A HELICOPTER pilot who trained in Andover returned to the area to talk about his impressive career.

Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown gave the talk on flying German jets at the Museum of Army Flying, in Middle Wallop, last week.

And the following day, the 94- year-old and his wife Jean visited 673 Squadron at Middle Wallop to inspect the Apache attack helicopters and meet the crews.

Capt Brown, who travelled from his home near Gatwick Airport, told the Advertiser: “It’s very nostalgic because I was a helicopter pilot for many many years and some of the helicopters I flew are still flying, but the Apache is new to me, that didn’t exist in my time.”

Capt Brown is the Fleet Air Arm’s most decorated pilot and the only man alive who has flown the German jets of the Second World War.

He was trained in Germany where his father, a former Royal Flying Corps officer, was Air Attaché.

He holds the world record for the number of types flown, at 487, which does not include 14 marks of Spitfire, but does include 53 Luftwaffe aircraft.

He has also carried out 2,407 deck landings, including the first jet and the first twinengined aeroplanes, which is also a world record.

Capt Brown, who undertook training at Nether Avon and Middle Wallop, was one of the first pilots to fly a helicopter, when they arrived in England in 1944 from the USA.

He undertook helicopter training at the former Andover Airfield.