Browne, Vernon Sydney

Vernon Sydney Brown (m. 1907) is largely responsible for the increased safety of air transport as a result of his efforts in the development of air crash investigation. Graduating as an engineer from Jesus College, Cambridge he worked in Gas Engineering until he joined the RFC Special Reserve in 1915. Learning to fly on the Vickers Gunbus at Joyce Green he then went to the Central Flying School where he was appointed an Assistant Instructor. Later being posted to the Experimental Station at Orfordness, he was involved in tests with machine guns and fighter tactics as well as conducting tests into 'blacking out' and flying BE2 aircraft used in parachute dropping experiments. In 1919 he was seconded to the Ministry of Munitions staying in that post after the department had been absorbed into the Air Ministry.

On retiring at his own request, he joined the Civil Service as Chief Inspector of Accidents. With the outbreak of World War Two, he was granted the honorary rank of Group Captain in the RAFVR and was later promoted to Honorary Air Commodore. One of the major problems he solved during World War Two was why many Stirling aircraft were lost after they had entered dives. He discovered that the pilot's harness was so uncomfortable that most pilot's released it after take off, only fastening it again prior to landing. However, if the aircraft then went into a dive, the pilot would fall forwards over the control column, forcing it into an even steeper dive from which the pilot would be unable to recover. He continued to head the Accidents Investigation Branch until his final retirement in 1952 and during his tenure he laid the foundations of an effective organisation using techniques which would eventually be more concerned with preventing future accidents as opposed to simply determining the causes.