and the book also catalogues a series of nasty accidents and near-misses plus some tragic losses of close friends and colleagues along the way. Fatalities aside, it’s an enjoyable book written by a charming and modest man (who died in 2016, at the age of 97).
-R