100 years ago today! Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown

Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown

British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919. They flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. The Secretary of State for Air, Winston Churchill, presented them with the Daily Mail prize for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by aeroplane in "less than 72 consecutive hours". A small amount of mail was carried on the flight, making it the first transatlantic airmail flight. The two aviators were awarded the honour of Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) a week later by King George V at Windsor Castle.

Shortly after take off from St. John's

Background

John Alcock was born in 1892 in Basford House on Seymour Grove, Firswood, Manchester, England. Known to his family and friends as "Jack", he first became interested in flying at the age of seventeen and gained his pilot's licence in November 1912. Alcock was a regular competitor in aircraft competitions at Hendon in 1913–14. He became a military pilot during the First World War and was taken prisoner in Turkey after the engines on his Handley Page bomber failed over the Gulf of Xeros. After the war, Alcock wanted to continue his flying career and took up the challenge of attempting to be the first to fly directly across the Atlantic.

Arthur Whitten Brown was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1886 to American parents, and shortly afterwards the family moved to Manchester. Known to his family and friends as "Teddie", he began his career in engineering before the outbreak of the First World War. Brown also became a prisoner of war, after being shot down over Germany. Once released and back in Britain, Brown continued to develop his aerial navigation skills.

In April 1913 the London newspaper the Daily Mail offered a prize of £10,000 to “the aviator who shall first cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane in flight from any point in the United States of America, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland in 72 continuous hours."

The competition was suspended with the outbreak of war in 1914 but reopened after Armistice was declared in 1918.

During his imprisonment Alcock had resolved to fly the Atlantic one day, and after the war he approached the Vickers engineering and aviation firm at Weybridge, who had considered entering their Vickers Vimy IV twin-engined bomber in the competition but had not yet found a pilot. Alcock's enthusiasm impressed the Vickers' team and he was appointed as their pilot. Work began on converting the Vimy for the long flight, replacing the bomb racks with extra petrol tanks. Shortly afterwards Brown, who was unemployed, approached Vickers seeking a post and his knowledge of long distance navigation persuaded them to take him on as Alcock's navigator.

Last sight of Newfoundland

Flight

Several teams had entered the competition and, when Alcock and Brown arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland, the Handley Page team were in the final stages of testing their aircraft for the flight, but their leader, Admiral Mark Kerr, was determined not to take off until the plane was in perfect condition. The Vickers team quickly assembled their plane and, at around 1:45 p.m. on 14 June, whilst the Handley Page team were conducting yet another test, the Vickers plane took off from Lester's Field. Alcock and Brown flew the modified Vickers Vimy, powered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle 360 hp engines which were supported by an on-site Rolls Royce team led by engineer Eric Platford. The pair brought toy cat mascots with them for the flight – Alcock had 'Lucky Jim' while Brown had 'Twinkletoes'.

Mascots

It was not an easy flight. The overloaded aircraft had difficulty taking off the rough field and only barely missed the tops of the trees. At 17:20 the wind-driven electrical generator failed, depriving them of radio contact, their intercom and heating. An exhaust pipe burst shortly afterwards, causing a frightening noise which made conversation impossible without the failed intercom.

At 5.00 p.m., they had to fly through thick fog. This was serious because it prevented Brown from being able to navigate using his sextant. Blind flying in fog or cloud should only be undertaken with gyroscopic instruments, which they did not have. Alcock twice lost control of the aircraft and nearly hit the sea after a spiral dive. He also had to deal with a broken trim control that made the plane become very nose-heavy as fuel was consumed.

Eastward bound

At 12:15 a.m., Brown got a glimpse of the stars and could use his sextant, and found that they were on course. Their electric heating suits had failed, making them very cold in the open cockpit.

Then at 3:00am they flew into a large snowstorm. They were drenched by rain, their instruments iced up, and the plane was in danger of icing and becoming unflyable. The carburettors also iced up; it has been said that Brown had to climb out onto the wings to clear the engines, although he made no mention of that.

Over the Atlantic

They made landfall in County Galway, crash-landing at 8:40 a.m. on 15 June 1919, not far from their intended landing place, after less than sixteen hours' flying time. The aircraft was damaged upon arrival because of an attempt to land on what appeared from the air to be a suitable green field, but which turned out to be Derrygilmlagh Bog, near Clifden in County Galway in Ireland, although neither of the airmen was hurt. Brown said that if the weather had been good they could have pressed on to London.

first sight of land

Their altitude varied between sea level and 12,000 ft (3,700 m). They took off with 865 imperial gallons (3,900 L) of fuel. They had spent around fourteen-and-a-half hours over the North Atlantic crossing the coast at 4:28 p.m.,[18] having flown 1,890 miles (3,040 km) in 15 hours 57 minutes at an average speed of 115 mph (185 km/h; 100 knots). Their first interview was given to Tom 'Cork' Kenny of The Connacht Tribune.

Touchdown on a boggy runway

Alcock and Brown flew to Manchester on 17 July 1919, where they were given a civic reception by the Lord Mayor and Corporation, and awards to mark their achievement.

Text Source: Wikipedia

Actual picture of the landing :cool:(NB: very Peerhoven Academy style, so these must be some of the first graduates):cool:

There is this amazing multimedia feature on BBC site to memorize the 100th anniversary of this milestone in aviation history. I strongly recommend you to have a look:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/bM5diyl48K/alcock

The model is freeware, by A.F. Scrub, who else! Hope you enjoy and best wishes.

Khalid

Their luggage is expected to arrive any day now. :rolleyes: Thanks for the reminder and a much appreciated history lesson.

Flying across the Atlantic must have seemed like going to the moon back then. Brave men indeed. :pilot: -- Bob

Their luggage is expected to arrive any day now. :rolleyes: Thanks for the reminder and a much appreciated history lesson.

Flying across the Atlantic must have seemed like going to the moon back then. Brave men indeed. :pilot: -- Bob

Thank you Bob for your nice words. Yes very brave men indeed. And -like great many others- are under-recognized.

A nice aviation history lesson Khalid. Thanks! :)

Glad you enjoyed Larry, interesting that today is the 100th anniversary of that flight.

Excellent post!

I visited their landing site years ago, it felt like the end of the world. To imagine flyong across thst ocean in such a frail plane...brave men!

Excellent post!

I visited their landing site years ago, it felt like the end of the world. To imagine flyong across thst ocean in such a frail plane...brave men!

Thank you for the compliment, Yes Jan I fully agree it took a great deal of courage, a lot of planning and excellent dead reckoning navigation (they landed a mere 20 miles away from their target, that's a tiny pan taking into consideration that the distance travelled is more than 3,000 Km)

What's the difference with the Lindbergh's flight?

Cher Gérard this flight took place 8 years before Lindbergh, it is between the American land (Newfoundland) and European land (Ireland), i.e a crossing of the Atlantic, period. Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris, two major cities. Alcock and Brown were two people on board, Lindbergh was solo. Alcock and Brown had a twin engine plane, Lindbergh had a single engine aircraft. Alcock and brown received relatively little press coverage because days after their arrival the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow took place and stole all the lights, While Lindbergh's crossing happened when nothing else was taking place, so it received its fair share of publicity. Media makes history, after all. I strongly recommend reading the linked BBC multimedia presentation because -if not for anything else- the final chapter in it is focused on drawing parallels between this flight and Lindbergh's. Her is the link once more

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/bM5diyl48K/alcock

The first words Lindbergh said when he landed in Paris was "Alcock and Brown showed me the way, I am not the first."

2 brave men in a Vickers, thanks for the historic lesson Khalid! :cool::cool::pilot:

Glad you liked it Jan. Your student is giving out lessons now? :cool: ;)

Hey, much historically detailed! I mostly had the memory of Lindbergh :) and of some other attempts by French

Yes you mean Charles Nungesser and François Coli in L'Oiseau Blanc. That aircraft jettisons its undercarriage after take off to reduce drag and increase range. That was in 1927 too, just a month or two before Lindbergh. It disappeared without a trace over the Atlantic. Very tragic.

Fantastic shots of your, ah, machine Khalid! ;)

;) Hey Adam glad you like my, ah, machine :pilot: :pilot: :cool: ;)

Khalid - Very nicely presented and very informative! Thanks for sharing!

Rick :cool:

Khalid - Very nicely presented and very informative! Thanks for sharing!

 

Rick :cool:

Cheers Rick thank you for your kind words.