Editing Transatlantic flight (section)

===First transatlantic flights===
[[File:Kelly Field - A Successful Practice Flight Over an Aviation Field.jpg|thumb|left|The Curtiss H-2 ''America'' was supposed to make a trans-atlantic flight attempt in 1914 but WW1 broke out. At one point the aircraft had three engines, one on the top wing, to build duration. The plane could not take off fully fueled with three engines.]]
[[File:Martin-Handasyde trans-Atlantic monoplane.jpg|thumb|left|Martin-Handasyde monoplane to have been used by [[Gustav Hamel]] in an east-to-west Atlantic attempt. Hamel disappeared in May 1914 and the large monoplane partially built was never completed.]]
[[File:AC NC4 1 USN.jpg|thumb|right| The U.S. Navy's NC-4, first aircraft to cross the Atlantic though in stages May 1919.]]
In April 1913, the London newspaper [[Daily Mail aviation prizes|''The Daily Mail'' offered a prize of £10,000]]<ref>Nevin, David. "Two Daring Flyers Beat the Atlantic before Lindbergh." ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 28: (1) 1993, 105.</ref> (£{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK-GDP|10000|1919|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|UK-GDP}}) to

{{blockquote|the aviator who shall first cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane in flight from any point in the United States of America, Canada or [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] and any point in Great Britain or Ireland" in 72 continuous hours.<ref name="DailyMail1918">{{cite news|title=The Daily Mail Atlantic Prize|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1918/1918%20-%201315.html|work=[[Flight International|Flight Magazine]]|page=1316|date=21 November 1918|access-date=5 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521184250/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1918/1918%20-%201315.html|archive-date=21 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

The [[John Cyril Porte|competition]] was suspended with the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914 but reopened after [[Armistice with Germany|Armistice]] was declared in 1918.<ref name="DailyMail1918"/> The war saw tremendous advances in aerial capabilities, and a real possibility of transatlantic flight by aircraft emerged.

Between 8 and 31 May 1919, the Curtiss seaplane ''[[NC-4]]'' made a crossing of the Atlantic flying from the U.S. to [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], then to the [[Azores]], and on to mainland [[Portugal]] and finally the [[United Kingdom]]. The whole journey took 23 days, with six stops along the way. A trail of 53 "station ships" across the [[Atlantic]] gave the aircraft points to navigate by. 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.<ref name=DailyMailprize1918>{{cite web|url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1918/1918%20-%201315.html|title= Daily Mail £10,000 prize conditions 1918|access-date= 19 June 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110521184250/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1918/1918%20-%201315.html|archive-date= 21 May 2011|url-status= live}}</ref>

Four teams were competing for the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic. They were Australian pilot [[Harry Hawker]] with observer Kenneth Mackenzie-Grieve in a single-engine [[Sopwith Atlantic]]; [[F. P. Raynham|Frederick Raynham]] and C. W. F. Morgan in a [[Martinsyde]]; the [[Handley Page]] Group, led by Admiral [[Mark Kerr (Royal Navy officer, born 1864)|Mark Kerr]]; and the [[Vickers Limited|Vickers]] entry John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown. Each group had to ship its aircraft to Newfoundland and make a rough field for the takeoff.<ref name=tpp>{{cite web | url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/economy/aviation-pioneer-period.php | title=Aviation: The Pioneer Period}}</ref><ref name=bjb>{{cite book | title=The Flying Firsts of Walter Hinton | first=Benjamin J. |last=Burns}}</ref>

Hawker and Mackenzie-Grieve made the first attempt on 18 May, but engine failure brought them down into the ocean where they were rescued. Raynham and Morgan also attempted on 18 May but crashed on takeoff due to the high fuel load. The Handley Page team was in the final stages of testing its aircraft for the flight in June, but the Vickers group was ready earlier.<ref name=tpp/><ref name=bjb/>

{{Main|Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown}}
[[File:Alcockandbrown takeoff1919.jpg|thumb|left|[[Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown|Alcock and Brown]] made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919. They took off from [[St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St John's]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], and landed in [[Clifden, County Galway]], Ireland.]]
[[File:Alcock-Brown-Clifden.jpg|thumb|left|The plane of Alcock and Brown having landed in Ireland. While the touchdown had been smooth, the plane had landed on a [[peat]] [[bog]] and not grass as Alcock had thought, and as the plane ran on it eventually sank axle-deep, pivoting over its wheels.<ref name="Daredevil">{{cite news |title=Into the Unknown: The daredevils who flew across an ocean|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/bM5diyl48K/alcock |access-date=18 May 2024 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>]]

During 14–15 June 1919, the British aviators [[Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown|Alcock and Brown]] made the first non-stop transatlantic flight.<ref>[http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm "Alcock and Brown – Great Britain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213103027/http://aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm |date=13 December 2010 }}. Aviation-history.com. Retrieved: 23 September 2011.</ref> During the War, Alcock resolved to fly the Atlantic, and after the war, he approached the [[Vickers]] engineering and aviation firm at [[Weybridge]], which had considered entering its [[Vickers Vimy]] IV twin-engined bomber in the competition but had not yet found a pilot. Alcock's enthusiasm impressed Vickers's team, and he was appointed as its pilot. Work began on converting the Vimy for the long flight, replacing its bomb racks with extra petrol tanks.<ref>Peter G. Cooksley, 'Alcock, Sir John William (1892–1919)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., Jan 2011 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30363, accessed 16 June 2012]</ref> Shortly afterwards Brown, who was unemployed, approached Vickers seeking a post and his knowledge of long-distance navigation convinced them to take him on as Alcock's navigator.<ref>E. C. Shepherd, 'Brown, Sir Arthur Whitten (1886–1948)’, rev. Peter G. Cooksley, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32104, accessed 16 June 2012]</ref>

Vickers's team quickly assembled its plane and at around 1:45&nbsp;p.m. on 14 June, while the Handley Page team was conducting yet another test, the Vickers plane took off from Lester's Field, in [[St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St John's, Newfoundland]].<ref name="Century">{{cite web|url=http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/daredevils/Atlantic%202.htm|title=The Atlantic Challenge:Alcock and Brown Take the Atlantic|last=Anon|work=Century of Flight|publisher=Centuryofflight.net|access-date=16 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821212510/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/daredevils/Atlantic%202.htm|archive-date=21 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Alcock and Brown flew the modified Vickers Vimy, powered by two [[Rolls-Royce Eagle]] 360&nbsp;hp engines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm|title=Alcock and Brown|publisher=Aviation History Online Museum|access-date=13 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213103027/http://aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm|archive-date=13 December 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> It was not an easy flight, with unexpected fog, and a snow storm almost causing the crewmen to crash into the sea. Their altitude varied between sea level and {{convert|12000|ft}} and upon takeoff, they carried 865 [[imperial gallon]]s (3,900 L) of fuel. They made landfall in [[Clifden]], [[County Galway]] at 8:40&nbsp;a.m. on 15 June 1919, not far from their intended landing place, after less than sixteen hours of flying.<ref name="Century"/><ref>Listen to interviews with people that met the plane on Bowman Sunday Morning, RTÉ radio archives, http://www.rte.ie/radio1/bowmansundaymorning/1249939.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102082712/http://www.rte.ie/radio1/bowmansundaymorning/1249939.html |date=2 November 2012 }}</ref>

[[File:alcock.brown.statue.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Statue of Alcock and Brown at [[London Heathrow Airport]]]]
The [[Secretary of State for Air]], [[Winston Churchill]], presented Alcock and Brown with the [[Daily Mail aviation prizes|''Daily Mail'' prize]] for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in "less than 72 consecutive hours".<ref name="DailyMail1913">{{cite news|title=£10,000 for first transatlantic flight (in 72 continuous hours)|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200387.html|work=Flight magazine|page=393|date=5 April 1913|access-date=5 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128120353/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200387.html|archive-date=28 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> There was a small amount of mail (3lb) carried on the flight making it also the first transatlantic [[airmail]] flight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fi.edu/flight/long/after.htm|title=After the Flight|last=Anon|work=Long flight|publisher=Science Museum|access-date=15 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929062523/http://www.fi.edu/flight/long/after.htm|archive-date=29 September 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Baldwin |first= Norman Cecil |date=1945 |title=Bridging the Atlantic : a chronological record of all projected, attempted and successful Atlantic flights until the inception of regular services, and a priced catalogue of souvenirs  |location=Sutton Coldfield, England |publisher=F.J. Field |page=18}}</ref> The two aviators were [[Order of the British Empire|knighted]] one week later by [[George V|King George&nbsp;V]] at [[Windsor Castle]].<ref>{{cite news| title=Alcock and Brown Knighted by King George V| url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200830.html| work = Flight magazine| page = 830| date = 26 June 1919| access-date =22 April 2023}}</ref>

The first transatlantic flight by [[rigid airship]], and the first return transatlantic flight, was made just a couple of weeks after the [[transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown]], on 2 July 1919. Major [[George Herbert Scott]] of the [[Royal Air Force]] flew the [[R34 (airship)#R34|airship R34]] with his crew and passengers from [[RAF East Fortune]], Scotland to [[Mineola, New York]] (on [[Long Island]]), covering a distance of about {{convert|3000|mi}} in about four and a half days.

The flight was intended as a testing ground for postwar commercial services by airship (see [[Imperial Airship Scheme]]), and it was the first flight to transport paying passengers. The R34 wasn't built as a passenger carrier, so extra accommodations were arranged by slinging hammocks in the keel walkway. The return journey to [[RNAS Pulham|Pulham]] in [[Norfolk]], was from 10 to 13 July over some 75 hours.

The first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic was made by the Portuguese naval aviators [[Gago Coutinho]] and [[Sacadura Cabral]] in 1922. Coutinho and Cabral flew from [[Lisbon]], Portugal, to [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil in stages, using three different [[Fairey III]] biplanes, and they covered a distance of {{convert|8383|km}} between 30 March and 17 June.

The first transatlantic flight between Spain and South America was completed in January 1926 with a crew of Spanish aviators on board ''[[Plus Ultra (aircraft)|Plus Ultra]]'', a [[Dornier Do J]] flying boat; the crew was the captain [[Ramón Franco]], co-pilot [[Julio Ruiz de Alda|Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz]], Teniente de Navio (Navy Lieutenant), Juan Manuel Durán, and Pablo Rada.

The first transpolar flight eastbound and the first flight crossing the North Pole ever was the airship carrying Norwegian explorer and pilot [[Roald Amundsen]] on 11 May 1926. He flew with the airship "NORGE" ("Norway") piloted by the Italian colonel [[Umberto Nobile]], non-stop from [[Svalbard]], Norway to [[Teller, Alaska]], USA. The flight lasted for 72 hours.

The first night-time crossing of the South Atlantic was accomplished on 16–17 April 1927 by the Portuguese aviators [[José Manuel Sarmento de Beires|Sarmento de Beires]], Jorge de Castilho and Manuel Gouveia, flying from the [[Bijagós Archipelago]], [[Portuguese Guinea]], to [[Fernando de Noronha]], Brazil in the ''Argos'', a [[Dornier Do J|Dornier Wal]] flying boat.

[[File:Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of Saint Louis (Crisco restoration, with wings).jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Charles Lindbergh]] with the ''[[Spirit of St. Louis]]'' – 1927.]]
In the early morning of 20 May 1927, [[Charles Lindbergh]] took off from [[Roosevelt Field (airport)|Roosevelt Field]], [[Mineola, New York]], on his successful attempt to fly nonstop from New York to the European continental land mass. Over the next 33.5 hours, Lindbergh and the ''[[Spirit of St. Louis]]'' encountered many challenges before landing at [[Le Bourget Airport]] near [[Paris]], at 10:22&nbsp;p.m. on 21 May 1927, completing the first solo crossing of the Atlantic.

The first east-west non-stop transatlantic crossing by an aeroplane was made in 1928 by the ''[[Bremen (aircraft)|Bremen]]'', a German [[Junkers W33]] type aircraft, from [[Casement Aerodrome|Baldonnel Airfield]] in [[County Dublin]], Ireland.<ref>"The Flight of the Bremen". Republished 50 years on, retrieved from ''The Irish Times,'' 12 April 1978.</ref>

On 18 August 1932 [[Jim Mollison]] made the first east-to-west solo trans-Atlantic flight; flying from [[Portmarnock]] in Ireland to [[Pennfield, New Brunswick]], Canada in a [[de Havilland Puss Moth]].<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1932/1932%20-%200851.html "Mollison's Atlantic Flight."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102075747/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1932/1932%20-%200851.html |date=2 November 2012 }} ''Flight'', 26 August 1932, p. 795.</ref>

In 1936 the first woman aviator to cross the Atlantic east to west, and the first person to fly solo from England to North America, was [[Beryl Markham]]. She wrote about her adventures in her memoir, ''West with the Night''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Markham |first=Beryl |author-link=Beryl Markham |title=West with the Night |location=San Francisco |publisher=North Point Press |date=1983 |orig-year=1942 |isbn=0-86547-118-5}}</ref>

The first transpolar transatlantic (and transcontinental) crossing was the {{ill|Transpolar flight of Chkalov, Baydukov and Belyakov|lt=non-stop flight|ru|Беспосадочный перелёт Москва — Северный полюс — Ванкувер}} piloted by the crew led by [[Valery Chkalov]] covering some {{convert|8811|km}} over 63 hours from [[Moscow]], [[Russia]] to [[Vancouver, Washington]] from 18–20 June 1937.