National identity: PH Blog
Warplanes to supercars in one emotive step, courtesy of test pilot hero Eric 'Winkle' Brown
His unique perspective of testing warplanes of all nationalities during the war years was the bit that really interested me and though his analysis was, by its nature, technical in focus he affords himself a more emotive appraisal of some of the aircraft too.
And where's the PH angle in this? Well, it struck me these more personal views have a lot in common with how we talk about cars. Personally I've always been fascinated how national character traits can be expressed through machines like cars and the way we identify with that and develop our automotive tastes. Seems like Winkle did the same with planes and much of what he had to say sounds familiar.
Take his appraisal of the Mitsubishi Zero Fighter for instance.
"The design philosophy employed by the American trained designer, Jiro Horikoshi, was to keep the Zero's weight to a minimum. In the air the lightweight Zero was remarkably nimble ... I was most surprised by the noise emanating from the fuselage, rather like the sound produced when one pushes the side of a large biscuit tin, caused probably by the 'panting' of the light gauge alloy skin."
So, perhaps, a Honda NSX of the skies. Not as powerful or fast on paper as its Western contemporaries but elegantly engineered and delightful to pilot through its emphasis on lack of weight. If, perhaps, a bit tinny as a result - ref. roadtests of 90s Japanese cars and their plasticky interiors if you want an equivalent.
Running with the theme what about this appraisal of the Italian Macchi C.205, a fighter Brown includes in his top 20 favourites of all the planes he ever flew "judged by the sheer joy of knowing one was flying a real crackerjack."
He writes, "The supreme Italian fighter I flew was the Macchi 205V powered by a [Daimler-Benz] DB605A, which was on a par with the Mustang and Fw190 in that time scale." His conclusion - "A wonderful combination of Italian style and German power" - is another that invites a modern-day automotive comparison.
Brown also got to fly some of the diesel-powered German aircraft of the era like the Dornier Do18, concluding, "I found them very quiet but dirty and smelly - not by any stretch eco friendly." If you didn't like the cut of his jib already that should settle it!
What of the British planes? Brown described the Spitfire MkXII as his favourite and I'm not sure what automotive equivalent you could draw from that. How about the Hawker Typhoon and late-model TVRs instead though? Brutish looks, massive firepower ... powerful but temperamental engine...
Dan
[Sources: Wings On My Sleeve by Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown, Macchi C.205 photo from Wikipedia Commons]
I always liked the skunk works FW190's and the nitrous oxide powered Ta-152 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Ta_152
Also highly recommend 'Empire of the Skies James' Hamilton-Paterson
Brown described the de Havilland Hornet as "over powered perfection" if memory serves too.
Swap that for a Type R (90s era cars especially), a hardcore Scooby or better still an Evo* and I'm with you...
* ...which coincidentally had a "Zero Fighter" limited edition and was also built by Mitsubishi...
Swap that for a Type R (90s era cars especially), a hardcore Scooby or better still an Evo* and I'm with you...
* ...which coincidentally had a "Zero Fighter" limited edition and was also built by Mitsubishi...
Dan
"The Mazda team flew to Los Angeles to see the last one in service first hand, and were then lucky enough to inspect several wreckages prior to restoration back in Japan. Everyone was impressed with the attention to detail, and the RX-7 weight reduction programme was duly named 'Operation Zero'."
Those interested in the Zero's lightweight design might also want to read Horikoshi's own book, "Eagles of Mitsubishi - The Story Of the Zero Fighter".
I wonder if there is a bit too much anthropomorphism going on with these things. I mean people go straight to "clinical and high performance" for Germany but what about bubble cars, trabants, the Beetle and the Ro80?
What is the common British personality between a Bristol and a McLaren P1?
Or the Italian personality between a Multipla and an Alfa Duetto Spider?
Holiday reading lists and on the topics of Motoring or Aviation - this one could run for weeks....
Starting with aviation, then, because you did..
1) Sigh For A MERLIN. Alex Henshaw. This man flew in the Kings Cup air races of the 1930's in Percival Gull equipment and the like. Very skilled and versatile pilot - come WW2 and he was the test pilot at the Castle Bromwich works and flew almost every Spitfire they built. Wonderful read and some very dry humour (try the memo he wrote re Quality Control issues to the factory Production Manager, after test-flying a new-build Spitfire, inverted, and then experiencing a large spanner appear out of the bottom of the aircraft, whizz past his nose and land with a clang on the (inverted) cockpit plexiglass canopy above his head..)
2) Vulcan 607, Rowland White. Well known to many PH'ers, I'm sure - but a must-read if you haven't yet. You will read this at one sitting until 2am in the morning...
3) Beyond the Blue Horizon, Alexander Frater. UK to Australia on dozens of airlines but only via every short-hop flight sector that can still be flown on that route. Recreates the pioneering spirit of 1930's aviation.
Two more that are slightly left-field..
4) GO. An Airline Adventure. Barbara Cassani. The story of the LCC (Low-Cost Carrier) which was founded and owned by British Airways. Who eventually lost their nerve and sold it to easyJet. Very good on how to start up a commercial airline from scratch and also on the later politics of how Stelios bought it.
5) High Risk, (Sir) Adam Thompson. Thompson was the founder of the much-liked British Caledonian airline, a thorn in the side of BA for so long. A must-read for understanding the twists and turns of British Government aviation policy of the period. It reads like a thriller - I promise you won't be bored. Rattling good read & highly recommended.
Now, Dan, we need some proper petrolhead books too. Wouldn't be a PH'ers holiday trip without some motoring content, surely?
1) Vic Elford; Reflections on a golden era in Motorsports. Mr Versatile; rallied, rallycrossed, sprints, sports car races, long-distance races, road-races, Can-Am, Trans-Am, F1, works team drives for BMC, Ford, Porsche & Chapparral. You couldn't have a career like his today as the modern professional driver seems to have to become a specialist. Great read.
2) Alan Clark; Backfire. The late MP was also the ultimate amateur enthusiast. "Backfire" is a collection of the articles he wrote for various enthusiast magazines over the years. Owned some wonderful cars (RR Ghost, 8-Litre WO Bentley, Jaguar SS100, XK120, C-type, D-type, Porsche 550 Spyder & 911, Ferrari 750 Monza, Citroen DS Decapotable, Mercedes 600 and many more. A motoring enthusiast who can write - his description of the vices and virtues of the original Land-Rover Discovery is worth the price of the book on its own.. You may disagree with every word he wrote, but I promise you will be thoroughly entertained..
3) Jenks; A Passion for Motor Sport. Collection of articles by the late Denis Jenkinson, Continental Correspondent , Motor Sport magazine. When I was a nipper I read one of his pieces and was totally hooked. I wanted his job, it sounded so wonderful. The book contains his classic article on competing in the 1955 Mille Miglia road race around Italy with Stirling Moss in the works Mercedes 300SLR. Again, worth the price of the book for this article alone. the rest are in for free.
4) BULGIN; The very best of Russell Bulgin, 1958 -2002. A sad choice for summer reading but a wonderful collection of pieces by the late Mr Bulgin. Correspondent for CAR magazine for a number of years. You'll have to haunt e-bay or Amazon to get a copy as the collection was put together in book format after his untimely death, with all proceeds then going to the Royal Marsden Hospital, which cared for him during his illness.
He was a very original and perceptive writing talent, with an an ability to put cars into their proper context. He could and usually would take a view on any subject that no-one else had seen. I still think his review of the Porsche 911 to be the best summary of that cars' virtues and vices that I have ever read.
There you go, Dan; my fourpenneth for summer reading. You may need a longer holiday to get through the full set, though.
Enjoy.
He has / (had?) a fascinating life. I have Wings of The Navy and Wings of The Weird and Wonderful volumes 1 and 2 on my bookshelf and they are all great reads. Stories about testing German aircraft on German fields in what would in a matter of hours become part of the Russian sector, with reluctant recently captured flight crew, being given a tiny paper manual to read minutes before flying a helicopter for the first time, and inflatable rubber carrier deck landings are brilliant.
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