Winkle

Small in stature but immense in reputation and talent there was more to Eric 'Winkle' Brown than met the eye. From shooting down Luftwaffe bombers in the Battle of the Atlantic and narrowly escaping death when his ship was torpedoed to accumulating a never-to-be repeated litany of world records and firsts as a test pilot his unparalleled flying career saw him take the controls of over 400 different kinds of aircraft - more than any other pilot in history. A rival to Chuck Yeager and hero to Neil Armstrong by the time of his death he had become a national treasure. But despite his enormous fame there have always been mysteries at the heart of Winkle's story. Now drawing on previously unseen documents and unfettered access to Winkle's own personal archive Paul Beaver uncovers the real story of Britain's greatest pilot.