Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown
John Alcock and Arthur Brown were British aviators who, in 1919, made the first non-stop
Background
Arthur Whitten Brown was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1886 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.
In April 1913 the London newspaper the
The competition was suspended with the outbreak of war in 1914 but reopened after
Brown became a prisoner of war after being shot down over
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
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 it was in perfect condition. The Vickers team quickly assembled their aircraft and, at around 1:45 p.m. on 14 June the Vimy took off from Lester's Field.[11] 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.[12] The pair brought toy cat mascots with them for the flight – Alcock had 'Lucky Jim' while Brown had 'Twinkletoes'.[13][14]
It was not an easy flight. The heavily loaded aircraft had difficulty taking off from the rough field and only just cleared the tops of the trees.[15][16] At 17:20 the wind-driven electrical generator failed, depriving them of radio contact, their intercom and heating.[16] An exhaust pipe burst shortly afterwards, causing a frightening noise which made conversation impossible with a failed intercom.[15][16]
At 5:00 p.m. they encountered thick fog,[15] preventing Brown from being able to navigate using his sextant.[15][16] Blind flying in fog or cloud is hazardous without gyroscopic instruments, which they did not have. Alcock twice lost control of the aircraft and nearly hit the sea after a spiral dive.[15][16] He also had to deal with a broken trim control which made the plane become very nose-heavy as fuel was consumed.[16]
At 12:15 a.m., Brown got a glimpse of the stars and, able to use his sextant, found that they were on course.[15][16] The generator had failed, denying power to their electric heating suits, leaving them very cold in the open cockpit.[15]
Then, at 3:00 a.m., they flew into a large snowstorm.[15] They were drenched by rain, their instruments iced up, and the aircraft was in danger of icing and becoming unflyable.[15] 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.[15][16]
They made landfall in County Galway and landed 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 they landed on what appeared from the air to be a suitable green field, but which turned out to be Derrigimlagh Bog, near Clifden in County Galway in Ireland. This caused the aircraft to nose-over, although neither of the airmen was hurt.[11][17] Brown said that if the weather had been good, they could have pressed on to London.[16]
Their altitude varied between sea level and 12,000 ft (3,700 m). They took off with 865
Alcock and Brown were treated as heroes on the completion of their flight.
Alcock and Brown flew to
Memorials
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2022) |
Alcock was killed on 18 December 1919 when he crashed near
Two memorials commemorating the flight are sited near the landing spot in County Galway, Ireland. The first is an isolated cairn four kilometres south of Clifden on the site of Marconi's first transatlantic wireless station from which the aviators transmitted their success to London, and around 1,600 feet (500 m) from the spot where they landed. In addition, there is a sculpture of an aircraft's tail fin on Errislannan Hill two kilometres north of their landing spot, dedicated on the fortieth anniversary of their landing, 15 June 1959.[citation needed]
Three monuments mark the flight's starting point in Newfoundland. One was erected by the Government of Canada in 1952 at the junction of Lemarchant Road and Patrick Street in St. John's,
A memorial statue by sculptor
The Royal Mail issued a 5d (approximately 2.1p in modern UK currency) stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of the flight on 2 April 1969.[citation needed]
In June 2019, the Central Bank of Ireland issued 3,000 €15 silver commemorative coins, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the flight.[30]
From April to October 2019 various events were held in Crayford and Bexley to commemorate the Centenary of the flight, and the visit of Alcock and Brown to Crayford in July 1919 when they were surprise guests at the reopening of The Princesses Theatre by the Duke of York (later King George VI). The events included talks, exhibitions, a celebration day at Hall Place and Gardens attended by c3,500 people, and chiefly a visit by the Duke of Kent to unveil a new bench in the centre of Crayford with a life-size Alcock and Brown seated at each end, and to view public artwork designed by local schools.[citation needed]
Memorabilia
On 19 March 2017 an edition of the Antiques Roadshow was broadcast in the UK in which the granddaughter of Alcock's cousin presented a handwritten note which was carried by Alcock on the flight. The note, which was valued at £1,000–£1,200, read as follows:
My Dear Elsie
Just a hurried line before
I start. This letter will travel with
me in the official mail bag, the
first mail to be carried over the
Atlantic. Love to all,
Your loving Brother
Jack [31]
Other crossings
Two weeks before Alcock and Brown's flight, the first 'stopping' flight of the Atlantic had been made by the
A month after Alcock and Brown's achievement, British airship
On 2–3 July 2005, American adventurer Steve Fossett and co-pilot Mark Rebholz recreated the Alcock and Brown flight in a replica of the Vickers Vimy aeroplane. They did not land in the bog near Clifden, but a few miles away on the Connemara golf course.[36]
A replica Vimy, NX71MY, was built in Australia and the US in 1994 for an American, Peter McMillan, who flew it from England to Australia with Australian Lang Kidby in 1994 to re-enact the first England-Australia flight by Ross & Keith Smith with Vimy G-EAOU in 1919. In 1999, Mark Rebholz and John LaNoue re-enacted the first flight from London to
One of the propellers from the Vickers Vimy was given to Arthur Whitten Brown and hung for many years on the wall of his office in
The other propeller, serial number G1184.N6, was originally given to the Vickers Works Manager at Brooklands, Percy Maxwell Muller and displayed for many years suspended inside the transatlantic terminal (Terminal 3) at London's Heathrow Airport. In October 1990 it was donated by the BAA (via its former chairman, Sir Peter Masefield) to Brooklands Museum, where it is now displayed as part of a full-size Vimy wall mural in the Vickers Building.[citation needed]
A small amount of mail, 196 letters and a parcel, was carried on Alcock and Brown's flight, the first time mail was carried by air across the ocean. The government of the
Upon landing in Paris after his own record-breaking flight in 1927, Charles Lindbergh told the crowd welcoming him that "Alcock and Brown showed me the way!"[41]
RAF 60th anniversary crossing in 1979
To mark the original transatlantic crossing, on 1 June 1979 two
It was decided that XV424 would make the flight and that XV486 would serve as backup.
On 21 June, XV424 took off from
See also
- Curtiss NC-4 – First transatlantic flight via Azores to Portugal
- Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race – An event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the flight
- Felixstowe Fury – Contender for the transatlantic crossing
- List of firsts in aviation
- R34 (airship)– First airship transatlantic crossing, also first east–west crossing
- Timeline of aviation
References
- ^ "Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown". www.aviation-history.com.
- ^ "Alcock and Brown's Vickers Vimy biplane, 1919". Science Museum. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ "What are the wild waves saying". The Economist. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
- ^ "The New Daily Mail Prizes". Flight magazine. 5 April 1913. p. 393. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
£10,000 to the first person who crosses the Atlantic from any point in the United States, Canada, or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland in seventy-two continuous hours
- ^ "Alcock, Brown and the first non-stop transatlantic flight". Science and Industry Museum.
- ^ Nevin, David. "Two Daring Flyers Beat the Atlantic before Lindbergh." Journal of Contemporary History 28: (1) 1993, 105.
- ^ a b "£10,000 for first transatlantic flight (in 72 consecutive hours)". Flight magazine. 21 November 1918. p. 1316. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- ISBN 9781612007908.
- ^ Cooksley, Peter G. ‘Alcock, Sir John William (1892–1919)’, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004), online ed., Jan 2011; accessed 16 June 2012.
- ^ Shepherd, E. C. ‘Brown, Sir Arthur Whitten (1886–1948)’, rev. Peter G. Cooksley, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004), online ed., Jan 2011; accessed 16 June 2012.
- ^ a b Anon. "The Atlantic Challenge: Alcock and Brown Take the Atlantic". Century of Flight. Centuryofflight.net. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ "Alcock and Brown". Aviation History Online Museum.
- ^ "'Lucky Jim' toy cat mascot". Science Museum Group. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ "The Transatlantic traveller". RAF Museum. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Flight Global article".
- ^ Listen to interviews with people that met the plane on Bowman Sunday Morning, RTÉ radio archives, http://www.rte.ie/radio1/bowmansundaymorning/1249939.html
- ^ Straightforward calculation: ['Arrived' (locally)- 'Departed' + Tzones Compensation ] = [16:28 hrs – 13:50 hrs (est fm 1:45pm takeoff) + 12 (comp for day changed+Tzones factor)] = apx (2.5 + 12) hrs = 14.5 hrs (approximate minimum time) over the water
- ^ Inscription, Alcock and Brown memorial, near Clifden, Ireland
- ^ "Alcock And Brown Get London Ovation. Carried to Automobiles on Shoulders of Soldiers on Arrival from Dublin. Aerial Escort For Train. First Nonstop Transatlantic Fliers Parade and Are Entertained by Aero Club". The New York Times. 18 July 1919. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
London gave Captain Alcock and Lieutenant Brown a wonderful welcome tonight. ...
- ^ "Atlantic Airman Knighted". The Times. No. 42132. London. 21 June 1919. p. 7.
- ^ "Alcock and Brown Knighted by King George V". Flight magazine. 26 June 1919. p. 830. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
- Nottingham Evening Post. 4 October 1948. p. 4. Retrieved 20 June 2023. – via britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (subscription required)
- ^ "A verdict of death from asphyxia". Irish Independent. 20 October 1948. p. 5. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
A verdict of death from asphyxia, due to an overdose of Veronal, accidentally self-administered, was recorded at an inquest at Swansea on Sir Arthur Whitten-Brown. Sir Arthur made history when he flew the Atlantic with Alcock in 1919.
– via britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (subscription required) - ^ Alcock – Brown Transatlantic Flight National Historic Event Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Parks Canada
- ^ "Plaque" (PDF). www.stjohns.ca.
- ^ MacEachern, Daniel (18 October 2014). "St. John's finance committee rejects request for funding to repair vandalized monument". The Telegram. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
- ^ "Statue Honouring Pioneers of Flight Unveiled at Brooklands Museum". 11 February 2020.
- ^ "Alcock and Brown's Vickers Vimy biplane".
- ^ "Collector Coins | Central Bank of Ireland". www.centralbank.ie. Central Bank of Ireland.
- ^ "Burton Constable 2". The Antiques Roadshow. Series 39. 19 March 2017. BBC. BBC 1.
- ^ "Daily Mail £10,000 prize conditions 1918".
- ISBN 1-85858-020-X.
- ^ Abbott. Airship. p. 64.
- ^ Woodley, Charles. "The R34 Airship". The History Press. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ "U.S. pair re-create record trans-Atlantic flight". NBC News. 3 July 2005.
- ^ Turner, Robin (1 December 2009). "Writer seeks propeller from plane that first crossed Atlantic". walesonline. Media Wales Ltd. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-84162-196-8.
- ^ "The Postal History of ICAO – International Exhibition of Air Mail Postage". International Civil Aviation Organization. 1969. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ Anon (19 June 1919). "Deliver Atlantic Air Mail: Alcock and Bown leave letters they carried in London" (PDF). The New York Times. p. 8. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b c d e "McDONNELL DOUGLAS PHANTOM FGR2 XV424" (PDF). RAF Museum. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ a b "MDD Phantom FGR.2 Alcock & Brown". Hansen Fine Art. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ "XV424 – RAF Museum, Hendon, London". Thunder & Lightnings. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ "Displaying Serials in range XV". ukserials.com. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
Further reading
- Lynch, Brendan (2009). Yesterday We Were in America – Alcock and Brown – First to fly the Atlantic non-stop (Haynes, ISBN 978-1844256815)
- Bryson, Bill (2013) One Summer America 1927. p. 20. ISBN 978-0552772563
External links
- Alcock and Brown at "Flights of Inspiration"
- Alcock and Brown's plane at the London Science Museum
- Brooklands Museum website
- Colum McCann fiction short story based on Alcock and Brown's flight
- "The Transatlantic Flight" a 1919 Flight article on the flight