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Air Ministry bureaucracy even in wartime and the cracker stacker officer's response. Note the date on the minute.
Source: Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group
Warbirds (Historical, Veteran & Vintage Military Aircraft)
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Source: Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group
Came across a very interesting story about the English Electric Lightning intercepting the high flying U2. The Lightening topped out at 88000feet and gave the U2 pilot the fright of his life. The same aircraft was the only military aircraft able to catch the Concorde. Recorded speed is believed to be Mach 2.3 or 1500mph.
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I also have heard rumours that it may have given the SR-71 a run for its money too. The US would not have been impressed that the RAF could catch their secret strategic intelligence aircraft.
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
Always interesting to hear about military jets that I was totally unaware of, especially one with such impressive performance!
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You were unaware of the EE Lightning? Your education is sorely lacking. English Electric designed it by stacking two RR Avon after burning engines on top of one another on a hangar floor, then attaching wings, tailplane and a cockpit. After that they threw in a couple of 30 mm Aden guns and an undercarriage. Voilà one EE Lightning.
September 1946: the Miles 52, the supersonic aircraft that never was | The Engineer
With the recent passing of Chuck Yeager I went looking for articles on the Bell X1 and found this article on the Miles M52. Apparently the Poms were secretly at work designing a supersonic capability in 1943, and on direction of the British Government the Americans were given free and clear access to all the data and drawings. They even had a model of said aircraft dropped from a Mosquito but it blew up shortly after release. They had a couple of examples 90 percent complete when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. Shortly after the Government of the day directed the project be terminated. There are a lot of conspiracy theories floating about as to why it was cancelled but the Americans denied all of them. It makes an interesting read.
With the recent passing of Chuck Yeager I went looking for articles on the Bell X1 and found this article on the Miles M52. Apparently the Poms were secretly at work designing a supersonic capability in 1943, and on direction of the British Government the Americans were given free and clear access to all the data and drawings. They even had a model of said aircraft dropped from a Mosquito but it blew up shortly after release. They had a couple of examples 90 percent complete when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. Shortly after the Government of the day directed the project be terminated. There are a lot of conspiracy theories floating about as to why it was cancelled but the Americans denied all of them. It makes an interesting read.
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
Yes, Brown was another awesome character and I recall watching a documentary about him detailing all the different aircraft he flew including captured experimental German aircraft.
All? How many episodes were there?
Officially he flew 487 types, not counting subtypes.
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
Yep, an impressive number for sure.All? How many episodes were there?
See a couple of comments on this thread about Captain Eric Brown RN
Captain Eric Brown: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland
Not only did he officially fly 487 different types of aircraft including the Me163 and the Arado twin engine jet bomber, but also has the record for making the most carrier takes offs and landings which may still hold today. Take offs 2407 and landing 2271.
He is also most likely the only Royal Navy aviator to single handed accept the surrender of 2000 German air force personnel. And take possession of a number of German Jet Aircraft. He accidentally landed ahead of the advancing army the airfield in question had not been captured yet. His bio is very interesting read.
Captain Eric Brown: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland
Not only did he officially fly 487 different types of aircraft including the Me163 and the Arado twin engine jet bomber, but also has the record for making the most carrier takes offs and landings which may still hold today. Take offs 2407 and landing 2271.
He is also most likely the only Royal Navy aviator to single handed accept the surrender of 2000 German air force personnel. And take possession of a number of German Jet Aircraft. He accidentally landed ahead of the advancing army the airfield in question had not been captured yet. His bio is very interesting read.
Big_Zucchini
Well-Known Member
That's 136 times he took off without ever landing. What an absolute chad!
IIRC, like quite a few others, he flew the Me163 only once. But in his case that was by choice. He landed safely & said "never again". I've not read his opinion of the Ar 234. But now I will.
He flew in the ah..exciting phase of jet aviation. I recall an interview about the origins of the mirror landing system in which an officer was describing attending the 19th funeral of the cruise, and explaining that as the wardroom was staffed to 20 pilots, it didn't take a statistical genius to work out what one's chances were.
I wonder what percentage of that 136 were not landing at an airfield INSTEAD OF aboard? There were surely some flights where he had to exit the aircraft mid air
oldsig
Captain Eric Brown.... the saga continues.
I would suggest if he has made more take offs than landings then he may have joined the ship whilst it was tired up alongside. He did over the course of his career operate off more than 20 different carriers. The attached you tube links show Captain Brown landing the first jet fighter and making the first take off of a jet. A sea Vampire.
The other two fall under the title of weird and wacky which as far as I am aware he was involved to some extent in these as well. Its a flexible deck landing system when the deck of the carrier is overlaid with some sort of rubber compound and aircraft lands with its wheels up and bounces to a halt.
I would suggest if he has made more take offs than landings then he may have joined the ship whilst it was tired up alongside. He did over the course of his career operate off more than 20 different carriers. The attached you tube links show Captain Brown landing the first jet fighter and making the first take off of a jet. A sea Vampire.
The other two fall under the title of weird and wacky which as far as I am aware he was involved to some extent in these as well. Its a flexible deck landing system when the deck of the carrier is overlaid with some sort of rubber compound and aircraft lands with its wheels up and bounces to a halt.
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Documentary on Capt Eric 'Winkle' Brown RN.
IIRC, like the Me163, he didn't think much of the rubber deck idea. Another thing which even he thought was dangerous.
The idea wasn't for the aircraft to land wheels up, but not to have any wheels. It'd have a skid instead, thus saving the weight, space & mechanical complexity of a retractable undercarriage. Obviously, any external stores had to be jettisoned before landing.
There is actually a flying Komet around - I got super excited then realised they just tow it into the air and it glides back down, no hideously dangerous propellants involved. I was really disappointed, but I'd probably feel very differently if someone asked me to actually fly the thing
The UK had there own Me163 variant, it was the dh108 Swallow. The design was based on the Me163 and like the 163 it did not have a long or happy life. It was designed as an experimental aircraft investigating various elements of high speed flight. All three examples completed were lost in fatal accidents including one of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland own son's
www.baesystems.com
De Havilland DH108 Swallow
A single seat jet engined research aircraft designed to investigate low and high-speed flight characteristics.