British 30 AU unit

JCFalkenbergIII · #1 (**permalink**) March 19th, 2008, 04:16 PM

I know that Kai-Petri posted on ALSOS in another thread. I was going to add to it but it was closed

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On a recent program on my local public broadcasting station, called "Secrets of the Dead", was an episode about the Allied search for German science and weapon secrets. It was about 2 Allied intelligenge gathering units. The US ALSOS and UK Unit 30 AU.The 30 AU was created by Ian Fleming and one of the British officers said he wasnt well liked by the unit.It consisted of members from various British branches of the military. They had similar objectives as the Americans. To capture or obtain any German scientific and military secrets. They were to capture whatever they could get their hands on. A Captain Brown of the RN in the unit was the only Western Allies pilot to get to fly the ME-163 glider power. At the time he had flown more different types of aircraft then anyone else in the world.They operated behind enemy lines and in advance of Allied units. They were among the first Allied troops to enter Paris for example. Their job was to find and sieze German weapons,scientists,equipment,documents and personnel. They were to get some of this before the Soviets first. The V-2 factory near Nordhausen is a good example. It was to be in the Soviet zone of occupation. They also found a German nuclear reactor. I was very impressed with this show. I didnt know the units existed. I knew there were similar units in the Air Force for recovering German aircraft but that was all.. Anyone have any more information on these units?

JCFalkenbergIII · #2 (**permalink**) August 2nd, 2008, 10:00 PM

Za Rodinu · #3 (**permalink**) August 3rd, 2008, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCFalkenbergIII

A Captain Brown of the RN in the unit was the only Western Allies pilot to get to fly the ME-163 glider power. At the time he had flown more different types of aircraft then anyone else in the world.

Good old Eric Brown!

SECRETS OF THE DEAD . The Hunt for Nazi Scientists . Interview | PBS

Quote:

Interview with Captain Eric Brown

No test pilot in history has amassed a track record to compare with that of Captain Eric Brown, whose 31-year career with Britain's Royal Navy included a stint during World War II as the chief test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, England -- the country's primary flight research facility. Brown, now 86 years old and retired, flew a stunning 487 different types of aircraft, a feat that puts him in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS -- and is not, he says, likely ever to be repeated. "One must understand that it was obtained in unusual circumstances," he says. "I was chief test pilot at our main research establishment for the war years and every type of aircraft that one could think of -- from Britain and the United States, and captured aircraft from Germany, Italy, and Japan -- passed through our hands."

After the war, Brown continued to fly new aircraft as part of the surge in civilian aeronautics. "We got very involved in that," Brown says, "and particularly in helping countries in Europe which had been devastated during World War II and had no facilities, or testing facilities, or pilots to assess their aircraft. Also, one must remember that this was the beginning of the jet era and we were in that tremendously fascinating period when we were transforming from piston-engine aircraft to jet aircraft, and learning the problems they produced -- which were few, but there were some -- and finding out how to operate these. So it was a very formative time."

For Brown, the flying bug struck early. He took his first flight when he was eight years old. At the controls was his father, who had been a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. "We spoke a lot about flying and this was the fundamental reason for my interest," Brown says. Brown learned to fly on his own while a student at Edinburgh University in Scotland.

"In Britain we have things called university air squadrons and the major universities have a squadron set up by the Royal Air Force in which you are given flying training free of charge," he says. The Air Force hopes that at the end of the period, when you've received your wings, you will stay with them. But you are under no obligation to do so. I started to fly when I was almost 18, and from that point on there wasn't any doubt that this was what I wanted to do."

During his career, Brown had the opportunity to test both jets and their predecessors, piston-engine aircraft. Although he learned to fly on the older piston-engine models, he quickly jumped on the jet bandwagon. "The jet is the much better aircraft because it is basically an engine with many many fewer moving parts than piston-engine aircraft, so therefore it must be fundamentally more reliable," he says. Also, if you wish to increase the power, it is almost limitless with the jet engine, whereas the piston-engine almost reached the limit of its power by the end of World War II. Also, the piston-engine can never go supersonic, because it is associated with a propeller and the drag of that propeller will prevent it from going supersonic."

The Messerschmitt 163, the revolutionary "flying bomb" dreamed up by German aircraft designer Helmut Walter during World War II, and featured in SECRETS OF THE DEAD: "The Hunt for Nazi Scientists," was neither a traditional piston-driven aircraft nor a jet; it ran on rocket fuel.
"Revolutionary it undoubtedly was. It was very innovative and had a lot of extremely new features," Brown says. "But if you examine its worth as an operational aircraft, I would say it was a tool of desperation used by the Germans in the later stages of the war and with little honest effect." The Me-163 may have been a desperation move, but it was "a delight to fly," Brown says, "once you had gotten your wits about you. It was so rapid that the initial feeling was that it was a jump ahead of you. It was rather like being in charge of a runaway train -- but exciting, unquestionably."

These days, the only aircraft Brown pilots are in computer flight simulators, which he tests for eager aircraft aficionados. "The technology is impressive, but doesn't stack up to the real thing," he says. "I'm not an enthusiast about flight simulation. I realize that it is the short road to achieving something deeper than you would by having to produce the actual full-flying training under normal conditions. But, I've never met a simulator yet that is absolutely accurate in reproducing the handling qualities of the airplane it represents. There are shortcomings." And yet, Brown adds, flight simulators do have a useful purpose. "One must give it this: simulators are very good for practicing safety drills in aircraft, without any danger of losing the aircraft if anything goes wrong. That is a great advantage."

Harder than adjusting to the inadequacies of computer flight simulators has been not flying at all, says Brown, who turned in his pilot's license when he was in his mid-70s. "It is like drug withdrawal, I imagine. You become a nuisance to your wife after you stop flying. You run around rather demented, not sure what to do with yourself. It really does have a rather powerful affect on you, because you had formerly led this high-intensity, active life. But, finally, I've come to terms with it. I've tried to replace it. I do a huge amount of lecturing and I'm an international university lecturer. I travel a lot, I lecture a lot, and that keeps me out of trouble. Most of the time."

Quote:

As test pilot for the Royal Navy, Eric Brown flew scores of aircraft from many nations. He wrote short essays on 36 of them for Wings of the Weird and Wonderful, published by Airlife in Britain and Tab Books in the U.S. Thanks to Birgir Thorisson for bringing this delightful book to my attention.

Capt. Brown flew a Belgian-order Brewster 339 at Royal Naval Air Station, Yeovilton, early in 1941, along with a Grumman Martlet, as the British called the F4F Wildcat. "They were both tubby little single-seat fighters with a very purposeful air about them," he wrote. Brown noted that there were 40 of these planes, acquired when Belgium fell to the Germans, and shipped to Britain aboard HMS Furious. They were assembled at Burtonwood, later a huge American base--near Manchester, I think. He obviously had his notes in front of him as he wrote the Buffalo chapter:
"Once in the cockpit I found the view ahead rather poor because of the aft position of the pilot and the high position of the nose. In spite of this, the aircraft was very easy to taxi, as the brakes were smooth and very efficient.

"On take-off the throttle had to be opened carefully as there was no automatic boost control, and the stick [had to be] moved forward to get the tail up and improve acceleration. The rudder control was very good in keeping the aircraft straight on its short run.

"The climb was steep and initially at a rate of 2,000 ft./min. but soon began to fall off noticeably as altitude increased. The longitudinal stability was decidedly shaky and would make instrument flying very difficult. [Commenting on another a/c, Brown noted that longitudinal instability was a good feature in a fighter.] It was also apparent that there were [exhaust] fumes coming into the cockpit....

"In normal cruise at 160 mph the aircraft was longitudinally unstable, laterally neutral stable, and directionally positively stable. Maximum speed was 290 mph at 16,500 ft. and the service ceiling was only 25,000 ft. Not very impressive performance. However, it was a different story when it came to handling, for the ailerons were highly effective throughout the speed range, the elevators almost equally so, and the rudder very good too.

"The all-up stall occurred at 76 mph with a sudden but mild wing drop followed by the nose. The all-down stall was at 67 mph with similar but slightly more pronounced characteristics.

"For landing the undercarriage was lowered at 95 mph followed by the slow moving flaps at 90 mph. An approach speed of 80 mph gave a reasonable view, but needed almost full backward elevator trim. Touch down occurred at 75 mph with a good pull back on the stick to achieve a three-pointer as the power was cut. Once on the ground the aircraft could be kept nicely straight on rudder with a discreet touch of brake.
"My feeling after flying the Buffalo was one of elation tinged with disappointment. It was a true anomaly of an aeroplane with delightful manoeuvrability but poor fighter performance. Indeed above 10,000 ft. it was labouring badly."
Brown acknowledge the Brewster 239's success in Finland, and suggested that "the climate and the opposition" must have favored the plane in Finnish service.