University of Edinburgh - Aviation veteran honoured

One of the greatest pilots in aviation history is to get an honorary degree from his alma mater. Eric Brown, born in 1919, learnt to fly as a student at the University of Edinburgh and was on an exchange year in Germany when war broke out. The Gestapo arrested him but released him after three days, not realising that he was a pilot in the RAF volunteer reserve. Captain Brown holds the record for flying the greatest number of different aircraft and is the Fleet Air Arm's most decorated pilot. He is the only living person who has flown every major Second World War combat aircraft, as well as all the early jets. He was also the first pilot to land a jet aircraft on an aircraft carrier.