'Winkle' Brown dies

[Captain Seafort]

One of the most famous British pilots, Capt Eric "Winkle" Brown, has died at the age of 97.

He was the Royal Navy's most decorated pilot and held the world record for flying the greatest number of different types of aircraft, 487.

During World War Two Capt Brown flew fighter aircraft and witnessed the liberation of Bergen Belsen concentration camp.

He died at the East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, after a short illness.

A statement released by his family said: "It is with deep regret that the passing of Captain Eric Melrose Brown CBE DSC AFC is announced.

"Eric was the most decorated pilot of the Fleet Air Arm in which service he was universally known as 'Winkle' on account of his diminutive stature.

"He also held three absolute Guinness World Records, including for the number of aircraft carrier deck landings and types of aeroplane flown."

Born in Leith on 21 January 1919, he was educated at Fettes College and the University of Edinburgh, where he learned to fly.

He caught the bug for flying at the age of eight when his father, a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during WWI, took him up in a bi-plane.

"There was no second seat, but I sat on his lap and he let me handle the stick," he told the BBC in 2014.

"It was exhilarating. You saw the earth from a completely different standpoint."

He retired from the Royal Navy in 1970 but became the director general of the British Helicopter Advisory Board and later the president of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1982.

Landmark life

• Flew 487 different types of aircraft, a world record that is unlikely ever to be matched
  Piloted 2,407 aircraft carrier landings
  Appointed MBE, OBE and CBE
  Survived 11 plane crashes and the sinking of HMS Audacity in 1941
  Met Churchill and King George VI numerous times
  Was at the liberation of Bergen Belsen
  Interrogated some of the leading Nazis after the war, including Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering and Belsen's chief guards Josef Kramer and Irma Grese

Capt Brown wrote numerous books of his own and forewords for other authors on the theme of aviation, before and after his retirement.

In March 2015 a bronze bust of Capt Brown was unveiled at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset.

At his 97th birthday celebration in London on 27 January he was joined by more than 100 pilots, including the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir George Zambellas.

In 2014 , the war veteran was picked as the subject for the 3,000th edition of Desert Island Discs, during which he was described by presenter Kirsty Young as a "real life hero" and a "remarkable, dare-devil".

"When you read through his life story, it makes James Bond seem like a bit of a slacker," she said.

Indisputably one of greatest pilots who's ever lived, quite possibly the greatest ever, and a very brave man, given some of the jobs he got as a test pilot.

[Patroklos]

An accomplished dude to say the least. It is interesting that his accomplishments are almost all non-combat. I don't say that to detract from them, but when it comes to wartime service the high victory count guys often outshine the quiet professionals that do the work underpinning the hot shots. I am glad "Winkle" got the recognition he deserved.