Winkle Brown (1919-2016)
Winkle Brown was not just a highly skilled test pilot, but the most prolific, having flown more types of aircraft than anyone in history
IF AN AWARD WERE instituted for the greatest test pilot ever, Captain Eric Brown of the Royal Navy of Britain would probably be the deserving recipient. One of the tributes on his demise at the ripe old age of 97 read, “The Fleet Air Arm may have lost one of its finest and best known pilots but British aviation has lost something even greater – the most accomplished test pilot of his generation and perhaps of all time and a huge advocate of military aviation.”
Indeed, Brown was not just a highly skilled test pilot, but the most prolific, having flown more types of aircraft than anyone in history. He also flew and evaluated many types of German aircraft, including new jets and rocket planes captured during World War II. He was a pioneer of jet technology and the first person ever to land a jet on an aircraft carrier. He also held the world record for the highest number of deck landings.
Eric Melrose ‘Winkle’ Brown was born on January 21, 1919, in Leith, Scotland. His first experience of flight was a bit on the irregular side since the eight-year-old was perched on his father’s knee as he piloted a single-seat Gloster Gauntlet. In 1936, his father took him to see the Berlin Olympics. Here he was taken up by Ernst Udet, a World War I fighter ace and put through every aerobatic manoeuvre in the book. The teenager often visited Germany thereafter and learned to speak fluent German. In September 1939, he happened to be in Germany when he was woken by loud knocking on his door and informed that he was under arrest because “our countries are at war”. However, after three days he was set free.
He soon joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a Fleet Air Arm pilot. While he was posted to 802 Squadron, flying the Grumman Martlet aircraft on the first escort carrier HMS Audacity, he shot down two FockeWulf Fw 200 ‘Condor’ maritime patrol aircraft belonging to Germany. However, on December 21, 1941, the Audacity was itself torpedoed and sunk. Seconds before the ship went down, Brown realised that his only chance of escape was to jump overboard and swim to a safe distance. Thus he avoided being sucked underwater as so many others were. A rescue ship soon arrived on the scene but was forced to depart after being warned of a lurking German submarine. Brown then found himself among two dozen men drifting in the freezing waters of the Atlantic as darkness fell. One by one they began to succumb to hypothermia. He was in good physical and mental shape and once again grasped that his best chance of survival was to cling to his ‘Mae West’ inflatable life vest and keep himself awake through the night. He was one of only a handful of survivors rescued the next morning.
Winkle Brown’s calm, clear and logical approach is what kept him going through many years of flying as a pioneering test pilot – a notoriously danger- ous job that took the lives of hundreds of aviators, including many of his colleagues. In 1943, Brown was posted to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough where his skill in deck landings, one of the most demanding tasks a pilot can ever do, proved invaluable. He began by testing the Sea Hurricane and Seafire. By the end of 1943 he had already performed around 1,500 deck landings on 22 different carriers, trying out various combinations of landing point and type of aircraft in order to develop commonality of systems and methods. It is now far safer to operate aircraft from carriers, largely on account of the techniques and technologies he helped develop and validate. His tally of 2,407 aircraft carrier deck landings is a record that is unlikely ever to be exceeded. Indeed, the story goes that one American naval pilot was given a single point charter – to overtake Brown’s mark. He was kept off all other duties and given every incentive to succeed. But after the hapless American got to 1,600 landings he suffered a nervous breakdown.
Brown’s other amazing record was of 487 different types of aircraft flown as ‘Captain in Command’, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. This included several different types of aircraft—glider, fighter, bomber, airliner, amphibian, flying boat and helicopter. Remarkably, this figure included only basic types. For instance, although he flew 14 different versions of the Spitfire and Seafire they feature only once in the list. This mark too may never be exceeded.
In 1944, Brown began testing various aircraft at the RAE for flight at high subsonic and near supersonic speeds. Soon thereafter and till after World War II‚ he commanded the Enemy Aircraft Flight based at Farnborough. This exclusive unit test-flew captured German and Italian aircraft, thus getting an idea of the relative strengths and weaknesses of Allied and Axis aircraft. In all he flew 53 German aircraft, including the Me 163B Komet rocket plane. This plane had killed dozens of German pilots due to its highly dangerous fuel composition, actually a type of liquid explosive. On December 3, 1945, Brown also executed the world’s first carrier landing of a jet aircraft, landing a de Havilland Sea Vampire on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ocean.
The affectionate nickname ‘Winkle’ was given by his Royal Navy colleagues on account of his small stature. Brown partly attributed his survival to being short; it let him curl up in the cockpit when danger threatened. However, analysts believe he survived so many dangerous situations, including 11 plane crashes, due to his meticulous preparations for flight and his incredible presence of mind.
Winkle Brown last flew in 1994 and died on February 21, 2016, in Surrey, England.