Eric "Winkle" Brown – BBC2 Tonight Wed 8th October

FP you can get round that, use the free trial or sign up to

http://www.unblock-us.com/

It fools your PC or TV etc into believing it has a different IP and allows you to watch programmes from that country, so Iplayer will work online or should. I use it to allow me to watch US Netflix’s as it has more programmes on it. Well it should if the BEEB haven’t actually blocked it.

Have to try that toddle pip

Bump.

Repeating this very evening

FP you can get round that, use the free trial or sign up to

http://www.unblock-us.com/

It fools your PC or TV etc into believing it has a different IP and allows you to watch programmes from that country, so Iplayer will work online or should. I use it to allow me to watch US Netflix’s as it has more programmes on it. Well it should if the BEEB haven’t actually blocked it.

For those who missed this, it is being repeated on Wednesday 8th October on BBC2 commencing at 7.00pm

Drat, missed being in UK to see this!

Hope at least some I can see in US (most BBC web video blocked outside of UK)

For those who missed this, it is being repeated on Wednesday 8th October on BBC2 commencing at 7.00pm

At long last had chance to watch this. I also feel thee was a lot more footage which was omitted as it seemed a little disjointed in places. It was a pleasant change that he was left to tell the story himself though rather than it being guided along by the presenter. That’s how a documentary should be done.

I don’t check in to this site very often (very much a lapsed enthusiast) but this item has revived memories.

It must be about 50 years ago that I attended an Air Britain meeting in London that had a panel of four test pilots, one of whom was Eric Brown.

Then, last year, I noticed that he was doing a presentation at the Chalke Valley History Festival. It happened to be just after a short air display, so my wife and I made an afternoon of it. She had not heard of Winkle Brown before but was mightily impressed by the man – 95, clear, articulate, speaking without notes and with stories to tell well beyond aviation matters.

Afterwards, we had to move sharply on to another presentation, so did not have the honour of actually meeting him. The interesting thing is that, at the CVHF last year, there was a BBC tent and one of the people there was the presenter, James Holland. I suspect that he had not heard of Eric Brown before but recognised that there was a TV programme in it – just a guess on my part, but quite likely.

James Holland stayed out of the main body of the programme, leaving it to Eric Brown, in effect, to narrate his own story – and the programme was all the better for that. Contrast it with the programmes in which Dan Snow (also at the CVHF last year) presents his programmes – almost as much Dan Snow as the rest of content.

Like many here, I muttered Kondor when it appeared on-screen, only to have Winkle say “Kurier”. I’m not sure if it reduced my credibility with my wife.

If I were to criticise this programme, it would be on the grounds of brevity. Knowing the way things work, there must be much more footage of Winkle than was shown on the TV. Maybe even more archive footage that they sourced but didn’t use. Does anyone here have contacts at the BBC?

Eric Brown landed a P-39 on a carrier on 4 April 1945. He later claimed that this was the first carrier landing by a tricycle-gear aircraft, but I believe that F7F Tigercats had already carried out carrier landing trials in the US by this time.

PBJ-1H (USMC B-25H) made several arrested landings and catapult take-offs from USS Shangri-La CV-38 on 15 November 1944 – the same day as the initial carrier trials of the F7F Tigercat.

www.history.navy.mil/branches/hist-ac/pbj-1h.pdf
http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/10/05/flightdeck-friday-more-oddities

http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1998/ja98/tigercat.pdf
http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/457/language/en-US/Revenge-of-the-Shang.aspx

But even earlier was the Lockheed XJO-3 (Model 12 Electra Junior modified with fixed tricycle gear) on 30 August 1939, aboard USS Lexington CV-2.

http://www.microworks.net/PACIFIC/aviation/jo_r2o_r3o_electra.htm
http://www.patriotspoint.org/news_events/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/xjo-3-takeoff-lex.jpg

Many thanks Errol 😉

There are torrents on EZTV and elsewhere.

Has the whole programme made its way onto any other video platforms which allow non-UK enthusiasts to view it?

Eric Brown landed a P-39 on a carrier on 4 April 1945. He later claimed that this was the first carrier landing by a tricycle-gear aircraft, but I believe that F7F Tigercats had already carried out carrier landing trials in the US by this time.

I was going to mention the same thing – but as no-one had raised it, I thought maybe I was mistaken in what I saw.

It certainly looked like a P-39 – but it was momentary and a Google search has failed to find anything, so I assumed I was wrong??

Ken

Wasn’t one fitted with an arrestor hook at Farnborough for deck landing trials…?

Zeb

Didn’t realise they tried P39’s on a carrier – 24:50

I was going to mention the same thing – but as no-one had raised it, I thought maybe I was mistaken in what I saw.

It certainly looked like a P-39 – but it was momentary and a Google search has failed to find anything, so I assumed I was wrong??

Ken

Didn’t realise they tried P39’s on a carrier – 24:50

Excellent programme, well done BBC!

Having read and enjoyed ‘Wings On My Sleeve’ he is critical of all the armed services and political manouvering that led to TSR-2 and the carrier CVA-01 being cancelled. I expect he has declined any honours since in protest at these decisions regardless of who was in goverment.

On again tonight at 11.20 pm BBC2…if you fancy staying up late

Repeated tonight on BBC2 at 11.20pm

No, correct on both counts.

I don’t suppose we can really blame the documentary maker as no film of the incidents mentioned exists; it was representative footage and pointing out that it wasn’t actually footage of the incidents being described would have disrupted the documentary somewhat.

The man himself even though he himself says he is a small man stands head and shoulders above his nearest rival.

Now the nit pick. I was not entirely sober when I watched the programme but when the FW200 was being shot to bits did they not show a Liberator? Also when a Marauder was mentioned did I not see a B17? If I am wrong blame a bottle of Famous Grouse not me!