Britain's Greatest Pilot BBC2 Sunday

[paullangford]

BBC 2, Sunday 1st June 21:00

Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown recounts his flying experiences, encounters with the Nazis and other adventures leading up to and during the Second World War. Illustrated with archive footage and Captain Brown's own photos.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045pbq2

[FarnboroJohn]

BBC 2, Sunday 1st June 21:00

Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown recounts his flying experiences, encounters with the Nazis and other adventures leading up to and during the Second World War. Illustrated with archive footage and Captain Brown's own photos.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045pbq2

I came onto this thread for a discussion but its over already..... Thanks for the heads up.

John

[paullangford]

BBC 2, Sunday 1st June 21:00

Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown recounts his flying experiences, encounters with the Nazis and other adventures leading up to and during the Second World War. Illustrated with archive footage and Captain Brown's own photos.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045pbq2

I came onto this thread for a discussion but its over already..... Thanks for the heads up.

John

Ha Ha, sorry about that.......although you could start your own thread for discussion ? (Ray Hanna, Neville Duke ....or Brian Trubshaw etc)

[AlexC]

Will definitely be watching that!

[Comet102]

3 minute reminder

[tankbuster81]

Recorded it,and I'm looking forward to viewing it.

[Mad Dan]

Wonderful -- what a life...

[WG655]

Incredible stuff, very much the cat with nine lives. A true national hero.

[paullangford]

Yep, he's still got a sharp mind hasn't he...........wonderful stuff.

[CMS]

What a fantastic life he's led, quite humbling. Really good programme, beautifully put together without sensationalism, just let the story tell itself. Well done Beeb

[Thumper]

That really was an excellent programme. I never knew about the Mossie carrier landing and the astonishing number of aircraft he flew, fascinating and an incredible man. Thank you for the heads up.

[Red Dragon]

There was enough content in the programme to make an entire series about his career! Well done Beeb!!!!!!

[aviodromefriend]

If you missed it, it is on again tomorrow the 3rd at 23.20.

[AlexC]

The only one to come anywhere close to him I suppose would be Bob Hoover, although he's an American of course.

[Draken]

You can aslo watch it online for next 6 days...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... nkle-brown

[fairford_fan]

A great program with nothing but facts rather than the usual fiction.
What a unique lifetime that no-one will ever match and all captured in a rather stunning scrap book too.

[DocStirling]

An incredible life, and too much to fill a 1 hour slot. There were a few things I would love to know the answer to: we did not find out how he was rescued at sea, why the other crew in the water died and he lived (was he wearing a Mae West and the others standard life jackets?) and why was an FAA test pilot liberating Belson?

Otherwise a top-class documentary about an amazing man.

Daniel

[Comet102]

An incredible life, and too much to fill a 1 hour slot. There were a few things I would love to know the answer to: we did not find out how he was rescued at sea, why the other crew in the water died and he lived (was he wearing a Mae West and the others standard life jackets?) and why was an FAA test pilot liberating Belson?

Otherwise a top-class documentary about an amazing man.

Daniel

1: He was rescued at Sea by other warships in the convoy (it took so long because the submarine(s) were still present and if an warship would have stopped it would have been an easy target).
2: No idea
3: While in Germany he was with the RAE bringing back different German aircraft types, I think he was at the camp because he knew German so well (having studied at Edinburgh Uni) and was probably the closest person but I'm not too sure about that.

[Spiny Norman]

An incredible life, and too much to fill a 1 hour slot. There were a few things I would love to know the answer to: we did not find out how he was rescued at sea, why the other crew in the water died and he lived (was he wearing a Mae West and the others standard life jackets?) and why was an FAA test pilot liberating Belson?

Otherwise a top-class documentary about an amazing man.

Daniel

1: He was rescued at Sea by other warships in the convoy (it took so long because the submarine(s) were still present and if an warship would have stopped it would have been an easy target).
2: No idea
3: While in Germany he was with the RAE bringing back different German aircraft types, I think he was at the camp because he knew German so well (having studied at Edinburgh Uni) and was probably the closest person but I'm not too sure about that.

In his autobiography Wings on my Sleeve, he said he flew over to Germany in mid-April to help with the recovery of German aircraft and high-level figures in aviation development, such as Von Braun, Willy Messerschmitt, etc. About Belsen he wrote:

"Also near at hand was Belsen. When I had seen my scientists dispersed over Germany to their various objectives, I went there to see for myself what we had only read in what sounded like the worst horror fiction."

When he it was found he had a "high-profile pass" and spoke German, he was asked by an army Brigadier to interview Josef Kramer and Irma Griese, who called on the BBC show the worst person he'd ever met.

[DocStirling]

Thanks for filling in those missing bits of information.

daniel

[Abingdonman]

Watched it last night,for my money your much better off to READ his story!
there is no way you can put this extraordinary mans life in 1 hour,and in the end it showed...
to be honest I thought the programme construction was more Channel 5 than BBC

[AlexC]

Oh, I don't know, I thought it was a rather good programme, however, if there is a book of his life I'm going to have to get it!

[FarnboroJohn]

I enjoyed the programme, precisely because of the vision of the living man, crisp and authoritative. I was sufficiently fortunate see him lecture in the flesh at either RAeS Farnborough or FASTA (can never remember which puts on what) and it was one of the great privileges of my life.

John

[toom317]

Heads up. This is on again tonight, BBC4 21.00