Ceremony for Captain Brown took place today at Edinburgh Airport
Members of the Edinburgh University Air Squadron gathered at Edinburgh Airport this morning to remember one of the greatest test pilots in aviation history, Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, on what would have been his 100th birthday.
They were joined by Captain Brown’s son Glen, Lord Provost Frank Ross, Edinburgh Airport chairman Sir John Elvidge and Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar to lay a wreath at the statue located on site. Two senior pupils from the Royal High School (Winkle’s Alma Mater) were also present.
© Lesley Martin
Born on 21 January 1919, Captain Brown went on to become a Royal Navy Officer after training at RAF Turnhouse, now Edinburgh Airport, in the late 1930s. He was a graduate of Edinburgh University and a highly decorated pilot.
© Lesley Martin
He collected world records for the most take-offs and landings on aircraft carriers at 2,721 and 2,407 respectively. He flew more types of aircraft than any other pilot in history at 487, including biplanes, helicopters and supersonic jets.
Captain Brown was also responsible for test flying a captured German aircraft in the Second World War.
In Scotland I attended Dunfermline High School from 2010 to 2016 and Edinburgh Napier University from 2016 to 2020, emerging with two Advanced Higher and five Higher qualifications from the former and graduating with an undergraduate bachelor of arts honours degree in journalism from the latter. After two years away from further education due to the coronavirus pandemic, I'm going to be studying the MFA Photography course at York St John University in England from 2022 to 2024. I've achieved The Duke of Edinburgh’s (Bronze) Award and received grade five level certification for electronic keyboard from Trinity College London. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, watching television series, listening to music and going to the cinema as well as catching up with friends, travelling by railway and hostelling overnight and overindulging in food and drinks in a pub or restaurant then having to go to the gym to burn it all off again.
By studying journalism and photography, my aim of practicing photojournalism professionally will hopefully be once step closer. Both are partial artforms requiring the rest of the work to be undertaken by the audience, the specialism of photojournalism, however, providing each of its two parts with greater context. Exploring photographic techniques (aerial, timelapse, editing) through a variety of journalistic styles (features, poetry, songwriting) will allow me to develop my portfolio, hone my camera skillset and narrow my focus further in anticipation of working life. Without a global pandemic to deal with this time. Fingers crossed.
