Eric Melrose Brown (1919–2016)

Eric Brown had an amazing life, full of daring adventures and a lot of flying hundreds of different aircraft. You can see the survivor bias at work: dozens of narrow escapes from death, while many a friend is killed in the line of duty. It makes for good stories.

The book, however, sometimes feels like a mere list of what happened, with little context or interpretation. I didn't really get an impression of Eric Brown as a person at all, or what it must have been like to live his life.

Neat book by an RAF pilot whose job at the end of the war was to go around test piloting various German aircraft. The text is his thoughts/opinions on how the aircraft performed. Some data he got wrong in terms of what things were used for by the Germans but this is a minor quibble and understandable given the time frame.

This is a completely revised edition (1st, 1961). The first edition was subject to 'security concerns' and much was omitted. Most of that material, plus later updating, has been restored to this edition. A superb book by one of Britain's foremost naval pilot and test pilot.

An exquisite classic, required reading for anyone with an interest in aviation.