My first transatlantic flight. Illustrated magazine by Vladimir Dergachev “Landscapes of Life” The first non-stop transatlantic flight

Charles Lindbergh (1902 – 1974) was interested in aviation from an early age. While he was studying at Wisconsin, in his second year he realized that he wanted to be a pilot much more. He decided to leave his studies and study to become a pilot. After completing the courses, Lindbergh entered the military service and then began working in airmail.

Many daredevils before Linberg had already tried to make transatlantic flights, but no one had succeeded until then, largely due to the imperfection of flight technology. After all, it was necessary to cover more than 7 thousand km without making landings, and, therefore, without being able to refuel. The problem was that it was impossible to take too much fuel on board; light aircraft of that time simply could not take off with such a load. Nevertheless, there was enormous interest in crossing the Atlantic Ocean; one large businessman even awarded a prize of 25 thousand dollars to anyone who could do it. There were many attempts, but not one was successful.

Lindbergh simply could not help but accept the challenge and get involved in this exciting, albeit dangerous, adventure. He placed an order with Ryan Aeronautical for the production of a motorplane, which he had independently developed, which, according to the pilot, was capable of this flight. The resulting car was called the "Spirit of St. Louis."

The pilot had to sacrifice brakes, a parachute, a radio and even a vision light, all in order to take on board as much fuel as possible.

Preparation

To test the aircraft, Lindbergh flew from San Diego to New York in May 1927, but made one landing in St. Louis. However, the flight time was 21 hours 45 minutes, and this was already a transcontinental record.

In New York, it turned out that the weather might force the pilot to postpone the flight for several days. However, relying on the forecast, which promised a little clearing, Charles bravely decides to fly out on May 20th.

He arrived at the airfield before dawn. At 7:40 a.m. the engine was started, and at 7:52 a.m. the Spirit of St. Louis took off from Roosevelt Airfield. The event was widely covered by all media in America, the whole country was worried about the hero. A lot of people came out to see him off.

Due to the fact that on May 20, due to rains, the ground on the takeoff field was a little soft, the plane picked up speed very slowly. He even nearly hit a power line while... But in the air the situation leveled out, and Lindsberg slowed down to save fuel.

Flight

The difficulty was created by the fact that the additional tank changed the center of gravity of the monoplane, because of which the aircraft could easily fly away. Lindsberg was escorted to Long Island by plane, with a photographer present. But soon he too left the pilot, turning back.

In the evening, Lindbergh was already flying over Nova Scotia. Soon he encountered bad weather. Thunderclouds, when hit by them, the plane became icy and threatened to fall into the water, forced Charles to maneuver, sometimes flying several meters from the water.

The daredevil received numerous awards not only from his own country; many European countries also awarded him orders and honors.

Soon Lindbergh saw the coast of Ireland in the distance. The weather improved noticeably, and by the evening of the second day the pilot was already crossing France. At about 10 p.m., the pilot spotted Paris and soon passed the Eiffel Tower. At 22:22 Charles Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget airfield. He crossed Atlantic Ocean, covering 5809 km in 33 hours 30 minutes.

Video on the topic

Tip 2: Who was the first person to fly across the Atlantic?

In the spring of 1913, the English newspaper Daily Mail published an advertisement announcing a reward of 10 thousand pounds for the first person to cross the Atlantic within 72 hours.

The advert read: “We will pay £10,000 to anyone who can cross the Atlantic Ocean from anywhere in the US to anywhere in the UK or Ireland. This implies that a flight over the Atlantic can be made in any direction. Any fee will be assigned to the pilot. The plane on which he will fly can be either British-made or manufactured in any other country in the world.”

First attempts to cross the Atlantic

Several well-known people at that time were involved in preparations for the flight. aviation companies– Mareinsyde, Vickers, Sopwith and Handley Page. Each of the companies decided to design their own aircraft intended for these purposes. Due to the predominance of the eastern wind over the Atlantic Ocean, it was decided to fly from the American continent, since flying against the wind could significantly increase fuel consumption, the supply of which was problematic to place on board the aircraft.

On May 18, 1913, two crews of pioneers set off from the Canadian island of Newfoundland. The Spwith crew took off first, with pilot Harry Hawker and navigator Kenneth Mackenzie-Grieve. Their attempt cannot be considered successful, since, not having reached 850 miles to the shore, their plane crashed into the water due to malfunctions. Fortunately, he was picked up by the passing Danish steamer Mary. The next starting Mareinsyde crew, pilot Fred R. Reichem and navigator S.W.F. Morgan was even less fortunate. Their plane crashed on takeoff, and the pilots were immediately taken to the hospital. A similar fate befell the crew of the Handley Page aircraft, which took off 2 months after the tragedy.

The first conquerors of the Atlantic

Almost a month after the first two attempts to cross the ocean, luck smiled on the crew of the Vickers aircraft, consisting of pilot John Alcock and navigator Arthur Whitten Brown. Their heroic team also faced a number of difficulties, which they, however, were able to overcome. The first of these was the problem of choosing a suitable take-off site, which they searched for several days. Only on June 14 the aviators were able to take off. For a long time, their plane could not gain the necessary speed in order to take off from the ground. Then the pilots drove the car blindly for almost seven hours due to heavy clouds. After that, they found themselves in a severe thunderstorm, but, having successfully passed it, the plane approached the shores of Ireland on the 15th. During landing, another unforeseen situation happened to the car - the wheels got stuck in the mud. runway, and the nose of the plane buried itself in the swamps. The pilots escaped with a slight fright.

Thus, having flown 3040 kilometers in 16 hours 28 minutes, the crew of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown became the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air. The Atlantic was finally and indisputably conquered!

In the 20s of the 20th century, the planet literally froze in anticipation of the first transatlantic flight. French aviators Charles E. J. M. Nungesser and Francois Coli also began to prepare for the flight. For the first time, it was decided to fly from Europe to America, from east to west, against the rotation of the Earth.

The commander was Nungesser. One of the best aces in France, at the end of the First World War he had 45 enemy aircraft shot down. The “trademark” on board his combat vehicle - an ace of hearts with a coffin and a skull with two crossed bones - terrified German pilots.


Preparing for the flight
The White Bird, the plane on which the pilots were going to fly, was, in the words of one French journalist, a “flying tank” - the ship weighed a total of five tons, four of which were fuel in the tanks. In order to make the car as light as possible, the pilots even abandoned the radio. In addition, immediately after takeoff it was necessary to get rid of the wheeled chassis. Which obliged the plane, not intended for landing on water, to land on the surface of the sea in New York Bay. And yet, despite all these tricks, fuel was running short.

Flight from Le Bourget to New York On May 8, 1927, an enthusiastic crowd gathered at Le Bourget airfield (a suburb of Paris). Everyone wanted to take part in the event of the century. At 5 o'clock in the morning, the "White Bird" with Nungesser's "trademark" on board began its takeoff run. The heavy machine did not want to obey the will of the pilots and rise into the sky. Finally, as if reluctantly, she took off from the ground and, escorted by several military aircraft, disappeared into the sky.

Sensation from the Press
Since there was no radio on board. Messages could only be expected from the ground. The “White Bird” was seen over the Ile de France, Normandy, and there the ocean began... The next message came a little more than a day after the start of the flight. Hurray, they are already in America! They telegraph from Boston: they have been seen, they have flown over, they are heading to New York! All of France held its breath. Only an hour later, at 17:15, the Parisians were able to catch their breath. Excited by the long wait, they literally snatched the new issue of the Press, still smelling of printing ink, from the hands of the newspaper delivery men. The front page was full of assorted headlines:

“Glory to the masters of French aviation!” “Nungesser and Koli took the gold!” “Incredible details of the perfect raid!” Then the newspaper reported the very details of the splashdown of French aviators in New York Bay. Nungesser's plane flew out to meet an entire squadron of fighters led by Major Foulois. Accompanied by American warplanes, the White Bird landed on the water. The ships in the bay raised welcoming flags and sirens blared. Some New Yorkers, in disbelief, got into their boats and went out into the bay. The sky is flooded civil aircraft, hired by various members of the press. The "White Bird" landed on the water incredibly easily, after which the ship was immediately surrounded by several large ships. Four seaplanes were allocated, which circled over the triumphant aircraft at the lowest possible altitude, acting as insurance. Having splashed down, Nungesser and Koli hesitated, as if their victory over the ocean was a trifle not worth the general rejoicing. But a few minutes later they emerged from the plane and hugged. To the applause of the spectators, the howl of engines and the howling of sirens, the pilots descended onto land. Yes, it was a great day of French glory!

"White Bird"


Tragic mistake
Clouds of enthusiastic telegrams flew after the White Bird overseas. And - not a word in response... No, two Frenchmen failed to become the first to cross the ocean by plane. They flew, they waved their wings to the Bostonians... but they did not show up to meet the New Yorkers who were waiting for them. They went missing, Nungesser and Koli. They were expected, they were looked for. When all the deadlines had already expired, it became clear that they had died. A few minutes, several kilometers before its triumph, the “White Bird” with the ace of hearts, a coffin and a skull fell into the waters of the ocean. This is probably the greatest disappointment, the most spectacular failure in the history of aviation. If they had landed near Boston, they would have become winners and gone down in history. But this was established in advance: a triumph in front of the multimillion-dollar New York City, from there it will be seen and heard throughout the world!

A whole squad of police held back crowds of offended Parisians who tried at any cost to break into the offices of the Press and smash it to smithereens. But the reason for this incomprehensible and senseless newspaper deception remained a mystery then. The whole world, despite the grief for the two pilots who almost accomplished the almost impossible, could not resist a sarcastic grin: they say, it all turned out too “French”. It was as if the poor guys themselves - Nungesser and Kolya - turned out to be boasters. Even grief for them was somehow tainted by this scandal. The greatness of a hero's death turned into a joke. All that's left More than 30 years have passed since the disappearance of the White Bird. On a cold winter morning, Cliff Iceland (American, lobster fisherman) went out to sea on a boat. While raising the anchor of my boat, I felt that it had caught some kind of thing from the bottom. When the anchor emerged from the water, there were some sheets hanging on it, similar to the skin of an airplane... This was all that remained of the proud and mighty “White Bird”, which once decided on an unprecedented feat.

"Eyes to See" And three years later, in 1964, the mystery of the newspaper deception, the most amazing in the entire history of the world press, was revealed. The famous French journalist Georges Raven published the book “Eyes to See,” in which he talked about how everything happened on that ill-fated day in the newspaper editorial office, since he himself was one of the main characters this ugly story. After it was reported that the pilots had been seen over Boston and, therefore, the main obstacle, the Atlantic Ocean, had been overcome, the editor-in-chief made a decision that led to the collapse of the Press. “We need our newspaper to be the first to report a safe flight across the Atlantic!” he told the staff. No one dared to voluntarily come up with the details of a feat that had not yet been accomplished, and then the editor-in-chief appointed Raven to this task, as the youngest.

“I need fifty live lines” - “Maybe we should wait for more specific news?” - the young employee tried to object. “To share profits with competitors and get only small crumbs from what they could get? You just don’t feel the situation, my dear! They won a victory over an entire ocean, which means we can win ours too!” This is such a sad story. In fact, the crew of the “White Bird” achieved success, they were the first to make a transatlantic flight, but died due to the tragic thirst for glory. And another vice of the human soul - greed - influenced the “Press”, which led to general indignation and hatred. Which “White Bird” did not deserve.

Finally entered the hotel. To be honest, the last time the flight seemed much easier to me. Apparently because we traveled in a group and drank all the whiskey on board that was available.

I got ready all weekend, but still forgot the USB cable to charge my phone. I left Yekaterinburg, which saw me off with rainy and chilly weather - to the money;)

I peed at the Yekaterinburg airport yesterday, but the Internet in my landing zone turned out to be so slow that I only managed to send it from Moscow. Like an intelligent person, he passed business registration and flew. 2 hour flight.

The seats next to me were empty, so I wasn’t able to communicate with anyone. I tried the kosher menu, which I learned about through a tip from one of my colleagues on Facebook. Unlike a standard ham sandwich, it includes several types of fish, chicken, hummis, jam, fruit drink, chocolate and also a tomato thing like leche (I don’t remember what it’s called). According to the flight attendant, this is the most expensive menu on board and is enviably different from the classic one. Moreover, you can get it absolutely free by specifying a kosher menu when booking a ticket.

Was in Moscow customs control, where a man in uniform with an iron face stamped my passport. About an hour of waiting and the iron faces of girls in uniform checking documents. For some reason, communicating with people like they are scum is in the order of things.

I sent a post via slow internet and also messaged Jay, a new friend of mine from San Francisco whom I met through couchsurfing. He asks if I need to be picked up from the airport and asks me to call. My old htc doesn’t want to work and doesn’t even get a connection, so calling is problematic - I’m writing a letter saying I’ve already booked a hotel. By the way, I’m simply fascinated by booking.com. I haven’t used it closely before, but just saw it from the outside. So there are so many interesting things like alerts and notifications that are really convenient and I’m sure that they really bring them a lot of traffic. Take their secrets directly and implement them!

We flew across the Atlantic. I love these intercontinental planes because they are large (we had an airbus-330), they have small monitors in the backs of the seats, with which you can watch movies and monitor the route. They serve free alcohol in the form of red and white wine, and you can also buy spirits like whiskey, which are very cheap. Good flight attendants and again a kosher menu. The composition is the same, so it starts to make me feel nauseous.

This time, the neighbor was the owner of a small packaging production company, who was flying to Boston on vacation. We had a good conversation. He is 52 years old and is for an active lifestyle. At the end of the flight I noticed that he was reading a large A4 notebook in which he wrote English words which he apparently teaches. I recommended Lingualeo and promised to definitely watch it ;). By the way, I have great respect for people who, regardless of their age, teach new language, open new companies, move - live life to the fullest!

The flight across the Atlantic Ocean from Moscow to New York took 9:30 hours, including taxiing for all 10. If possible, take a seat at the exit so that you can walk around the cabin from time to time. For dinner I gave up the kosher menu and took the usual one - it’s true that there’s less of everything, but it’s more familiar.

Customs border in New York, a lot of people. Here they are active black American employees who, even directing the crowd into a separate lane, do this with their whole body, waving their arms. I can’t imagine such emotionality from a Russian person - we have other advantages.

I met Dmitry, who is also flying to San Francisco. He lives in Kharkov and with his team is working on a very large and famous project. It seems that only the two of us flew further to San Francisco, although I could have missed someone.

Very long distances for landing the Delta, on which we will fly to San Francisco. We have gate 37 and by the time we got there, it seemed to me that we had passed 10 Koltsovo. JFK what can I say. By the way, pay attention to the transfer window between New York and Delta, because there are a lot of people and there is a chance you won’t make it in time. We had a window of 3 hours, but the plane landed later and while we were going through all the registration, there was literally half an hour of free time left. To board Delta, you need to walk along the street and take an internal train from terminal 1 to 4. There is no free Internet here at all, but wifi from Skype works.

On Delta, as on other planes, I asked to hang my suit in their wardrobe. All flight attendants are easy to help you - do not carry bulky things with you under any circumstances. My wife, I don’t know how she figured it out before, is going to take the child on a scooter;) You can’t drag him with you to the salon :)

To my left is a decent-sized girl, to my right is a young man. Both have macbook air - I took out my pro so as not to seem like a sucker. One watches movies, the other checks email and reads Facebook. By the way, the girl was putting some kind of film on the monitor. At the same time, the image either becomes three-dimensional, or something else - you need to study it.

On Delta planes, food is served only for a fee and additionally. You can also buy alcohol. My neighbor drank, it seems, a bottle of whiskey, and my neighbor drank a whole large bottle of wine. By this point, I was already so tired that I simply didn’t have the strength to talk to anyone or get to know anyone. It seemed to me that this would be the most difficult flight, since it lasted a whole 6 hours, but in fact it turned out to be the easiest, because I slept the entire flight. Didn't even use Wi-Fi on the plane.

I caught a taxi for $50. I don’t know how to get cheaper from the airport to downtown without a phone with internet - please share if you know how. I reached the hotel around one in the morning. By the way, I specially rented a hotel for $100 next to the Apple Store, because without a phone you can’t make a call or drive a car without a navigator, and renting a navigator for $10 a day is a toad’s pressure. The Korean taxi driver remembered Russian vodka, which he most associates with Russians.

At 7 am Jay wants to pick me up, who promised to give me a car and shelter in San Francisco while I sort out all the details with the house and phone. Ivan Tsybaev is inviting me tomorrow to look at housing in his cool complex in San Jose, I’ll try to go there tomorrow.

This is such a busy and difficult day. I gladly took a shower at the hotel and experienced pleasure. Ideally, you should probably stop in each transfer city for 1-2 days so as not to get so tired. Look at New York, although the weather there is disgusting now - this is not California, which has 340 sunny days a year;)

It is now 3 am here and 3 pm in Moscow. I got enough sleep, so I guess I’ll work now;) While on the flight, another colleague who works and lives here sent me an offer to chat - great! Another person asked me for a code for Lingualeo, which I give free to diligent students - the codes are starting to run out, I need to come up with something.

In total, taking into account all the expectations, the pellet took me 26 hours.

See you in the next episode :)

P.S. Smart VK thought that I was logging in from strange place and requires confirmation of an SMS from a phone that remains in Russia. So I’ll publish a post there tomorrow

NONSTOP FLIGHT AROSS THE ATLANTIC

Turning to the historical events that glorified the beginning of the last century with legendary air flights, the question naturally arises: who was the first to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic alone?

A hundred years ago (in 1913), a popular English publication announced a reward of 10,000 pounds for a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The Daily Mail predicted glory for the first aircrew or solo pilot to fly non-stop across the Atlantic in any direction from America to the shores of Ireland or Great Britain in 72 hours.

At that time, flights over such long distances seemed fantastic, because airplanes were just beginning to master the skies, and their structural elements were often destroyed even when trying to get off the ground.

Attempts to conquer the Atlantic sky

The Martinsyd Raymore crew was preparing to conquer the three thousandth distance, but the plane did not take off. The reason for the failure was a failure of the landing gear, in which the nose of the aircraft buried itself in the ground.

In the same way, during takeoff, another plane broke its nose (“Handley Page”).

The attempt of the Sopwith Atlantic crew was almost successful - they did not have enough strength to overcome the last 850 miles to the shore.

The first pilots to fly non-stop across the Atlantic (they had not yet flown alone at that time) were the British crew of the Vickers Vimi winged aircraft. The pilot, John Alcock, and the navigator, Arthur Whitten Brown, received a well-deserved cash prize in 1919.
Another pilot is much more famous, namely the one who was the first to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic alone. But this flight took place already in 1927.

Charles Lindbergh's flight

In 1926, a wealthy New York hotel owner, Raymond Orteig, offered a $25,000 prize for a nonstop flight from New York to Paris.

Charles Lindbergh was 25 years old and a pilot for an air mail company. Lindbergh decided that existing models were not suitable for such flights and a special aircraft was needed. According to his calculations, such an aircraft should be a monoplane that can accommodate the required amount of kerosene. Maybe someone would have doubted it, but Charles Lindbergh decided to fly alone and a year later he was the first to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic.

The plane ("Spirit of St. Louis"), named after St. Louis, was fully loaded with all 1,700 liters of fuel, and barely managed to take off on May 19, 1927. They say that during the climb the telegraph wires were cut off, so low above the ground this flight began.


The pilot had to determine the course by performing mental calculations based on the time of flight in any direction, and he estimated the wind speed from the waves! To do this, Lindbergh needed to descend to get out of the clouds and fog. On top of that, the plane became heavily icy and became much heavier. Flying in these conditions, fighting sleep, was incredibly difficult and dangerous.

However, luck favored the brave pilot, and after 28 hours, Charles Lindbergh's plane ended up near Valentine Island, which is located near Ireland. It’s simply amazing that the deviation from the chosen course was within 5 km!

And six hours later Lindbergh was received at Paris Bourget Airport. In Paris, over 200,000 French people greeted him as a hero, and some 4 million of his countrymen awaited his return to New York. We can compare this event with the meeting of the first cosmonauts by our fellow countrymen.

There was no end to the enthusiastic reviews of contemporaries: some admired the courage and courage of the first solo pilot who made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic; someone carefully analyzed the modernization of the aircraft commissioned by Lindbergh.

Lindbergh's innovation was that he preferred a single-engine aircraft, although multi-engine aircraft were considered safer. He also demanded that the wingspan be increased and the aircraft be equipped with additional fuel tanks. It was important for him to reduce weight as much as possible aircraft, so he fought for every gram. Eyewitnesses claimed that Lindbergh refused to take a parachute and a walkie-talkie on board, he replaced the massive leather seat with a wicker one, special lightweight boots were made to order, and even the map lost an “unnecessary” part.

Charles Lindbergh's flight forever made him a legendary pilot, and for society it marked a breakthrough into previously inaccessible areas. He gave aviation strategic importance, bringing the distance between the European and American continents closer.


THE FIRST FLIGHT THROUGH THE ATLANTIC BY AN AIRCRAFT CREW

The first flight across the Atlantic Ocean was made by a brave British crew. The first non-stop flight across the Atlantic was carried out on June 14, 1919 by members of the crew of the Vickers Vimi aircraft of the British Air Force. Their names are Captain John Alcock (pilot) and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown (navigator).

There were other daredevils who flew across the Atlantic Ocean. Eight years after the British flight, everyone was talking about the American pilot Charles Lindbergh, the one who was the first to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic alone. People liked Lindbergh's youth and courage. In 1927, the public was already able to appreciate such a flight. However, pilots Alcock and Brown were ahead of everyone.

Overcoming obstacles and difficulties

It was decided to fly from Canada to the shores of Ireland. At first I had to search for a long time appropriate place for takeoff. The choice of site was carefully approached - after the accident of other British (the crew of the Martinsayd Raymore), it was clear what had to be risked by lifting a bomber overloaded with fuel into the sky.

When an airfield near the Canadian city of St. John's was found, Alcock called it the first transatlantic airfield. They were waiting for the right weather to arrive and were very nervous because they were afraid that others would be able to get ahead of them.

One day, on the first fine day, a military plane flew right above them towards the ocean. John and Arthur only later learned that it was a test flight. And at first it seemed to them that they were seeing a terrible dream - another plane had already taken off first in order to fly across the Atlantic before everyone else.

The pilots were nervous because everything was ready for the flight, but they had to postpone the start due to heavy winds. A telegram arriving from England accusing him of indecision added to the excitement.

Finally, on June 13, favorable weather conditions emerged. At the command of Captain Alcock, refueling of the aircraft began. First, the fuel was filtered through a sieve, and then it was pumped using a hand pump into the aircraft tanks. It was a tedious and lengthy process. Closer to noon, a breakdown of the shock absorber of one of the chassis was discovered. He could not withstand such a heavy load, and the plane began to roll to one side.

To eliminate the defect, it was necessary to raise the plane, and for this it was necessary to drain all the previously filled fuel. People worked the rest of the day until midnight, then filled the tanks with fuel again, working without a break with their car headlights on and illuminating the site with paraffin lamps.

The weather report received on the morning of June 14 promised a strong westerly wind that would intensify in the coming hours. The pilots who arrived at the airfield decided that if they did not take off now, they would have to give primacy to someone else who would fly across the Atlantic Ocean before them.

Brown and Alcock climbed into the cockpit, warmed up the engines, brought them to full power, and Alcock signaled to the mechanics to let go of the plane's wings. The bomber rolled slowly along runway without gaining sufficient speed and without leaving the ground. The long-awaited start came at the end of the runway, when the plane with great difficulty rose above the fence and trees, and then disappeared from view behind the hills.

All those watching decided that an accident had occurred and ran towards the supposed plane crash. People were worried, and the loudest scream was from the doctor, who asked to make way for him to provide first aid. medical care. The panic subsided when the silhouette of the plane, gradually gaining altitude, became visible in the sky again.

The crew experienced painfully tense moments; it seemed that the car would fall down, it was so difficult to gain altitude. But now St. John's is left behind. The ships sounded their horns to see off the retreating plane, which roared past the four-hundred-meter mark and was moving away from the coastline. The navigator set course in the direction of Ireland.

Incredibly difficult flight

They walked in continuous clouds, and barely visible accumulations of ice floated below. It became incredibly cold; even special heated suits could not save us from the low temperature. At first, Brown's radio messages about following the route were received on the ground, but then the wind generator broke down and they were left with a useless radio station.


For about seven hours the pilot flew the bomber blind. Of course, they had to fly in dense clouds before, but not for such a long time, and problems began with the right engine. At first, frequent bangs were heard, the sounds of which were reminiscent of machine gun fire, and then the unit “spitted out” some part of its structure. The exhaust pipe quickly became hot: first it turned red, then turned white and was torn off by the air flow. The exhaust flame of a running engine reached the tension wire, which became heated, but withstood the temperature and did not change its shape.

At seven o'clock the pilots decided to have a snack; their dinner consisted of sandwiches and coffee. Now they could navigate by the starry sky, so Brown wrote a note to Captain Alcock about the need to see the stars. The pilot took the plane out of the clouds only at an altitude of 1800 meters. The navigator was able to determine their location: after eight hours of flight, the Vickers Vimi moved almost one and a half thousand kilometers from the coast of Newfoundland. The first half of the journey has been completed. It turned out that their ground speed was slightly higher than calculated. It was decided to descend and continue walking under the edge of the clouds at an altitude of 1200 meters.

At about three o'clock in the morning, their car began to be tossed around by strong gusts of wind, and a thunderstorm front appeared in the path of the plane. In poor visibility conditions, orientation was lost and the aircraft's speed dropped sharply. The bomber went into a tailspin. Flashes of lightning prevented the pilot from determining the position of the machine in the stormy space and leveling the plane. Alcock tried to put the rudders in a neutral position - nothing worked. The only thing he could see was the altimeter readings, which showed an increasingly smaller distance to the ground: first 900, then 600, 300, now 150...

Nothing was visible yet, but Alcock heard the sound of the ocean raging below them, and at the same moment the low sky around the plane cleared. They flew upside down, incredibly close to the surface of the ocean, huge waves rolling over their heads. There were split seconds left to make decisions.

In this critical situation, Captain John Alcock's piloting talent passed the most severe test. The experienced pilot instantly restored spatial orientation and in the last seconds leveled the plane, giving the engines full throttle. Both aviators felt that from their cockpit they could reach the foam ridges. Moving away from the ocean waves, which were only fifteen meters away, the car picked up life-saving speed.

It continued to rain heavily, and as we gained altitude it began to snow. The weight of the plane quickly increased - dangerous icing began, which led to interruptions in the operation of the right engine. Its carburetor was clogged with snow, and the plane began to lose altitude due to a lack of power when one engine was running. The situation was becoming critical.

Alcock looked back at his navigator, but he was not there. It turned out that Brown went along the wing to the failed engine. He clung to the racks with all his might and scraped the ice with a knife. In their situation, this was the only saving solution. After some time, the left engine began to fail. Brown had to repeat his feat on the left wing. His brave actions saved the engines and saved the lives of both pilots. In total, Lieutenant Brown made 5 such trips.

On June 15, the Vickers Vimi jumped out of a layer of clouds in the morning, and half an hour later the crew saw two small islands, behind which they could already guess the Irish coast. They flew along the shore and found a green field to land. Not far from this place was the Clifden radio station. People noticed them and began to wave their hands, indicating that it was impossible to sit on the field - it was swampy.

However, the pilots seemed to be greeted, they waved back and continued landing. As a result, the plane buried its nose in a swamp and got stuck in the ground, but the guys were lucky: the damage to the plane was minor, and they themselves were not injured (except for Brown’s scratched nose).

Their legendary flight lasted 16 hours and 28 minutes. Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown were the first to conquer the skies of the Atlantic, having covered 3040 kilometers. The average speed of the Vickers Vimi aircraft was about 190 km/h. Interestingly, after landing, the fuel supply in the tanks remained quite impressive; they could reach the English shores.

Ask any person: “Who was the first to fly across the Atlantic?”, and 90 out of a hundred people will answer: “Charles Lindbergh.” Lindbergh was an incredibly popular character in the 1930s, the hero of numerous newspaper publications, films, historical studies and fiction novels. However, he was not the first to fly across the Atlantic.

In 1913, the British newspaper Daily Mail established a special prize of 10 thousand pounds for the first air flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The prize aroused great interest, and several aviators and engineers began to make plans to win it. But in 1914 the First World War, and put an end to all plans. In 1918 the war ended and competition for the prize resumed with renewed vigor. The competition was made more intense by the fact that during the First World War, aviation made a qualitative leap, turning from an exotic toy into a real fighting force. The design and production of airplanes has ceased to be the lot of eccentric enthusiasts, and has become a powerful industry with serious engineering teams, large production capacities and considerable cash flows. In addition to money, the first transatlantic flight promised good advertising for the developers, so aircraft manufacturing companies did not stand aside.

In May 1919, pilot H.G. Hawker and navigator Mackenzie Grieve took off on the Sopwith Atlantic airplane. The attempt was unsuccessful - the plane fell into the Ocean, fortunately, both pilots were saved. Around the same time, several US Navy flying boats flew from Newfoundland to Portugal via the Azores. The purpose of the flight (initiated by none other than Richard Bird) was to practice flying over seas. There was no record, since the flight lasted 19 days, and the planes had a large number of landings.

On May 26, 1919, a container with a Vickers Vimy aircraft was delivered to Newfoundland. The airplane was unpacked and assembled in a couple of days without any troubles or delays. The wait for suitable weather began. In the meantime, it was raining, interspersed with sleet. The crew consisted of two people - the pilot, Captain John Alcock, and the navigator, Lieutenant Arthur Brown. Both officers were assigned to the Royal Firing Corps (the prototype of the Royal Air Force). The goal is a direct flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
The fates of these people were in many ways similar - both fought in the World War, both experienced the severity of captivity: Alcock in Turkey, and Brown in Germany, both returned to their jobs after the war, both were inspired by the idea of ​​​​a direct flight across the ocean. Captain John Alcock was born in 1892 in Seymour, Old Trafford, England. He began to show an interest in flying at the age of seventeen, and during the War he became an experienced pilot. Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown was born in Glasgow in 1886. He worked as an engineer in the development of aeronautical instruments. Having heard about the upcoming flight across the Atlantic, he expressed a desire to take part in it and was chosen to be John Alcock's partner.

By that time, the Vickers company had already taken one of the leading positions not only in Britain, but also in Europe. By the beginning of the twentieth century, this company was well known as a shipbuilder. In 1908, His Majesty's Navy turned to its long-time partner with an unusual order - the Admiralty needed an airship. Thus, the Vickers company moved from the sea element to the air element. Over the next few years, the company's factories produced French airplanes under license, and in 1913 they also produced their own design - the F.B.I. At the same time, Brookland opened summer school Vickers. By 1918, the number of Vickers military airplanes reached 4,500 copies.

Vickers Vimy 4

At the end of the war, Great Britain began developing a twin-engine bomber designed to bomb German fortifications at the front and factories in the rear. The aircraft (heavy by the standards of those years), designed by engineer R.K. Pierson and built by Vickers, was named Vickers Vimy IV. A crew of two was required to operate the aircraft. The length of the aircraft is 13 meters (43 feet), the wingspan is 21 meters (69 feet). Power point- two 12-cylinder Rolls Royce Eagle engines with a power of 350 horsepower each. Like all aircraft of those years, the Vickers Vimy was made of wood, and the three-meter propellers were also made of wood. Maximum speed - 160 km/h, cruising speed - 145 km/h. The maximum flight altitude is 2100 m. Vickers decided that this aircraft was the best suited for the flight.
The aircraft was built at the Weybridge plant in Surrey (Weybridge, Surrey). The cost of a production copy was 3 thousand pounds. It did not have time to take part in the First World War, and was never used for its intended purpose. For transatlantic flight the plane was slightly modified. Firstly, all military equipment was removed from it, and secondly, additional fuel tanks were installed. In order for both pilots to feel a little more comfortable during a long flight, the cabin was slightly expanded. The pilots sat side by side on a narrow wooden bench, on which a thin bedding was laid.

Finally, on June 14, the long-awaited improvement came, and at 16.12 GMT Vickers Vimy 4 took off from a pasture near St. John's on the island. Newfoundland. The fuel capacity was 4,000 liters (1,050 gallons), giving a theoretical range of 2,500 miles (4,000 km). When fully loaded, the aircraft weighed 6 thousand kilograms (13,300 pounds).

Taking off from Newfoundland

There were enough problems during the flight, there was danger forced landing(which in their situation meant almost 100% death) did not leave the pilots during the entire flight. Radio communications failed immediately after takeoff, and the engines periodically failed. The fog that shrouded the plane prevented the pilots from seeing anything for most of the flight. At some point, the plane stopped obeying the controls and, spinning randomly, began to fall. Falling out of the fog, the pilots saw that the surface of the ocean was already very close. Fortunately, at this moment Alcock was able to regain control of the controls, and the plane began to slowly gain altitude. Orientation in the fog was almost impossible, and throughout the entire journey Brown had a very rough idea of ​​their location. An undoubted success was the brief clearing, during which Brown was able to decide by the stars.

Landing in Ireland

The next morning - June 15, 1919 at 8.25 am - Alcock and Brown crossed the coast of Ireland. The fog stretched all the way to the ground, but the pilots managed to find a suitable clearing and land. The landing was quite hard, the plane was damaged, but the pilots remained safe and sound. Behind us was 15 hours 57 minutes of flight and a journey of 3000 kilometers. The landing site turned out to be next to the Clifden Wireless Station, from where Alcock sent news of the successful completion of the first transatlantic flight.

Brown and Alcock were celebrated as national heroes. The Daily Mail hosted an incredibly grand celebration at the Savoy restaurant, with guests served Oeufs Poches Alcock and Poulet de Printemps a la Vickers Vimy, specially created for the occasion. The pilots and the Vickers company received a special prize of 10 thousand pounds. The plane was taken to the London Science Museum, where it is on display to this day.

In addition to the Daily Mail prize, participants received 2,000 guineas from Ardath Tobacco and £1,000 from Lawrence R. Phillips. Both Alcock and Brown were knighted. Much later, in 1954, a monument was erected at Heathrow Airport in honor of their flight. A memorial sign was also installed at the landing site.

John Alcock and Arthur Brown

John Alcock died on December 18, 1919, while flying a Vickers Viking to the Paris Air Show - in Normandy his plane fell into fog and crashed into a forest. Brown continued his work for the company and lived until October 4, 1948, but never flew again.

In 30-40 Vickers was a leading company in the British aircraft industry. Suffice it to say that bombers such as the Wellington and Lancaster and fighters such as the Spitfire were developed by this company. And the production of Vickers military aircraft in World War II already amounted to tens of thousands of units.

The historic British flight fell into obscurity after Charles Lindbergh made his solo flight in the single-engine Spirit of St. in 1927. Louis Lindbergh was the first to fly from continent to continent, which caused an immeasurably greater stir among the public. Well, it should be noted that his PR situation was much better.
The flight of Alcock and Brown ushered in the golden era of propeller-driven aviation, when the desire of romantics for adventure and the interest of the general public in their achievements was successfully combined with the desire air force create and demonstrate aircraft with ever greater speeds, payloads and ranges.

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