Classic Lecture Series: Flying aircraft in the First World War and beyond by Sir Vernon Brown

World War I RFC pilot and interwar RAF Officer Sir Vernon Brown describes the aircraft that he flew and managed during the World War I and into the interwar period. Packed with anecdotes, including becoming one of the first men to survive an aircraft spin, Sir Vernon takes us through his thoughts on aircraft of the period including the Maurice Farman Longhorn and Shorthorn, the Vickers FB5a Gunbus, the Royal Aircraft Factory BE2a and BE2c, the de Havilland DH1 and DH2 and Sopwith’s Triplane and Strutters, together with his views of the seaplanes and flying boats of the period. He also reminisces about his time learning to fly in 1915, commanding 84 Squadron during the 1920 Iraqi Rebellion and working alongside Sir Henry Tizard, Lord Cherwell and Prof B Melvill Jones. Sir Vernon Brown gave the lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 10 February 1969. The podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.