Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown

thumb|right|upright|[[John Alcock (RAF officer)|Alcock and Brown taking on mail]]

thumb|right|upright|Statue of Alcock and Brown at [[London Heathrow Airport (now located at Brooklands Museum)]]

thumb|right|upright|Monument commemorating the flight, near the Lester's Field departure point in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

John Alcock and Arthur Brown were British aviators who, in 1919, made the first non-stop transatlantic flight. They flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, County Galway, Ireland. The Secretary of State for Air, Winston Churchill, presented them with the Daily Mail prize of £10,000 () for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by aeroplane in "less than 72 consecutive hours". The flight carried nearly 200 letters, the first transatlantic airmail. The two aviators were knighted by King George V at Windsor Castle a week later.

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 his Handley Page bomber was shot down over the sea. 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, with American parents 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 Daily Mail offered a prize of £10,000 to:

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

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.

Flight

thumb|alt=Black & white photo of a plane|Captain John Alcock stowing provisions aboard Vickers Vimy aircraft before trans-Atlantic flight 14 Jun 1919

thumb|right|The Alcock and Brown Vimy after take-off from Newfoundland

thumb|right|Contemporary drawing of flight path and plane

thumb|right|The Vimy after arrival in Ireland. While the touchdown had been smooth, the plane had landed on a [[peat bog and not grass as Alcock had thought, and it eventually sank axle-deep, pivoting over its wheels. 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'.

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.

At 17:20 the wind-driven electrical generator failed, depriving them of radio contact, their intercom and heating.

Brown said that if the weather had been good, they could have pressed on to London. flying 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.

thumb|left|upright=0.8|Front page of The New York Times, 16 June 1919

Alcock and Brown were treated as heroes on the completion of their flight. Crowds in Ireland cheered them at each train station on their way to Dublin. Both men were knighted a week later by King George V at Windsor Castle.

[[File:Alcock & Brown Civic Reception 1919.jpg|thumb|upright|Cover

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.]]

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.

Memorials

Alcock was killed on 18 December 1919 when he crashed near Rouen whilst flying the new Vickers Viking amphibian to the Paris Airshow. Brown died on 4 October 1948.

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 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.

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 second monument is located on Lemarchant Road, while the third was unveiled by Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Joey Smallwood on Blackmarsh Road.

thumb|left|Alcock and Brown's Vickers Vimy in the [[Science Museum, London ]]

A memorial statue by sculptor William McMillan was erected at London Heathrow Airport in 1954 to celebrate their flight. The statue was taken to Ireland as part of the centenary celebrations in 2019 before being relocated at Brooklands Museum, where it was formally unveiled in February 2020. There is also a monument at Manchester Airport, less than 8 miles from John Alcock's birthplace. Their aircraft (rebuilt by the Vickers Company) is located in the Science Museum in South Kensington, London.

thumb|Landing site, County Galway

thumb|Tail fin memorial, County Galway

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. In June 2019, the Central Bank of Ireland issued 3,000 €15 silver commemorative coins, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the flight.

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.

Memorabilia

On 19 March 2017 an edition of 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:

Other crossings

Two weeks before Alcock and Brown's flight, the first 'stopping' flight of the Atlantic had been made by the NC-4, a United States Navy flying boat, commanded by Lt. Commander Albert Cushing Read, who flew from Naval Air Station Rockaway, New York to Plymouth with a crew of five, over 23 days, with six stops along the way. This flight was not eligible for the Daily Mail prize since it took more than 72 consecutive hours and also because more than one aircraft was used in the attempt.

A month after Alcock and Brown's achievement, British airship R34 made the first double crossing of the Atlantic. Leaving England on 2 July, it arrived on 4 July carrying 31 people (one a stowaway) and a cat. For the return flight, 29 of this crew, plus two flight engineers and a different American observer, returned to Europe.

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.

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 Cape Town with this same replica, and in late 2006 the aeroplane was donated to Brooklands Museum at Weybridge, Surrey. After making a special Alcock and Brown 90th anniversary return visit to Clifden in June 2009 (flown by John Dodd and Clive Edwards), and some final public flying displays at the Goodwood Revival that September, the Vimy made its final flight on 15 November 2009 from Dunsfold Park to Brooklands crewed by John Dodd (pilot), Clive Edwards and Peter McMillan. It is now on public display as the centre-piece of a new 'First to the Fastest' Transatlantic flight exhibition in the Museum's Vimy Pavilion but is maintained as a 'live' aeroplane and occasionally performs engine ground running demonstrations outside.

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 Swansea before he presented it to the RAF College Cranwell. It is believed to have been displayed in the RAF Careers Office in Holborn until 1990. It is believed to be in use today as a ceiling fan in Luigi Malone's Restaurant in Cork, Ireland.

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.

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 Dominion of Newfoundland overprinted stamps for this carriage with the inscription "Transatlantic air post 1919".

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!"

RAF 60th anniversary crossing in 1979

thumb|right|Brown's toy cat mascot 'Twinkletoes' which crossed the Atlantic in 1919 and also on the 60th anniversary flight in 1979.

thumb|[[McDonnell Douglas Phantom in UK service#F-4M Phantom FGR.2|RAF Phantom FGR.2 (XV424) in 60th Anniversary scheme photographed at RIAT 1979, three weeks after making the commemorative crossing.]]

To mark the original transatlantic crossing, on 1 June 1979 two Royal Air Force McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2s – XV424 (of No. 56 Squadron) and (RAF Coningsby based) XV486, were painted in special commemorative schemes. The scheme was designed by aviation artist Wilfred Hardy. As well as marking the anniversary of the crossing, the scheme also made reference to the usage of Rolls-Royce engines in both aircraft: the Rolls-Royce Eagle in the Vimy and the Rolls-Royce Spey in the Phantom FGR.2, and on top of this it also marked the 30th anniversary of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

It was decided that XV424 would make the flight and that XV486 would serve as backup.

References

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