The greatest ever pilot.

[nifty1]

Wings on my sleve.

Wings On My Sleeve: The World'S Greatest Test Pilot Tells His Story - Captain Eric Brown - Google Livres (http://books.google.fr/books?id=MMEK1jwD03AC&pg=PT219&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false)

[Bergerie1]

Few of us would disagree. I great man still going strong and remarkably modest with it.

[evansb]

The Greatest Ever Pilot? Bob Hoover and Chuck Yeager qualify. Just ask them!

[con-pilot]

When one looks at Bob Hoover's life and career*, one could make the argument that if he is not the Greatest Ever Pilot, he'd be damn near the number one spot.

As for Yeager, he'll tell you what a great pilot he is, you don't even have to ask. :p



* Including escaping from a German POW camp during World War Two, stealing a FW-109 and flying it to England.


Come to think about it, Jimmy Doolittle would have been right at the top as well.


One more point about Bob Hoover, I've met Mr. Hoover a few times and a braggart he is not, he always manages to turn the conversation away from about him and to the person he is talking to.

[JEM60]

CONPILOT. I believe the admirable Mr. Hoover flew the stolen 190 to Holland, not England. I have met both Mr. Hoover and Capt. Brown. Both great men in their own right.

[con-pilot]

CONPILOT. I believe the admirable Mr. Hoover flew the stolen 190 to Holland

Yes, you're correct, old age brain fart.

Thank you! :ok:

[clunckdriver]

I think that Jan Zurokowski of Glosters and Avro Canada and George Neal, retired Chief Test Pilot of D.H. Canada, should be up in the top ten, George by the way was 96 this month and went flying in his beutifull Chipmunk to celibrate , we can only hope our DNA is as good as his!

[SpringHeeledJack]

I wonder if the DNA of such men is the reason that they are still active and lucid at an old age, OR that they lived such inspired and fulfilling lives and that is what keeps them 'young' ?


SHJ

[ColinB]

All of the men mentioned are serious contenders for the title but surely none of them can compare with Biggles

[Atcham Tower]

The Romanian Constantin Cantacuzino has got to be very high in the running.

[Sleeve Wing]

A fascinating question and Winkle Brown is most certainly very high on the list.

However, the other question we should be asking ourselves is not about the chaps that get the headlines because of their position and therefore, by definition, opportunities.

There have been many very good pilots and these fall in to many different categories.

Think of the great pilot leaders there have been (and I for one do not necessarily include Douglas Bader for example)

Think of some of the airline legends, and I don't mean the self-promoting ones !

And, yes, we must include the test pilots. After all, these are the ones who are publicly seen to be at the top of their game.

I had the good fortune to meet Geoffrey Quill in my early days and his words and encouragement had a great deal to do with how I dealt with the tribulations of a professional flying career.
Listening to Peter Twiss in the past, John Cunningham or our own JH has always stimulated me to try harder or to do better. You can't beat listening to what drives such people.

We could then include the example of the record breakers, WW2 Bomber Command stalwarts, decorated fighter pilots. These are the people we all actually hear about.

But I now want to make a call for some of the unheralded; the acknowledged good instructors and mentors, past and present.
These representatives, even the better known ones, are fairly soon forgotten except by their students.
My heroes are the blokes who first tried to instil some understanding of the alien world that was to become my life later on. You know, that leprachaun who sits on your shoulder to this day, stopping you trying something stupid or downright reckless.

Yep, I still remember all my instructors with great affection and eternal gratitude for the attitude they promoted in me to never stop learning and never stop trying.

There are a lot still out there, some up and coming, some in the forefront and some quietly easing out at the end of good careers. All have contributed in their own way in trying to produce a sound, informed and safe new pilot to our more and more over- regulated world.

…………..Pretty good pilots as well, I think. :D

[Bergerie1]

I would also put in a good word for those line pilots who flew day in day out, by night and by day, when zonked out by different time zones and who one never heard about because they always did it right.
Unsung professionals all!

[4Greens]

Brown wins the title on number of deck landings in carrier ops. The biggest test.

[spekesoftly]

Sleeve Wing

or our own JHSorry, but is that a typo for JF ?

[mustafagander]

I think Bergerie 1 is right.

At the dawn of my career I flew with lots of old ex WWII B707 Cpts who just did it and did it extremely well. Nav aids were primitive, an NDB was considered good and a twin locator approach a thing of great joy. The odd ILS was just that, an odd one.

Watching an old pro fly a twin loc into, say, CCU Dum Dum in the monsoon with pi$$ poor vis and make it safe was worthy of great respect, yet that's what we did - no fuss and fanfare, just do the job safely. Remember that the automatics on the B707 were real primitive, no help there.

Those fellows were, in the main, great pilots and they just got on with the job.

[4Greens]

I joined civil aviation when we still had ex wartime pilots. The regarded Cbs as flack on the way to the target and didn't deviate. You had to be really quick with the seatbelt sign !

PS Speke softly: 'Sleve wing What is with the JH is it JF ??'

[Sleeve Wing]

spekesoftly.

>>> Sorry, but is that a typo for JF ?<<<

Crikey, yes, ss ! Sorry, John.

Back to the "How to" manual !!

[Exascot]

Very surprised no one has said that they are yet :)

[SpringHeeledJack]

I suppose there are different 'Greatest Pilots', yes those ex-WW2 pilots who survived in one piece and then went onto a long, successful and safe airline career were the epitome of what a consummate professional should be, but the fly by the seat of their pants (with good judgement) pilots that flew fighter aircraft in combat, test pilots, round the world aviators etc will always be seen as different and as more exciting. As pointed out earlier, landing on an Aircraft Carrier in any conditions, let alone in bad weather or night time must leave one at risk of being considered 'great'.


SHJ

[EyesFront]

I have no first hand knowledge to rank pilots so wouldn't presume to pick one as the 'greatest' but I do have a vast collection of aviation books, including any I could find on test flying. Any shortlist have to include Eric Brown, Bob Hoover, Alex Henshaw and Neil Armstrong. On reflection, I'm completely awed by anyone who gets to be a test pilot, so you can add Roland Beamont, Neville Duke, Neil Williams and a host of other names to the list...

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

I know a few retired airline captains who started their careers when the WW2 generation were the current airline captains. There were indeed some excellent ones, but I'm told there were quite a few who just weren't up to swept wing jets and intensive ATC, and covered their shortcomings by being absolute b'stards on the flight deck (and off it, as well).

I've heard this first hand from quite a few disparate sources who were 'there', so I'm inclined to believe there's more than a grain of truth in it. It's in one or two autobiographies, as well.

No doubt there were highly competent ex-WW2 pilots flying the airways, but it seems not all were.

Best pilot of all time? Got to be 'Wincle'!

[BSweeper]

Why oh why has nobody nominated Winkle Brown for a knighthood when so many undeserved get one. Or even more looking at the political lordships. If they have nominated him, why has he not got one yet? Can we mount a campaign?


With apologies to JF, Winkle is clearly the most outstanding pilot this country has ever seen - and I'm an (ex) crab.


The Sweep

[ExSp33db1rd]

Shaggy Sheep Driver ....

You have it.

I recall a colleague once commenting that some of the old ( younger then than I am now ! ) Captains couldn't fly an ILS to save their lives, literally, but pop out of cloud too high, too fast, not configured and say " the runway's over there, Sir " ( never forgetting the Sir ! ) and they would straighten up and fly an immaculate visual approach to a perfect landing, whereas the young trainees we were instructing could fly an instrument approach - aka Microsoft Flight Simulator game to them - better than we ourselves ever could, or likely would, but pop out of cloud at minima and have to land a real aeroplane on the real earth, and they lost it. ( remember San Francisco last July ? )

Yes, some of them were well known Martinets, but to be fair, had I survived being shot at nightly with the shells coming through the cockpit, I think my attitude to "lesser" mortals might have been a little different ! Not excusing, but understanding, sort of.

[Genghis the Engineer]

On these sorts of lists and criteria, and having had the privilege to meet a number of these amazing pilots, I'd put it neck and neck between Eric Brown and Neil Armstrong.

Not just on their pure flying achievements, but because both put huge amounts into promoting the whole breadth of the science and pursuit of aeronautics, and both have been possessed of huge humility and willingness to support others.

There are others who have done great things with flying machines, many who have pushed the bounds of aeronautics in one way or another, and a few who even show humility. But, I can think of no others who reach supreme heights in all three in the way that these two have.

Actually maybe one, not too far behind them - which would be George Cooper, who is held in similar regard within the flight test profession to Eric Brown, but is probably much less well known outside it.

http://history.arc.nasa.gov/hist_pdfs/cooper_bio_20120724.pdf

(CG, at 98, is 3 years older than EB - I happened to meet him three months ago and he's still doing well, if not quite as fit as EB.)

G

[4Greens]

Did have wings on my sleeve in my youth.

[barit1]

I once heard the late great Scott Crossfield pay tribute to Chuck Yeager -- as a "pretty good author". :)

[VC10man]

Eric Brown has just been interviewed on the Jeremy Vine Show. He is fantastic for a 95 year old. His story about the sinking of the Aircraft Carrier HMS Alacrity was very interesting.

Jeremy did suggest that he should be knighted and I certainly agree. Can some of you top people on this site sort it out please?

What a wonderful man Eric Winkle Brown is.

[Wander00]

It seems that the rest of the country is discovering what an exceptional man and pilot "Winkle" Brown is, something we aviation types have known for a long time. More power to his elbow.

[nifty1]

'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.’ .

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320463/ROBERT-HARDMAN-Hero-Captain-Eric-Winkle-Brown-makes-Biggles-look-like-wimp-tells-story.html#ixzz3KIRr2cVf (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320463/ROBERT-HARDMAN-Hero-Captain-Eric-Winkle-Brown-makes-Biggles-look-like-wimp-tells-story.html#ixzz3KIRr2cVf)

[T-21]

I think Ernest Gann should be high in the ratings.

[4Greens]

Gann never tried to land on a carrier. I am sorry but that is the most difficult area of operations . Its the major criteria in this case.

[Thud105]

Gann wasn't a great pilot. A great writer maybe. What about Harald Penrose? He could write and fly!

[Duchess_Driver]

Gann never tried to land on a carrier. I am sorry but that is the most difficult area of operations . Its the major criteria in this case

Just because he didn't doesn't mean he couldn't therefore, IMHO, your statement is bollocks. Not decrying EB or any other Naval aviators, but somebody mentioned about being given the opportunity put a lot of the names mentioned in 'the frame' where other equally skillful hands were overlooked.

The question was the greatest pilot ever, not who has the most types or who has the most carrier landings or the largest number of hours.

As has been said, many 'unsung' - the 'few', bomber command, Doolittle raiders, Tuskagee... I could go on.

They're all 'great pilots' -way above my 'pay grade!'

DD

[Jwscud]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned John Young. "Just" a test pilot before he joined NASA, and lacking the research and aeronautical combat experience of Neil Armstrong (he was gunnery officer on a destroyer providing NGS in Korea), but flew the first Gemini, was the first man to fly solo around the moon, landed, then was instrumental throughout the Space Shuttle program, and ultimately a very senior spaceflight safety man at NASA.

[barit1]

I have no idea how "great" a pilot Ernest Gann was. But he was successful in the the age when flying was dangerous, and sex was safe.

And he was unsurpassed in his tale-telling, giving the reader a magnetic sense of 'being there', learning the hard lessons just as he had.

And his humor - when telling hairy situations - was a real talent. The last few chapters of Gann's Band Of Brothers are a treat!

[oftenflylo]

Some are just good at promoting themselves, while so many others sit quietly by.....

[barit1]

PBS' Nova this week is presenting a biography of Armstrong. :ok:

Unfortunately the editors can't distinguish between a J-3 and a 7AC. :rolleyes:

[TowerDog]

. The greatest ever pilot.

Cough, cough....being modest and low key I hesitate to mention myself,
So I won't.:cool:

[CISTRS]

Hanna Reitch should be there somewhere...

[blind pew]

Cisters....
some sense at last ...then Joan Hughes and the other ATA girls (and guys) who delivered new aircraft (without radios) in weather when "the boys" were grounded...not only did they do better than the blokes but they had to fight the prejudice of "woman know your place"....
as to airline pilots:ugh:
and some instructors....taught me many of my fears .....even to the briefing on my dutch roll on the iron duck....we will limit the demonstration to 30 degrees (as against 60) because someone put the wrong input in and the aircraft nearly went through the vertical...

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Morning BP. Your book was a great read, and I knew a few in there including the notorious 'Mike Bishop'. Was it all true?

[blind pew]

Shaggy.....Fraid so although a few mix ups as had a call from my pilot mate with the clocking...said he clocked the car the first time and it was someone else who got the trading standards involved...but he reminded me that he nearly got banned from British Car Auctions for bidding up his own car at a time when auction ringing became a criminal offence..his other stories were far more "naughty" including the near loss of a Boeing but I can't tell many tales because it would identify him.....
A couple of months ago I was at Airbus...when a guy walked up and said You count Ace..."man land 12 ft" ..I got a C because of you...(route or sim check)
He joined the Trident a couple of years after me and I was P3 on his check...
On a coupled approach final it was P3's job to check the state of the auto land system...doll's eyes etc...and determine system capability...Man(ual) land lowest height was 200ft (cat 1) whereas "Auto" could be anything between 200ft and 12ft....so MAN LAND 12ft was impossible but he didn't twig...
We pushed some of the skippers too far ....but seemed fun at the time and so he got a C ...satisfactory...which is what we were paid for...
Guy now a TRE....he recounted yet another story about the above clocker...trees...a school...and the police....happy days
Have a blog as well...

[Flybiker7000]

Sleeve Wing in #11: I totally back You up on this.
It's easy to pick popularized names and forget other who qualifies to a given honour as well as there might be plenty of pilots with unspoken achievements who never gets into the comparison.
In such case I often compare with the first person to fly with a motorised airplane, who is common known to be the Wright brothers - But in fact the Wrights are morely the first to survive to tell the story hence there might be several among the pioneers who died in the try but actual got airborne short before they perished. Remember: Trying to fly was performed by lonely fools theese days!

But IF I should ignore the achievements of Eric Brown I would mention Roland Garros and Howard Huges!

[Private jet]

There's no such thing as the "greatest ever pilot". Its a very subjective thing, we all live in our own time, many of the "aces of yesteryear" would struggle in the modern environment and certainly vice versa too. Also, opportunity is essential, you could be the best pianist ever, but without access to a piano pure talent means nothing.

[Noyade]

Murphy! :)

Never had a flying lesson but eventually bombs a U-Boat in a Grumman Duck.

watch?v=aED7xvYbMfw

[Flying Lawyer]

Modern era:

Jim Lovell

Ray Hanna
Stefan Karwowski

Nick Lappos (Rotary)


EyesFront I'm completely awed by anyone who gets to be a test pilotSo am I - in principle.

However, I suspect you might be surprised by the number of people apparently entitled to call themselves a 'test pilot'.

FL

[PPRuNe Pop]

It is nigh impossible to say for certain who the greatest pilot was or is. There are hundreds of them. Starting with Wilbur, or was it Orville Wright, they were the FIRST test pilots - on their own aircraft (the only one). Today there are several names still alive who were among the greatest, but you cannot ignore those who have died, whether testing or or by natural means.


Today very much alive is Eric Brown, another is John Farley, and others abound. But..........all 'great' in their own right. Eric Brown who flew over 400 types in all vastly different circumstances created awe inspiring moments that will live forever - as will his name. John Farley too created the Harrier from his own skills by working closely with the designers. His stamp is all over it. Without John Farley there would not have been a Harrier. His test pilot skills grew and grew. Now retired he has a special place in test flying.


Tis, therefore, enough to recognise each and every one as the greatest in their own field and tis also right to remember each and every one from time to time for without them aviation, flying in particular, would never have been as safe as it is.


Test flying began with a rate of safety on an ever increasing upward trend, it still does. The legacy of all who flew west and those who died trying to make flying safe for others over a 100 years ago and those who retired knowing that they gave us the ability to step confidently on to aircraft and get to where we wish to go. Relatively few people think of the risks test pilots took to achieve that. Even though they were calculated, they still had to make the aeroplanes safe. It was NEVER thus - now it is. Well almost!


Other pilots have their exploits written for us all to see. In that sense we must not forget the fighter pilot who laid his life on the line, sometimes day after day in the Battle of Britain and other areas of war where they were needed to keep populations free and safe. The list goes on and on.................

[nifty1]

Biggles wins hands down.

[vctenderness]

My nominations are:

Civil aviation: Captain Clarence Over

Military: Ted Striker

:):):)

[glendalegoon]

YOU'RE LOOKING AT HIM!

[Bergerie1]

Pop,
Good post. There are so many to whom we owe so much. Not just the Battle of Britain pilots and the test pilots you mention (and I agree with your comments). But spare a thought also for all those bomber crews who night after night flew over occupied Europe. They had to cope with the contrast of being in a normal Britain one day and then in the horror of the night skies the next. Perhaps not great pilots, not even the greatest, but a great test of fortitude.

[air pig]

Wilbur and Orville, they started it all.

Anybody who survived the carnage of WW1 and there were few of those.
Jeffery Quill and Mutt Summers for their work in and before WW2.

Erich Hartman as a fighter pilot.

Leonard Cheshire as a leader and humanitarian.

Roland Beamont Peter Twiss John Derry Brian Trubshaw post WW2

JF and Bill Bedford in later years.

Barbara Harmer, who made the rt hand seat of Concorde overcoming all the obstacles on the way.

Then there is the men who got them off the ground, Sopwith, A V Roe, Handley Page, Chadwick, Barnes Wallace, R J Mitchell, Camm, Petter, and Johnson,

[evansb]

Regarding WW.I aviators, Canadian Billy Bishop VC, DSO, DFC, comes to mind. He officially recorded 72 victories. He also helped set up the BCATP.

WW.II Japanese Naval Aviator Saburo Sakai is also worthy of this thread's category. One of the few Japanese Aces that survived.
Wrote a good book too...

[Planemike]

Then there is the men who got them off the ground, Sopwith, A V Roe, Handley Page, Chadwick, Barnes Wallace, R J Mitchell, Camm, Petter, and Johnson,

Add to that list Geoffrey de Havilland.........

PM

[air pig]

PM, foolish of me, how could I miss Sir Geoffery and we could add Messerschmitt, Tank, Zeppelin and Heinkel.

[evansb]

Although the title of this thread is The Greatest ever pilot... I see a definite historical and geographical bias. What, no Russians, French, Italians, Poles or Czechs? Or...?

Yes, Jan Zurokowski was a Pole, but he continued his exploits in Canada..and a Romanian was mentioned, but there seems to be an overwhelming British bias. No surprise really.

[david parry]

Maybe him..Ernst Udet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Udet) EWB rated him

[air pig]

Major Stanislaw Salski, heard of him from Johnnie Johnson's book 'Full Circle' flew in the Western desert flying Spitfire 5s when the FW 190 first appeared.

There is an Israeli pilot with 17 kills, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giora_Epstein

[PPRuNe Pop]

evansb, you have a point.

However, on this page alone there are fingers pointing in all directions, but I doubt that there is one who could reel off the names of test pilots or pilots of distinction from other countries, including the commonwealth. 'Tis bad enough trying to remember those we have, but to add foreign test pilots from the world over is like naming individual bees in one hive! They all fly perfectly but no-one knows their name!

Fortunately, there are well written books that do that, and in most cases it takes the authors years of research as well as travel hither and thither to get just a few words of unbeatable veracity to enter it into a book. I have read a lot of such books and in all cases I have marvelled at some of exploits of these marvellous men. I have also met many on the display circuits and some fit the brand of the 'best' pilots I have ever seen. It has been a privilege to know them, a few I still do, and they are my friends. Surprisingly, just a few had an over inflated ego, which did little for their undoubted talent.

I don't think I could subscribe to the thought all bomber crews fall into the same category. In the case of a Lancaster for example a pilot was one of a seven crew and they were all heroes. That means they fall into a slot that is clearly that of 'Protectors of the Realm' - that is my title anyway, but it must apply to all those who fought for this country.

Sorry if I have gone on a bit, but let us not forget the ETPS (Empire Test Pilots School) at Boscombe Down. It annually turns out fully trained test pilots - from all around the world. The test pilots who train these real test pilots are second to none and, as far as I know, are all British therefore it gives Britain a definite bias. Nothing wrong that because it is true. Certainly the ones I know are.

But there is one fact that is without doubt a history of magnificence when it comes to defining British born and bred Test Pilots. They did a job that no-one can ever beat. In some cases they gave their lives but the flying curve of safety they flew/fly always pointed skywards until it is damn near as safe as it is ever going to be.

[India Four Two]

I see clunckdriver mentioned George Neal in November. I would like to bring his name to the fore again. Now certified by Guinness as the world's oldest active pilot at 96:

George Neal Enters Guinness Record Book as Oldest Pilot | Business Aviation News: Aviation International News (http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2015-06-22/george-neal-enters-guinness-record-book-oldest-pilot)


Many of those hours came while he was a test pilot for de Havilland Canada. Joining the company in 1947, he was pilot-in-command for the first flights of the DHC-3 Otter, CS2F Tracker and DHC-4 Caribou, and he served as part of the flight-test teams for the DHC–1 Chipmunk, DHC-2 Beaver, DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-5 Buffalo, Dash 7 and Dash 8.

I met him once. A very nice, down-to-earth and unpretentious individual.

[diginagain]

Any room on that list for either/both of the Wrights? :E

[Cows getting bigger]

Naaah, as everyone knows, they didn't actually invent the airplane. :eek:

Personally, I think the 'greatest ever' was/is probably one of those unnamed 21 year-olds who managed to get a bomber crew over Europe at least 25 times during WW2.

[diginagain]

Personally, I think the 'greatest ever' was/is probably one of those unnamed 21 year-olds who managed to get a bomber crew over Europe at least 25 times during WW2.Gets my vote.

[Pinky the pilot]

Personally, I think the 'greatest ever' was/is probably one of those unnamed 21 year-olds who managed to get a bomber crew over Europe at least 25 times during WW2.

No argument from me there.

Or any of those unnamed 20 to 23 year olds (or any age for that matter) who fought and survived the Battle of Britain!

[mcdhu]

How about John Derry and his battle with the sound barrier in the 1950s - which eventually got him?
mcdhu

[barit1]

The one who achieved that goal of #Landings = #takeoffs.

I forget his name. ;)

[4Greens]

Which of these famous pilots was involved in the British clearing up Belsen?

[megan]

4Greens, Eric "Winkle" Brown. Was asked by Brigadier Glynn Hughes (senior allied officer at Belsen) to interrogate the camp commandant Josef Kramer and his female assistant Irma Griese. His comment, "two more loathsome creatures it is hard to imagine".

[4Greens]

Thanks Megan, just checking. He was nearby at the end of the war checking out German aircraft. He is by far number one in my book but then I am an ex carrier pilot.

[India Four Two]

He wasn't very impressed by Hanna Reitsch either.

[pulse1]

I see that Captain Eric Melrose Brown was present when the Queen visited Belsen this week. No mention of the "Winkle" on that occasion.

[teeteringhead]

I see that Captain Eric Melrose Brown was present when the Queen visited Belsen this week. No mention of the "Winkle" on that occasion. Perhaps that will help his long overdue "K".

I'm sure he's done just about as much for his country as Sir Lenworth (Lenny) Henry ...... :rolleyes:

He (Winkle, not Lenny H) also debriefed Goering, and was I think one of the last people to speak to him before he - HG - anticipated the work of Albert Pierrepoint)

[ColinB]

Was asked by Brigadier Glynn Hughes (senior allied officer at Belsen) to interrogate the camp commandant Josef Kramer and his female assistant Irma Griese.
FYI I think Glyn Hughes was a Senior Medical Officer who torched the buildings with a flame-thrower to arrest the spread of typhoid

[Spooky 2]

I would like to nominate someone from the colonies if you would allow me.


Factsheets : Brig. Gen. Robin Olds: Combat Leader and Fighter Ace (http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1125)

[Gannet Driver]

A lot of totally worthy nominations, especially the nameless 25-year-old who completed a Bomber Command tour over Germany, but I concur with "Winkle" Brown. Served under him in the late 60's, a quiet hero.

The excellent BBC documentary about his life is on YouTube at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szten4iypCM

and the thumbnails beside give leads to many more bits & pieces.

His original book "Wings on my sleeve" is great, his 3 "Wings of..." later ones are excellent on Naval Aircraft, Luftwaffe aircraft and what he calls the Weird and Wonderful. First-hand experience, tech data and a human view of each. Strongly recommended!

Mike