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Spotlight: The Alcock Flight
Alcock & Brown prior to takeoff, St. John’s, June 1919
Contrary to popular belief, the first successful nonstop transatlantic flight was undertaken not by Charles Lindberg, but by the British Great War veterans Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Brown (both of whom were POWs in the First World War).
Flying a modified Vickers Vimy bomber, the pair departed from St. John’s, Newfoundland, on 14 June and landed in Clifden, Ireland, approximately 16 hours later after covering nearly 3,000 kilometres (about 1,890 miles). Their achievement—nearly ten years prior to Lindberg’s solo flight—demonstrated that aircraft could successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean without stopping and would be a key step toward transforming aviation from a short-range mode of transport into one with long-distance potential.
Sketch of the ‘Alcock Flight’ path (the distance was actually 1890 miles).
The flight was particularly remarkable because of the arduous conditions the crew faced. Alcock, the pilot, and Brown, the navigator, encountered thick fog, heavy rain, snow, turbulent winds, and ice that threatened to bring the aircraft down. They also experienced instrument failures and had to rely heavily on Brown’s navigation skills, using a sextant (!) to determine their position whenever breaks in the clouds allowed sightings of the stars or sun. During the flight, Brown also had to lean dangerously out of the cockpit to clear snow away from the Vickers’ fuel gauge. Despite many obstacles, the pair successfully reached Ireland (pitching into a marsh), proving that flying great distances across oceans was indeed possible (if not yet safe).
Alcock and Brown’s accomplishment marked a turning point in the history of aviation. The airmen won the £10,000 Daily Mail prize for the first non-stop transatlantic crossing and inspired confidence in the future of long-distance air travel. The flight encouraged further technological innovation, improved aircraft design, and greater investment in commercial aviation. Within just a few decades, regular transatlantic passenger services became a reality, fundamentally changing international travel, trade, and communication across the globe.
Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for War presents Alcock with the prize winnings
Alcock and Brown were knighted by King George V for their achievement and became 20th century symbols of courage, determination, and innovation. Their success demonstrated that careful planning, skilled navigation, and technological advancement could overcome the immense natural challenges associated with air travel. Today, their pioneering journey stands as one of the defining achievements of early aviation, and the pair have earned certainly their place in the long history of our great civilisation.
Verse: ‘Patience’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins
PATIENCE, hard thing! the hard thing but to pray,
But bid for, Patience is! Patience who asks
Wants war, wants wounds; weary his times, his tasks;
To do without, take tosses, and obey.
Rare patience roots in these, and, these away,
Nowhere. Natural heart’s ivy, Patience masks
Our ruins of wrecked past purpose. There she basks
Purple eyes and seas of liquid leaves all day.
We hear our hearts grate on themselves: it kills
To bruise them dearer. Yet the rebellious wills
Of us we do bid God bend to him even so.
And where is he who more and more distils
Delicious kindness?—He is patient. Patience fills
His crisp combs, and that comes those ways we know.
Inspired by the epistle of James and a difficult period of Hopkins’s life in the 1880s, ‘Patience’ is a reminder to hold fast and wait for the storm to pass.
Pensées
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
Q ~ Ambition is good, but distraction is not. Are you diligently tending to what you’ve been given? Or are you lacking focus? Take a moment to consider whether you’re spending your efforts wisely.
Diversions
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