Transatlantic | England to Australia | London to Cape Town

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Transatlantic Flight Scheduled for June 2005. Go to Vimy Atlantic Flight Site for more info!   DIRECT FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC Vickers Aeroplane's Non-Stop Voyage of 1,880 Miles The Daily Mail £10,000 prize has been won! John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown, both British, landed in Clifden, Ireland on June 15, 1919 after leaving Newfoundland 16 hours before in a Vickers Vimy. The total flight time for this historic first non-stop voyage is 16 hours 12 minutes, much of which was flown under the most extreme conditions. "We were tired of being alone in the fog and drizzle, sometimes discovering that we were flying upside down," says Captain Alcock. Captain John Alcock piloted the plane, and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten- Brown navigated using a naval sextant. The aircraft, a Vickers Vimy, is named after the famous WW1 battle. The crew faced many challenges. Their radio broke down shortly after takeoff. Fog enveloped the plane and prevented the fliers from seeing anything for much of the journey. At one point Alcock lost control of the plane and it began to spin in the air. Emerging from the fog they found themselves dangerously close to the sea. However, through Alcock's expert flying, the plane began to regain its position and they climbed back up into the sky. The fog also made navigation challenging, and Brown found it very difficult to work out their exact position during the journey. During one brief patch of clear sky, Brown fixed their position using the star Vega and the moon. Alcock and Brown landed in a bog in Clifden at 8:40 am, and soldiers, wireless operators and others, dressed mainly in pajamas and coats, rushed to the spot about a mile from the Marconi arial masts. Only slightly injured, the aviators were assisted from the machine. Captain Alcock showed a bunch of letters soaked with rain which he had been asked to post if the flight was successful. "I'm the first Transatlantic postman," he said.

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