Wings on My Sleeve: The World's Greatest Test Pilot tells his story

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Wings of the Navy: Flying Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-995-5. Having been born in Leith, near Edinburgh, Brown went on to become a student at Edinburgh University studying modern languages – with an emphasis on German. While there, he became a stuntman rider to earn extra money. One of his more memorable feats was his ride in a ‘wall of death’ with a lion in his motorbike sidecar. 3. He was a fluent German speaker, and interrogated Himmler and G öring Subsequently, Brown and Martindale, along with several other members of the Aerodynamics Flight and assisted by a co-operative German pilot, later ferried twelve Ar 234s across the North Sea and on to Farnborough. The venture was not without risk, as before their capture, the Germans had destroyed all the engine log books for the aircraft, leaving Brown and his colleagues no idea of the expected engine hours remaining to the machines. Because of the scarcity of the special high-temperature alloys for use in their construction, the Junkers Jumo 004 engines had a life of only 25 hours – it was thus not known whether the engines were brand new or just about to expire. [27] It was while on this mission that Brown’s War took quite a different turn. Fluent in German he was asked to accompany a medical unit to help liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The experience was to affect him deeply for the rest of his life including interrogating Hermann Göering, founder of the Gestapo and other senior members of the Nazi regime. BBC Two – Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown (at 05:35 of the documentary)". bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 1 June 2014.

During the war, Brown’s fluency in German and expertise on aircraft made him valuable in interviewing many important figures, including captured German pilots – gathering crucial information about their aircraft, tactics and training. As a fellow airman, he knew the right questions to ask, consequently gaining invaluable insights.

Polmar, Norman; Minoru Genda (2006). Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events: 1906–1945. ISBN 978-1-57488-663-4.

Brown, Eric (18 September 2008). Wings on My Sleeve: The World'S Greatest Test Pilot Tells His Story. Orion Publishing Group. pp.204–5. ISBN 978-0-297-85690-0– via Google Books. Brown, Eric (1981). The Helicopter in Civil Operations. Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 978-0-24611-221-7. a b c d e f g h Pociask, Martin. "Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown: Officer, Gentleman, Test Pilot Extraordinaire" (PDF). The Helicopter Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2019 . Retrieved 24 April 2018.List of Articles and publications by Eric Brown via https://web.archive.org/web/20110110021804/http://www.theaviationindex.com/ On the jet side I was a great admirer of the F-86 Sabre, but in particular, the Model E (F-86E) which had the flying tail, and this gave me what I call the 'perfect harmony of control'. If a pilot has this perfect harmony of control you feel you're part of the aeroplane and you're bonded with it really. You've got into it and the aeroplane welcomes you and says 'thank God you've come, you're part of me anyway' and to fly like that is a sheer delight. [66] Later life [ edit ] In February 1945, Brown learned that the Aerodynamics Flight had been allocated three Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly/Gadfly helicopters. He had never seen one of these tail-rotor machines, so a trip to Farnborough was arranged and Brown had a short flight as a passenger in one. A few days later, Brown and Martindale were sent to RAF Speke to collect two new R-4Bs. In 1954, Brown, by then a Commander in the Royal Navy, became Commander (Air) of RNAS Brawdy, where he remained until returning to Germany in late 1957, becoming Chief of British Naval Mission to Germany, his brief being to re-establish German naval aviation after its pre-war integration with and subornation to, the Luftwaffe. During this period Brown worked closely with Admiral Gerhard Wagner of the German Naval Staff. Training was conducted initially in the UK on Hawker Sea Hawks and Fairey Gannets, and during this time Brown was allocated a personal Percival Pembroke aircraft by the Marineflieger, which, to his surprise, the German maintenance personnel took great pride in. It was, in fact, the first exclusively naval aircraft the German Navy had owned since the 1930s. [53] Brown led the re-emergence of naval aviation in Germany to the point that in 1960 Marineflieger squadrons were integrated into NATO. Former BBC space correspondent Reg Turnill interviews Eric Brown in 2008". Planet Labs. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011 . Retrieved 14 November 2014.

Isle of Wight Crashes". Daveg4otu.tripod.com. 25 November 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010 . Retrieved 8 May 2010. Audacity was torpedoed and sunk on 21 December 1941 by the German submarine U-751, commanded by Gerhard Bigalk. [13] The first rescue ship left because of warnings of a nearby U-boat, and Brown was left in the sea overnight with a dwindling band of survivors, until he was rescued the next day. [4] He was the one of two of the 24 to survive hypothermia; the rest succumbed to the cold. [14] Of the complement of 480, 407 survived, [ citation needed] a b c Rawlinson, Kevin (21 February 2016). "Royal Navy's most-decorated pilot dies aged 97". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 February 2016.Thus, in 1945 Brown was appointed Chief Pilot on a joint UK/US mission to retrieve Germany’s most closely guarded technological secrets, flying many captured German aircraft, including their top fighter, which was 125 mph faster than the British equivalent. “It was exciting but hairy at times!” said Eric. “The Germans were developing highly sophisticated aircraft and the aerodynamics of the wing configuration for Concorde stemmed directly from that mission.” BBC News – Desert Island Discs to feature war veteran on 3,000th show". BBC News. 7 November 2014 . Retrieved 14 November 2014. a b c d "Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown". Bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 1 June 2014. He very much believed in keeping our heritage aircraft flying as a record of the courage, endeavour and technological achievements of British naval aviation. “After I am gone, I hope that the aircraft will be well looked after, and that the men who flew them and those who laid down their lives in them will never be forgotten.” He died on 21st February 2016, aged 97. Harrison, William A. (1998). "Fairey Firefly Variants". Wings of Fame. Westport, Connecticut: AIRTime Publishing. 12: 113. ISBN 1-880588-23-4.