The real Biggles was a Matelot (NOT Sharkey)
 

Eric Brown
What a man. Why isn't his a household name? Anyone read his book?
Hope the link works.

ROBERT HARDMAN: Hero Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown, who makes Biggles look like a wimp, tells his story | Mail Online

Topic title changed from:

Not trying to provoke a little inter-service warfare, are you Gens? :E

Not really, but thought it might attract more viewers! God I'm so cynical!

I think he is a household name. Just depends on your household.


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Household name in ches Golf too. Winkle is so easy to listen to and be enthralled by in interviews. But I thought his book was rather dry.

Hey ho- doesn't diminish his status in my mind.

CG

I'd pay to go see a film following his deeds.

Winkle the man
 

I had the enormous priv of seeing/hearing this great man speak at the loughborough RAEs. They had to get a larger hall for the meeting

It wa not just the great skill knowledge and experience of the man that impressed so profoundly but also the pleasant way he answered what must have seemed to him damn silly questions from us all.

He spoke for about an hour without notes and never said one derogatory word about anyone or anything. Someone else could learn from that.

Yup, he had a lot of notable firsts, one was the first Jet carrier landing? he also did the trials with the flexible deck that you belly landed on, it was designed so you could do away with the the weight of an undercarriage on naval fighters ( only the British could think that one up ) flew lots of captured German aircraft including the ME163 even though he was banned from a powered flight I believe he did one.

Awe inspiring Gentleman.

USN FLEX DECK TRIALS with F9F-7 COUGAR
 

IF I had to select a single NavAv hero it would be 'Winkle' Brown. That first Sea Vampire landing aboard HMS Ocean was heroic indeed.

The USN trialled a 'flex deck' - info in this PDF (which may not be available now at this loc):

Milestones and Developments in US Naval Carrier Aviation-Part II

http://www.robertheffley.com/docs/CV...a-35685823.pdf

QUOTE: "The U.S. Navy program had a pneumatic deck which was 570ft long, 80ft wide, and consisted of 30in diameter pneumatic tubes covered by tensioned carpet. The first and last 30ft were ramped to the basic deck, and a single arresting cable was mounted 12 to 18in above the deck. The Grumman F9F-7 Cougar, a swept-wing version of the earlier straight-wing F9F-2/5 Panther, was used. It weighed about 20,000lb, and approached the deck at 135kt. A long, straight-in approach was used about 4ft above the deck. A total of twenty-three landings were made, with the twentieth being the most severe. This test was to engage the arresting wire at the aircraft maximum height above the deck of 5ft, and at maximum design gross weight for the program. The right wing dropped slightly after the hook engaged the wire so that the aircraft hit the deck pitching nose down, but also with a 5 degree right wing down roll attitude. The right wing penetrated to 25in of the 30in pneumatic cylinders. The usual pitching bounces were accompanied by alternating left and right rolls until the aircraft came to a stop. Black rubber marks were found on the upper surface of the right wing. After three more landings the program ended.

The major difference between the U.K. and U.S. Navy Programs was the differences in the two aircraft. The Cougar was roughly twice the weight of the Vampire, and had a pronounced wing sweep, as opposed to the straight wing of the Vampire, resulting in an approach speed that was 50 percent higher. The combination of increased mass and velocity resulted in the deck, aircraft, and pilot of the Cougar having to absorb more than three times the energy as the Vampire. USN FLEX DECK..."

ClickDeThumbnails: http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...xDeckF9F-7.gif http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...F-7photTxt.gif http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...c1945Ocean.jpg

CLICK BELOW FOR VIDEOs {RubberDuckieDeck & 1st Vamp DL}:

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...LandingHiQ.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...45HMSocean.jpg

1988
 

Winkle is a great bloke. heard him speak many times at RAeS and LSAB as recently as Jan this year when he came to tell us the M52 story. I first met him in 1988 ish when he spoke about flying the captured German a/c. I even arranged meetings at Boscombe to coincide with his appearance there. The most interesting of his stories is his escape from Germany on the Swiss Border as an exchage student when they gave him the keys back to his MG because they could not get the spares!

Just in the process of reading Vulcan 607 (Black Buck) Sharky gets a mention. the two blokes don't compare! Winkle still has his marbles. He's the sort of bloke you want to live for ever.

I treasure the books he has signed for me.

Nutty. He did hint at having broken the sound barrier in the Me 263 but in a glide without the Kuntstorf and Tstorff. The censors at the War Office forbade him from writing about it I understand.

What a super memory you have dragartist.........was it one of Lilienthals early models?? :p