A 97 year old man died at the weekend, who went by the name Eric "Winkle" Brown. Other than being a veteran of World War II, he also happened to be one of Britains (if not the) most respected and talented aviators.
His list of achievements are incredible, and after initially serving in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm as a fighter pilot, after his carrier was sunk, he did stints training pilots and developing aircraft carrier landing techniques, got seconded to Fighter Command, before becoming the Chief Naval test pilot.
His world record for aircraft carrier deck landings still stands (2,407), and he holds the world record for flying 487 different types of aircraft! He was also the first person in the world to land a jet aircraft on an Aircraft Carrier.
He was actually in Germany when war broke out and had to be smuggled out via Switzerland, and ending up interviewing many senior German figures during and after the war, including head of the German Air Force, Herman Goering.
He eventually retired from the military in 1970, and wrote many books recounting his experiences.
Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.
What an incredible character, and when you look at your own life, it does put things into perspective!
More info: Eric Brown - Wikipedia
There are calls to create a local monument or name a Street after him.
