Legendary Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown was a British Royal Navy test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history. He was the most-decorated pilot in the history of the Royal Navy. Some of his ‘firsts’ include first to land a jet on an aircraft carrier and first to land a twin-engine aircraft on an aircraft carrier. He logged over 2,200 aircraft carrier landings. Fought in combat, commanded air bases. Absolutely bloody amazing.
Amazon Prime Video has a great little documentary that is almost all him sitting on his couch talking, with some old test footage. On general airmanship and survivability, he says this:
“Preparation is vital. That requires time. And a lot of pilots prefer to use their time drinking at the bar.”
“They were familiar with the aircraft when everything was normal. But when an emergency occurred they hadn’t boned up on what to do in these emergencies.”
And a few minutes later, talking about how well the F-86 Sabre flew:
“Harmony of control is what binds a pilot with his aircraft. You feel, you and the airplane are one, you are part of it.”
I will never fly a captured German rocket-powered ME163 Komet, or land a new plane onto a pitching aircraft carrier, but I can prepare. I can bone up. And maybe I will feel one with the airplane. Just like Winkle Brown . . .