Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot

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The daring life and astonishing adventures of Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown - Britain's greatest-ever pilot. Captain Eric Brown, RN, is one of the titans of flight testing. Nearly 500 types in his logbook, around 3,000 arrested landings, and a reputation as the greatest carrier suitability test pilot in history. This book is a good biography of him, with some revelations...but also some surprising gaps.

Sadly, Eric did not leave the East Surrey Hospital after he was admitted and passed away on 21 February 2016. I spoke at his funeral and again at his memorial service. Crucially, I received his papers, notebooks, and the loan of family albums. His logbooks, however, went to the Fleet Air Arm Museum – but not before I had had a chance to read them. Gathering the evidence In the 40 years that I knew our greatest pilot, I always called him Eric, by the way, but of course the world knows him as Winkle, the shortest pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. When Eric was taken ill in 2016, I was the first outside the immediate family he called and so I feel the bond between us was strong.Beaver recounts the story of a man he regarded as a mentor in unshowy but fascinating detail, and restores a British hero to his rightful place' OBSERVER What is remarkable is that he was arrested on September 3, 1939. Had they not released him, there would be no biography of Eric Brown. He would have been interned for the duration of the war. He wouldn’t have become a pilot.” Eric must have looked a bit forlorn, so Glenn asked him, ‘Can you play an instrument?’ Of course, Eric couldn’t, but he said, ‘I can play the drums’, which is actually not true. So, he became the second drummer and just drummed away.” Riveting ... one of those must-read books, compelling and full of incidents that leave you gasping with surprise ... an incredible story' FLYER

He was adopted by Robert and Euphemia Brown, who were told his name was Eric. The couple, says the author, provided a secure and loving childhood home. “Nobody knew he was adopted,” says Beaver. “His son didn’t know. It wasn’t until I found the records. If you look at his life, he had a scholarship to the Royal High School in Edinburgh, studied at Edinburgh University and commanded a squadron and an air station at Lossiemouth. He is a Scot, sounded like a Scot and played rugby for Scotland as an adolescent.

Brown began his active war service in 1941, flying Martlets off the carrier HMS Audacity until its sinking in December. In 1943, he switched to test-pilot duties, an activity as dangerous as combat. None of this put the slightest dent in Brown’s determination to accept every risk on offer. They included flying the experimental Messerschmitt Me 163, which could climb to 30,000 feet in two-and-a-half minutes, and whose hugely combustible fuel had accounted for several deaths. He is a great record-breaker – 487 types of aeroplanes flown – no-one will ever do that again,” says Beaver. Brown flight-tested Luftwaffe aircraft captured by the Allies and was at the forefront of helping to pioneer ground-breaking jet engine technology and chase ever-faster speeds. The subtitle for this biography of Eric “Winkle” Brown describes him as “Britain’s greatest pilot”. Winkle may not be a household name, but he was a versatile and brave airman who flew more kinds of aircraft than any other pilot in history, and won so many accolades that King George VI once groaned “What, you again?” as he presented him with another. Beaver recounts the story of a man he regarded as a mentor in unshowy but fascinating detail, and restores a British hero to his rightful place. The Winding Stair

About the Author: Paul Beaver knew Eric Brown for nearly 40 years. In fact, Eric initially inspired Paul's writing career, offering him expert advice on aircraft carriers and naval aviation for Ark Royal, his first book. The collaboration later included Eric's foreword for Paul's best-selling Spitfire People. As a well as being author, Paul has been a war reporter, journalist with Jane's, a Parliamentary advisor and served for twenty-seven years in the Territorial Army rising to the rank of Colonel in the Army Air Corps (V). By a twist of fate, it turned out to be the Glenn Miller’s final public performance. The following day, Miller flew to Paris. His aircraft disappeared over the English Channel in atrocious weather, with all on board lost.

It would also have been interesting to read more of Brown's post-Naval career. I'm surprised that he did not wind up employed by one of the major American companies...or as a contract instructor at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. That immediately called into question Eric’s autobiography and our perceived knowledge. It also led to six years of research, writing, re-writing and editing. There were searching questions and my aim of writing about the man not the machines came sharply into focus. Brown had two favourite aircrafts. When it came to piston-engined planes, Brown favoured the de Havilland Hornet (which he said was “over-powered” and like a “Ferrari in the sky”); when it came to jets, Brown preferred the F-86 Sabre Model E (which had a moving tailplane that helped pilots manoeuvre at very high speeds). 10. Brown flew more aircraft than anyone else in history Brown flew 487 types of aircraft, more than any other human being, a record that will almost certainly never be broken given modern safety restrictions. Testing German experimental jets captured at the end of the Second World War, there was sometimes no technical manual to guide him. When he died in 2016, aged 97, aviators across the world mourned. He was also touchy, egotistical and funny – all of which is apparent in Paul Beaver’s excellent new biography, Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot. That was down to coincidence,” says Beaver. “He happened to fly to Celle, which is the nearest town, the morning that the British troops went in to liberate Belsen. There were rumoured to be some German jets nearby and he wanted to go have a look.”

Eric “Winkle” Brown knew from adolescence he wanted to be a pilot. His father took him on several teenage trips to Germany, including to watch the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, where they also attended a series of aviation events. Brown rubbed shoulders with myriad people throughout his life, from “the Royal family to Shirley Bassey to astronauts to German war criminals”. He even performed on stage with the legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra in late 1944. Paul Beaver knew Eric Brown for nearly 40 years. In fact, Eric initially inspired Paul’s writing career, offering him expert advice on aircraft carriers and naval aviation for Ark Royal, his first book. The collaboration later included Eric’s foreword for Paul’s best-selling Spitfire People. As a well as being author, Paul has been a war reporter, journalist with Jane’s, a Parliamentary advisor and served for 27 years in the Territorial Army rising to the rank of Colonel in the Army Air Corps (V).I think that as a biography this stands up very well. With unprecedented access to Brown’s paper’s and logbooks he is able to give a far moot warts and all account of Brown’s life than Brown was capable of whilst still showing his subject through the lense of a 40 year friendship. In 1936, Brown’s father took him to see the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, during which Brown witnessed Hitler shaking hands with Jesse Owens. At the time, Hermann Göring had recently announced the existence of the Luftwaffe, and Brown and his father (a former balloon observer and pilot in the Royal Flying Corps) met and were invited to join social gatherings by its members.