Alcock and Brown's Extraordinary Flight

Crossing the Atlantic in an airplane was the dream for many men, businesses, and governments when aviation was still in its infancy. With quick access from the new to the old world there were limitless opportunities. Charles Lindbergh is often wrongly given the title as the most influential when it comes to transatlantic flight. However he was nowhere near the first to cross and the only reason he really gained much notoriety was because of the disappearance of his young child and due to the general pomp America exhibits when it makes an accomplishment, no matter how miniscule. The most influential flight is one that does not receive the notoriety it deserves. The amazing flight of Alcock and Brown was one that changed the idea of flying forever.

The Idea

Ever since the discovery of the Americas man has tried to devise a quick way to connect the European and American continents. For the longest time the best, and really only way to cross the Atlantic was by ship and this could take several weeks just one way. The idea of crossing the Atlantic by airplane was shared by many but most believed the technology of the time was nowhere near advanced enough to make the journey.

Then in 1913 the 1st Viscount of Northcliffe Alfred Hemsworth, who was also owner of the London Daily Mail, announced in his paper a £10,000 reward for anyone who could make a non-stop transatlantic flight from North America to Great Britain or vice versa.

The rules were simple:

The flight had to be from any point between Great Britain and any point in Newfoundland, Canada, or the United States.
The flight must be non-stop.
The flight had to be under 72 hours.

Many believed Hemsworth was crazy and some even believed it was downright criminal, asking people to basically kill themselves in a hopeless pursuit. Rival newspapers acted like the whole thing was a big joke. Some even offered their own reward for a successful airplane flight, to Mars.

A year later World War One started and all attention was shifted towards it, putting any idea of a transatlantic flight on the backburner. Then in July 1918, months before the war even ended, Hemsworth renewed his offer. The war more than likely helped with both the actual action of crossing the Atlantic and making people more receptive to the idea. Airplane technology advanced drastically during the war and the use of airplanes in the war made them more understood by the general populace.

Both airplane companies and individual pilots were interested in the contest this time. For the companies being the first one to have their plane cross the Atlantic would be a huge boost in publicity, proving that they had the best plane design. For many individuals the prospect of being the first to cross the pond non-stop was seen as an ultimate career and life achievement. Of course the £10,000 reward did not hurt either.

The Men

John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown were both Englishmen, both pilots during the the Great War, both crashed behind enemy lines during the war, both spent their time as prisoners of war (POW) thinking of flying across the Atlantic, and both seeked out the Vickers company.

John Alcock learned to fly at the age of 20 and seemed to be a natural at it. He received a two hour flight lesson and it was all he needed. A few days later he was flying solo and a week later he entered in his first air race and won. When World War One started he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service.

At first he was a flying instructor but in 1916 was moved to the No. 2 Wing RNAS squadron. During his time with the squadron he participated in aerial dogfights and bombing runs. On September 30th he took on three German planes and ended up shooting down two of them, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross for this action. That same night Alcock went on a bombing run over Constantinople. He experienced engine trouble and had to make an emergency landing over Suvla Bay where he was taken prisoner. As a POW he dreamed about flying across the Atlantic and even devised some ideas on how to achieve such a feat.

At the end of the war Alcock was released and went back to England. He then traveled to the Vickers airplane factory to lay out his plans for crossing the Atlantic. The management team was intrigued by his plan and believed him to be a someone they could trust due to his previous flying experience and time in the war. They decided to take him on and help with the idea.

Arthur Brown was an engineer and when war broke out he joined the Royal Flying Corps. He was stationed on the Western Front as an observer and quickly attained the rank of Lieutenant due to his navigational prowess. On November 10, 1915 Lieutenant Brown was shot down behind German lines and was taken prisoner. While prisoner he also dreamed of flying across the Atlantic. He spent time in a Red Cross Hospital due to injuries sustained after being shot down, and during his time there he studied navigation heavily reading as much about it as he could. He was left permanently lame in his left leg and was released from his internment when the war ended.

Brown also went back to Britain and approached the Vickers company in hopes of an engineering job. He was hired and it did not take long for him and Alcock to meet each other and discover that they both had the same passion of transatlantic flight.

They appeared to be the perfect duo for the job with Alcock being an excellent pilot and Brown being an amazing navigator.

Alcock and Brown. Courtesy of The Irish Post. — Alcock and Brown. Courtesy of *The Irish Post.*

The Plane and the Plan

Alcock and Brown decided on using a modified Vickers Vimy F.B.27A twin engine biplane. Originally used as a bomber during the war and boasting a length of 43 feet 7 inches and a wingspan of 68 feet 1 inch it was much larger than all the other planes that competed. At the time many pilots believed that an extremely light weight small plane was what was needed to make such a long flight, but Alcock and Brown both decided that it was more power that was needed. This power they desired was produced by two large 360 horsepower Rolls Royce Eagle VIII engines that each turned two four bladed propellers. The plane was modified in England where the cockpit was widened to allow enough room for the two to fit in and the bomb bay was modified to accept a large reserve fuel tank.

Once the modifications were complete the plane was put in wooden crates and shipped to Newfoundland. Newfoundland was thought the best place to take off as it was the closest point in North America to England, and is where all of the contestants took off from. The landing point would be in Ireland, the closest point in Britain to North America. Alcock and Brown arrived in Newfoundland on May 13th and had to wait for their plane. While waiting the men looked for a place to accommodate their heavy aircrafts take off requirements. Eventually they found a 400 yard field owned by a man named James Lester who granted them permission to use it. 400 yards was cutting it close but it was the best they could find. They then set about the task of clearing the field of trees, rocks and debris. They found it easy to find volunteers to help with the field, locals had caught wind of what was happening and were excited to help anyway they could.

Shortly after Alcock and Browns arrival there were two teams that made their attempts to cross the Atlantic. The first was by Frederick Raynham and Captain C.W. Fairfax Morgan in their Martinsyde Biplane. C.W. Morgan claimed to be the descendant of the famous pirate Captain Morgan and said that his ancestry was sure to help him achieve the flight. It appeared that either he was lying or that ancestral lineage does not help as much as some may think since their plane crashed almost immediately after takeoff.

Harry Hawker’s Sopwith Courtesy of Harry Hawker

The second attempt was made by Australian Harry Hawker and Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth MacKenzie-Grieve who took off on May 18 in their Sopwith Atlantic biplane. They made it off of Newfoundland and a little ways out to sea before their engine gave out and they landed in the ocean. Their plane fuselage was designed to act as a boat if they crashed so they were fine and were soon rescued by the steamer SS Mary. Alcock and Brown took time to study both of these attempts in hopes to avoid the failures that befell their competitors.

On May 26 their plane arrived and Alcock and the ground team started putting it all back together. Brown focused on clearing the field and studying weather patterns to find the optimal time to take off. Newfoundland has a rather bleak climate with high winds, frequent storms and freezing temperatures. Making things worse was the fact that there were no hangars large enough to accommodate the Vimy. The men had to put the plane together outside in the freezing wind with a few hastily set up tarps to cover them and their work.

Reconstructing the Vimy Courtesy of The Aviation History Online Museum

It took several days for the plane to be assembled and the men hit another snag when heavy storms rolled in that were not expected to clear up until mid June. During this waiting period they continued studying maps, weather patterns, and what other competitors did wrong. It was decided that Hawkers’ Sopwith engine stopped due to impurities in the water in its radiator. Alcock and Brown then spent time distilling the water that they would be using in their radiator in order to squeeze out any impurities.

They hit a final snag when a shock absorber broke just days before their planned takeoff. They worked all night to repair it.

The Flight

On June 14 the clouds cleared and the winds calmed making for a perfect day to takeoff. Alcock and Brown spent the morning stocking the plane with navigational equipment and provisions for the trip. Some of the essentials included coffee, beer, a bottle of whiskey, and a cloth bag of 197 letters that were thought to be great novelties and would sell for quite a bit of money being the first air mail. They each also took a stuffed cat that was supposed to act as a token of good luck. Alcock named his cat “Lucky Jim” and Brown named his cat “Twinkletoes”.

Just before takeoff the men had lunch underneath one of the planes wings and then climbed into the cockpit. Alcock started the engines while two teams of men turned the propellers. With the throttle wide open Alcock let the engines build up to full power knowing that it was the only way for the plane to become airborne from such a short runway. At 4:28 PM they started their run and were able to take off just before reaching the end of the runway. Flying just inches above the treetops Alcock tried gaining altitude as quickly as possible. As they flew over St. John’s Harbor into the Atlantic they were waved on by fisherman, and received a farewell from multiple ship sirens.

The weather was almost unusually tranquil and the flying was easy. Brown was so confident that he started talking about the reception they would receive in London remarking, “Great Scott, what a banquet we’ll have!” Interesting to note that other than the Royal Aero Club not many people knew about Alcock and Brown’s journey. Mainly due to the fact that this was the first peaceful summer since before the war began and many newspapers were focusing on more leisure activities, as well as how Germany was reorganizing and repairing itself.

They flew in the calm weather for four hours when the weather turned that evening with heavy fog rolling in and obscuring their view. Just before entering the fog Alcock exclaimed, “We’ve got no choice—we’ve got to go in!” and Brown ta took a reading of their location, unsure of when he would get another chance. Brown also noted that the wind speed was zero, hoping that this lack of wind would help them stay on course since they had no visual way to tell. The fog quickly enveloped them in clouds so thick that they could not see the propellers or hear them. They were flying virtually blind and soundless.

After about an hour in the fog Brown became a bit disgruntled saying, “Won't this ruddy fog ever end?” Alcock remained firm however and tried increasing their altitude to overcome the fog. They did reach a small break in the clouds but there was more above them so Brown still could not see the sky to navigate by. Despite the issues they were facing they still enjoyed the view with Brown explaining this part of the journey rather beautifully, “An aura of unreality seemed to surround us as we flew onward towards the dawn and Ireland. The distorted ball of the Moon, the weird half-light, the monstrous cloud shapes, the fog, the misty indefiniteness of space, the changeless drone, drone, drone of the motors.”

Artist rendering of Alcock and Browns flight, Courtesy of Aiden Flanagan

During this time in the fog they had two mishaps. One of their engine exhaust pipes split open and made a machine gun like noise while spitting flames out of the engine. Other than being a bit rattled the men and the plane were fine, however the noise and the flames continued the rest of the flight.

Another issue was the cold. Both men wore battery powered heated leather jackets but their batteries ran low and they started freezing in the open cockpit. They were also unable to move to warm themselves up as they were crammed into the small seat and it did not allow any room for movement.

They hit another large bank of clouds and it created intense turbulence that threw the Vimy around as like was nothing. Alcock and Brown both felt extreme discomfort as their stomachs jumped up and down. The turbulence coupled with the heavy fog made them feel as though the plane was motionless when all of a sudden they were sent in a nose dive straight towards the ocean! Alcock felt himself being pressed to the back of his seat and glanced at the altimeter. In just moments they went from 4,000 feet in altitude down to 1,000 feet and continued falling. At this moment neither Alcock or Brown were too worried and Alcock later remarked that his only thought was, “However shall we get back on our original course and avoid being lost in the endless waste of the Atlantic?” The altimeter read 100 feet and Alcock estimated that they were only 65 feet above the ocean when he regained control! Brown was later asked how they reacted to this and he simply replied, “We grinned!”

The weather was starting to change and the flight was becoming much smoother. Alcock opened the throttle wide open and quickly regained their height and brought them back on course. Both men now realized that they were hungry, Alcock communicating this to Brown by pointing his left hand at his mouth that he was closing and opening. Brown retrieved their meal of sandwiches and opened the bottle of beer that they brought along. They ate and shared the beer then threw the bottle overboard.

Brown then had to refuel the main tank from the reserve tank, a task he was glad to have. Manually pumping fuel from the reserve to the main tank made him move and warm himself up.

Five hours of flying was now behind them and so was the sun. Brown now having a chance to calculate their position pulled out his sextant and began his calculations. Brown was astonished to see that they were only a little off course to the South.

Soon they were again enveloped by a huge cloud and had no visibility. Being deafened by the Vimys engine with the shot exhaust Brown wrote in his logbook, “Can you get above the clouds by 9:30? We need stars as soon as possible.” Alcock nodded his head and continued climbing higher but was unable to overcome the cloud cover. By 12:05 AM they still were not able to find any relief from the clouds and Brown showed Alcock his logbook again saying, “Must see stars now.” Alcock opened the throttle and tried gaining altitude as quickly as possible.

At 12:15 AM Alcock dug his hand into Brown’s shoulder and pointed up. The moon and the star Polaris were visible. Brown had his sextant and his navigational charts out so quick it almost made Alcock’s head spin. Brown determined that they were still flying a little bit to the South but were making great time, averaging about 106 knots (122 MPH).

At 12:30 AM they had another break of sandwiches and coffee. Brown opened the bottle of whiskey they had brought and poured some into his coffee and began singing. Alcock could not hear Brown over the noise of the engines but found it amusing nonetheless.

By this time some of the Royal Aero Club members were beginning to worry. No one had sighted the Vimy since they took off and they had not received any radio transmissions from them. Neither Alcock nor Brown realized that their radio transmitter was broken shortly after takeoff, only finding out after their trip was over.

At 3:00 AM dawn was beginning to approach and with it a new danger. They were engulfed by another huge bank of clouds and this time they were being pelted with freezing rain. Alcock lost control of the plane again and they went into a nosedive towards the ocean. Watching the altimeter quickly drop to below 1000 feet Alcock pulled hard on the stick and regained control at the last second. He later said that he could taste salt on his lips from the ocean foam below and stated, “In any case the altimeter wasn't working at that low height and I think that we were not more than 16 to 20 ft. above the water.”

The icy rain had now turned to hail and then to snow, filling the cockpit and freezing the men further. Worse was that sheets of ice were starting to form on the Vimy and the engines were starting to run irregularly. Alcock and Brown both new that this ice build up could cause the engines to stop at any moment. Brown climbed out of the cockpit and began crawling onto one of the wings towards the engine. Realizing what Brown was doing Alcock stood up and grabbed him to hold him back, but Brown freed himself and continued on. He ripped off his flight goggles so he could see better, but was immediately met with discomfort by the freezing wind whipping at his face. With his stiff leg and no real way to support himself if he fell Brown inched his way across the planes wing and scraped the ice off of the engine’s intakes. Then he crawled back and across the other wing to do the same thing. He crawled back and forth between engines four times in order to keep them clear of ice. The entire time Alcock flew the plane as steady as possible knowing that one wrong move could send Brown plummeting into the ocean and likely to his death.

Artist rendering of Brown clearing ice from the engine, Courtesy of Look and Learn

The storm cleared and Brown took the last navigational reading of the flight. They were only 80 miles from land and only had minutes to go before they would be at their landing point. However there would be one last obstacle the two would have to face before they completed their journey. Despite Brown’s best efforts to keep the engines clear ice sheets were still forming and the starboard one gave out. The only thing Alcock could think to do was descend to a lower altitude and hope to find warmer air. They descended a few thousand feet and Alcocks plan worked! The ice began to melt and the engine sputtered back to life. The cockpit was soaked with melted snow but they were almost done with their journey, 20 minutes later they sighted land.

They were over the Irish coast and were soon over land. The village of Galway was where they were expected to land but they were still off course and not exactly sure where they were. Brown studied his maps for a minute and quickly identified that they were over top of the large village of Clifden. Alcock decided to set the plane down anyway and found a large field just outside the town.

As they came in for the approach villagers were yelling and waving their arms, Alcock and Brown thinking the villagers were cheering them on continued. Only too late did they realize that the villagers were trying to warn them that it was actually a peat bog they were landing in. The wheels of the Vimy sank into the soft ground and the plane crashed nose forward.

Locals raced to the scene to make sure the men were alright and to their relief both were unharmed. At first the villagers thought that the two men were scouts looking for Vimy but were ecstatic when Alcock told the villagers who they were. Both men were a bit dazed and deafened by the crash and had a difficult time thinking about what to say with Alcock only being able to comment, “The amazing thing is that we are here at all.”

Alcock and Brown’s crashed Vimy, Courtesy of Irish Times

After having breakfast and resting for a few hours they were much better and ready to be interviewed. Brown even remarking, “That is the best way to cross the Atlantic.” They also sent a telegraph to the Royal Aero Society stating, “Landed Clifden, Ireland, at 8.40 am Greenwich mean time, June 15, Vickers Vimy Atlantic machine leaving Newfoundland coast 4.28 pm GMT, June 14, Total time 16 hours 12 minutes. Instructions awaited.”

Through banks of dense fog, freezing rain, snow, extreme turbulence, high winds and numerous setbacks the men traveled a total of 1,890 miles in 16 hours and 12 minutes. A feat that had never been done before.

The Reception

Once everything was in order Alcock and Brown traveled to London, making many stops along the way. Almost everywhere they went they were greeted by banquets and celebrations. They had made so many stops in fact that by the time they arrived in London Brown had grown tired of giving speeches and said to a crowd, “No speech now. You wanted us. Here we are!” Brown later stated that he was rather dazed by the magnitude of the welcome, and not expecting such a huge celebration. Oh and what a celebration it was! The Aero Club went all out for the banquet with magnificent food that they even renamed to honor their guests, such as “Poached Eggs Alcock” and “Sole a la Brow” and “Spring Chicken a la Vickers Vimy”. Many important persons were also there to congratulate the two, most notably Winston Churchill who officially awarded the men with the £10,000 prize. Alcock and Brown then surprised the crowd by announcing that they would be giving a £2,000 share to their ground crew who worked so hard to put the plane together.

Alcock (right) and Brown (left) pose next to the Vimy, Courtesy of The Times

After the banquet the two men were received at Buckingham Palace. They were knighted by King George V as Sir John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown.

Life After the Flight

After all the fanfare Alcock and Brown went back to their regular jobs. Alcock tested planes for Vickers and continues entering in races. He unfortunately died December of the same year of their famous flight when he flew over France and heavy fog forced him to make a crash landing.

Brown went back to Vickers as an engineer and continued working there until his death in 1948. His and Alcocks famous flight being his last aerial adventure.

Statue of Alcock and Brown at Heathrow, Courtesy of William McMillian

The Vickers Vimy that they flew was repaired and is now on display in the London Science Museum. There are two memorials dedicated to Alcock and Brown, one in the village of Clifden and one in London’s Heathrow International Airport.

Personal Thoughts

There is nothing about this story that does not interest me, it has everything I like. Early aviation, transatlantic flight, a daring story, my favorite historical period, everything about this is perfect for me to be rightly interested. I do wish someone would take the story and turn it into a movie because as far as I know no one has and in my opinion it would be far more interesting than many movies that are currently produced today.

I have immense respect for the two men. They never gave up and had a certain sort of moxie that you do not see often. Every time I begin to think of their story and what they went through and achieved I become lost in it, their feat is without a doubt one of my favorites to read and learn about. I wish they weren’t overshadowed so much by Charles Lindbergh and others who didn’t influence the world of flight near as much as Alcock and Brown did.

Sources

Cover photo courtesy of FlyPast

http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm

https://www.historynet.com/browns-great-adventure-the-first-transatlantic-flight.htm

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/06/16/96314544.pdf

https://www.aerosociety.com/news/the-great-transatlantic-race/

May 25 Alcock and Brown's Extraordinary Flight