HULTONARCHIVE^ /STRINGER82 | SEPTEMBER 2019 FLYINGMAG.COM
Do you recognize these intrepid aviators? Charles Lindbergh gets all the glory for his (justly)
famous solo Atlantic crossing in 1927, but 100 years ago, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur
Whitten Brown successfully made the first nonstop transatlantic crossing, in a modified Vickers
Vimy twin-engine bomber. Alcock and Brown departed from St. Johns, Newfoundland, on June
14, 1919, flying through fog, snow, ice and rain—and nearly crashing twice—before touching down
in a bog in Clifden, Ireland, 16 exhausting hours later. Their feat should be better known, but be-
cause there was no advance notice of the attempt given to the press—and due to the ineptitude of
the telegraph operator when they landed—the world paid little attention even at the time.
AVIATION’S FORGOTTEN HISTORY
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