Capt. Eric 'Winkle' Brown talks about flying Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Test pilot legend Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown talks about flying the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet after the fall of the Third Reich. This talk was given at 2009's 'IT FLIES - The Aircraft Design Handling and Simulation Competition' held at the Royal Aeronautical Society head quarters. The competition was organised by Merlin with students from Universities up and down the country competing to win the first prize of £1000.
Having met and spoken (at some length) to Eric (0ver dinner, in 2001) my impression is a strait forward, clear thinking, intelligent, kind man, always generous with his time. Always makes me smile to listen to,these precious recordings of him talking. RIP
..so his "balls" seemed normally sized?
This should be on national television going viral cause he’s got big big balls to fly the komet fly high captain eric winkle god brown you are a true inspiration and I’ll make sure my kids know your bravery
Scottish and British Legend.Thank god we had him.
A much overused word but in this case it’s true. Capt Brown is a legend.
R.I.P., Mr Brown. You done good.
Sad to hear about the passing of Eric brown he achieved so much in his life.
This man is a global treasure!! History comes from his lips!! I hope his life experiences are recorded?? I want to thank him for sharing his stories!! And any other combat vet's that tell their stories!! It can't be easy for them?? They all should be treated like NFL PLAYERS AND THOSE HOLLYWOOD SCUM BAGS TAKE FOR GRANTED!!?? Think about it people?? HERO'S!!!
I've got 14,000 hours- but this guy is more of a pilot than any other I've met. A true legend.
Got Eric's autograph of him flying a ME163 fabulous!
A legend!
It would scare me to be anywhere near the 163, winkle wanted to try it and voluntarily got in and took off. Very brave. I don't think he had an official sanction either, I think the authorities would have stopped him if they'd known. As he said, a lot of German pilots paid a heavy price for its development.
The German Komet crew responsible apparently begged him not to fly the thing!
@@chamberpot969 I read that Brown got them to sign a waiver before they'd let him take it up. Just so they wouldn't be held accountable for what might have happened.
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What might have happened *IF* Winkle Brown wasn't such a f***ing badass pilot, that is!
@AndrewGivens Incredible really that Brown, with very little training, was prepared to risk his life getting into that death trap.
A truly great airman and all rounder.
They should've let him fly the X15 that he really wanted. .
truly a legend. but it must have felt like flying a time bomb.
As far as l know , Capt. 'Winkle' Brown was the Only non-Axis pilot to fly the rocket me163
And the DH 108!
Interesting to contemplate how fast technology has developed. Winkle flew later high performance fighters, so I'm sure he has talked about this at some stage. But he mentioned 14000f/m as an astonishing climb compared to the other fighters of the age. And of course it was, but compare that to the F-14 with 45.000f/m and the f-22 with 62.000 f/m.
What a pilot… deepest respect
What a bloke ! I remain full of admiration.
Is there a full version of this anywhere?
He deserved way better audio than this.
The video was recorded by someone in the audience.
A truly inspirational man. I hope he's enjoying reading through his flight log books at the great Naval Air Station in the sky.
RIP
I,m sure I read a comment from him about his experience when flying the 163-"it was like being on a runaway train"
If given the opportunity to fly it, I may have declined!
You had to be a special kind of brave or nuts to jump in that aircraft. The performance of that thing was decades into the future.
T = Tot? & C = Cancel this flight you mad person?
And IF working fine = BLOODY FAST! :-D
I sincerely regret never meeting that man or attending one of his lectures...
I am full of admiration for all of his accomplishments...
It must have been scary to fly the ME-163 because it always seemed like a ticking time bomb to me with its fuel being so volatile and its totally unsafe design...
That's not to say that the ME-262 or the Arado AR-234 were not without their risks either but they looked more reliable even if the jet engines had a very short life...
On top of that I just LOVE his typically British sense of humor when he describes the "arm rests" being the fuel tanks 😄😄😄
Great man...
With Germany being Fantastic engineer’s I’m surprised this engine was so dangerous for the Pilots !!!!!!
..wasn't the engine per se, more what it needed to GO BLOODY FAST :-O
It was that deadly fuel the thing used
Don't forget that at this time, Germany was on the back heel and needed deperate measures to try to win the war.
The plane itself and the engine were quite well designed given wartime pressure. But like the x program planes it was on the very edge of cutting edge tech and dangerous because of that.
did I hear correctly? he flew a Me 163 Komet? Geeze!
The only non-german to ever fly it.
He flew more aircraft types than anybody has ever and probably will ever fly. He was given an opportunity to fly a Natter. He passed. If Winkle wouldn't fly it you know it's a deathtrap.
Not just that he flew it, but that he walked away at the end ! I wonder if it was the scariest thing he ever did
@@rogerhudson9732 Well, TBH, how many non-Germans even could?
If the T-Stoff leaked into the C-Stoff,
the pilot would be P-Stoff.
The man was mental to fly that thing when he didn't have to.
He had the opportunity to fly the fastest thing in the sky. Young and bold and he went for it. Fair play to him.
The fact is, you don't have to do anything, if you're willing to make a stand.
It seems unduly risky to let your greatest test pilot fly this thing, with no great scientific gain.
+Carl Anderton At the time he was not yet mooted as the "best test pilot"....on the other hand....why would you not use your best asset to assess such an unknown aircraft?
+Mugdorna He took the Komet up without official permission; he made the German ground-crew sign a disclaimer that they were not responsible in the case of an accident. Brave guy and very driven.
***** As I understand it, they wouldn't let him go up in it, so he made them sign the document to make it 'official' and protect them. Only then would they agree, so yes you're right i guess. :)
It was his decision to fly it, that’s the kind if man he was.
Crazy aircraft. Was not that successful anyway
There is such a thing as being too fast for one's own good. I believe that applies to the Komet and also the Schwalbe.
I think, in this speech, that he suggests that he flew the Me 163 under its own power . The fact is that he only flew it, towed to height and after that flew it as a glider. The alternative was regarded too risky.
In an interview he said he did fly the aircraft in powered flight:
ua-cam.com/video/8PN9AP710e0/v-deo.html
No Jane he flew it fuelled and under power, as recorded in his log book, memoir and at the Scottish National Museum of Flight.
" I remember watching the ground crew very carefully before take-off, wondering if they thought they were waving goodbye to me forever or whether they thought this thing was going to return" .
Captain Brown spoke of how loud the take-off was and compared flying it to being in charge of a runaway train. He climbed at an angle of about 45 degrees and at a rate of 16,000 feet a minute when most of the top fighters could manage about 3,000 feet.
From a 2015 interview with Captain Brown at the National Museum of Flight Scotland.
@@jeremywyatt3802 Did he develop conjured memories in old age? Because in his book Wings of the Luftwaffe published decades ago when he was a much younger man with a fresher memory, he says he only flew it as a glider as the fuel was deemed as too dangerous.
@@drott150 might have been between the "official/unofficial" bit where he "only flew it officially unpowered". But there's his flight log that states he flew it up to 32k fleet, you can find a picture of his flight log showing the 3 flights unpowered and stated being towed and his "unofficial" flight where he mentioned no tow plane and the height he achieved
Behold, a true LEGEND.
What a studd✌️