Transatlantic flight
Encyclopedia
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft
across the Atlantic Ocean
. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe
or Africa
and terminating in North America
or South America
, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east. Such flights have been accomplished by fixed-wing aircraft
, airship
s, balloon
s and other devices.
The Atlantic Ocean stood as a significant obstacle to the aviation
pioneers of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The first aircraft engine
s did not have sufficient reliability necessary for the crossing, nor sufficient power to lift the required fuel. Additionally, there are difficulties navigating over featureless expanses of water for thousands of miles, and the weather
, especially in the North Atlantic Ocean is often unpredictable and violent. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, transatlantic flight has been routine and common, for commercial
, military
, diplomatic
, and other purposes. Experimental flights (in balloons, small aircraft, etc.) still present technological challenges for transatlantic fliers.
made a crossing of the Atlantic flying from the U.S. to Newfoundland
, then to the Azores
and on to Portugal
and finally the UK. The whole journey took 23 days. NC-4 was the only one of the three United States Navy
aircraft to set out that completed the journey. The journey had been organised by the Navy to include crew rest, aircraft maintenance and repair and refuelling, and had been supported by a trail of 22 "station ships" across the Atlantic giving the aircraft points to navigate by.
British
aviators Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919. They flew a modified World War I Vickers Vimy
bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland
, to Clifden
, Connemara
, County Galway
, Ireland
. Winston Churchill
presented them with the Daily Mail prize
for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean
in "less than 72 consecutive hours" and they were knight
ed at Windsor Castle
by King George V
.
On October 11, 1928, Dr. Eckener, commanding the Graf Zeppelin
airship
as part of DELAG
's operations, began the first non-stop transatlantic passenger flights, leaving Friedrichshafen
, Germany, at 07:54 on October 11, 1928, and arriving at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey
, on October 15. Thereafter, DELAG used both the LZ 127 and LZ 129 for regular scheduled passenger services across the Atlantic until 1937.
, was completed from Presque Isle, Maine
, to Miserey
, near Paris
, France
in 1978, long after airplanes were already making transatlantic flights.
The first ideas of transatlantic flight came about during the mid-nineteenth century period of ballooning
. The best-known balloonists in the world were the Americans John Wise
, John LaMountain and Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
. The balloons of the period were inflated with coke gas, a moderate lifting medium compared to hydrogen
or helium
, but with enough lift to obtain the high winds in the atmosphere that would later be known as the Jet Stream
.
In 1859 John Wise had built an enormous aerostat that he appropriately named the Atlantic. He invited John LaMountain and a few other passengers to join them at a start point in St. Louis, Missouri
. Though intended to cross the Atlantic Ocean
, the flight, only lasting a little less than a day ended caught in a sudden windstorm over Lake Ontario
and crash-landing in Henderson, New York
. Neither Wise nor LaMountain ever attempted a transatlantic flight again.
Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, with a little more scientific approach to an Atlantic crossing prepared a massive balloon of 725000 cubic feet (20,529.7 m³) called the City of New York to take off from Philadelphia at a proper season during 1860. He even equipped the rig with a small escape boat towed under the gondola should anything go awry over the ocean. Defeating circumstances, most of them outside the realm of aeronautics, caused postponements until the best time of year ran out. Lowe opted to wait for mid 1861 to attempt the flight, but upon a suggestion from Prof. Joseph Henry
at the Smithsonian Institution
Lowe took the smaller balloon Enterprise
to Cincinnati for a test flight that would return him to the East Coast. The flight, which took off two days after the beginning of the American Civil War
, went well short of the fact that Lowe ended up in Confederate South Carolina
. Upon returning home he was summoned by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase
to bring his balloon to Washington, D.C. Lowe ended up as Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps
which all but ended any idea of his making a transatlantic flight.
The North Atlantic presented challenges for aviators due to weather and the huge distances involved coupled with the lack of stopping points. Initial transatlantic services, therefore, focused more on the South Atlantic, where a number of French, German, and Italian airlines offered seaplane
service for mail between South America and West Africa in the 1930s. From February 1934 to August 1939 Deutsche Luft Hansa
operated a regular airmail service between Natal, Brazil
, and Bathurst, The Gambia
, continuing via the Canary Islands
and Spain to Stuttgart
, Germany. From December 1935, Air France
opened a regular weekly airmail route between South America and Africa. German airlines, such as Deutsche Luft Hansa, experimented with mail routes over the North Atlantic in the early 1930s, both with seaplanes and dirigibles.
The US was mainly concerned about Trans-Atlantic flight for the faster postal service between Europe and America. In 1931 W. Irving Glover, the second assistant postmaster, wrote an extensive article for Popular Mechanics
concerning the challenges and the need for such a regular service. In his article he even mentioned the use of aerial refueling
after takeoff as a possible solution.
In 1931, the airship Graf Zeppelin
began offering regular scheduled passenger service between Germany and South America which continued until 1937. Over its career Graf Zeppelin crossed the South Atlantic 136 times.http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin/history In 1936, the airship Hindenburg
entered passenger service and successfully crossed the Atlantic 36 times before crashing at Lakehurst, New Jersey
, on May 6, 1937. http://www.airships.net/hindenburg
As technology progressed, Pan American World Airways
of the United States, Imperial Airways
of Britain, Lufthansa
of Germany, and Aéropostale
of France
, began to use flying boat
s to connect the Americas to Europe via Bermuda
and the Azores during the 1930s. A main reason for using flying boats was the lack of runways long enough to allow large airplanes to take off and land. On 26 March 1939, Pan American made its first trial transatlantic flight from Baltimore
, Maryland, to Foynes
, Ireland, using a Boeing 314
(named Yankee Clipper
by PanAm) with a scheduled flight time of about 29 hours.http://www.clipperflyingboats.com/transatlantic-airline-service
During World War II
the crossing of the Atlantic by air became much more commonplace with the instigation of RAF Ferry Command
, whose purpose was to deliver US- and Canadian-built combat aircraft to the United Kingdom, flying from Gander
, Newfoundland, to Prestwick in Scotland. Over the course of the war, more than 9,000 aircraft were ferried
across the ocean. The Atlantic Division of the United States Army Air Forces
Air Transport Command
ferried aircraft and carried supplies and passengers from the USA to the British Isles. By the end of the war, crossing the Atlantic had become a routine operation, presaging the inauguration of scheduled commercial air transport services after the war.
After World War II long runways were available, and American, Canadian and European carriers such as Pan Am
, TWA
, Trans Canada Airlines (TCA), BOAC
, and Air France acquired larger piston aircraft, which allowed service over the North Atlantic with intermediate stops (usually in Gander
, Newfoundland
and/or Shannon, Ireland). Scheduled jet flights began in October 1958, and supersonic service (Concorde
) was offered from 1976 to 2003. Since the loosening of regulations in the 1970s and 1980s, a large number of airlines now compete in the transatlantic market.
(NATs). These change daily in position (although altitudes are standardised) to compensate for weather—particularly the jet stream
tailwind
s and headwinds, which may be substantial at cruising altitudes and have a strong influence on trip duration and fuel economy. Eastbound flights generally operate during night-time hours, while westbound flights generally operate during daytime hours, for passenger convenience. For European readers it should be mentioned that the "Eastbound Flow", as it is called, generally makes European landfall from about 0600UT to 0900UT. The westbound flow generally operates within a 1200–1500UT time-slot. Restrictions on how far a given aircraft may be from an airport also play a part in determining its route; in the past, airliners with three or more engines were not restricted, but a twin-engine airliner was required to stay within a certain distance of airports that could accommodate it (since a single engine failure in a four-engine aircraft is less crippling than a single engine failure in a twin). Modern aircraft with two engines flying transatlantic have to be ETOPS certified.
Gaps in air traffic control and radar coverage over large stretches of the Earth's oceans, as well as an absence of most types of radio navigation aids, impose a requirement for a high level of autonomy in navigation upon transatlantic flights. Aircraft must include reliable systems that can determine the aircraft's course and position with great accuracy over long distances. In addition to the traditional compass
, inertial
s and satellite navigation systems such as GPS
all have their place in transatlantic navigation. Land-based systems such as VOR
and DME
,because they operate "line of sight", are mostly useless for ocean crossings, except in initial and final legs within about 240 nautical miles (444.5 km) of those facilities. In the late 1950s and early 1960s an important facility for low-flying aircraft was the Radio Range. Inertial Nav. systems became prominent in the 1970s
, who had in 1909 attempted to reach the North Pole by balloon, set out for Europe from Atlantic City in a dirigible, America
. A storm off Cape Cod
sent him off course, and then engine failure forced him to ditch half way between New York and Bermuda
. Wellman, his crew of five – and the balloon’s cat – were rescued by RMS Trent
, a passing British ship. The Atlantic bid failed, but the distance covered, about 1000 smi, was at the time a record for a dirigible.
First transatlantic flight: May 8–31, 1919. U.S. Navy Curtiss
NC-4
flying boat
under the command of Albert Read
, flew 4526 smi from Rockaway, New York, to Plymouth
(England
), via inter alia
Trepassey (Newfoundland), Horta
and Ponta Delgada (both Azores) and Lisbon
(Portugal
) in 53h 58m, spread over 23 days. The crossing from Newfoundland to the European mainland had taken 10 days 22 hours, with the total time in flight of 26h 46m. The longest non-stop leg of the journey, from Trepassey, Newfoundland, to Horta in the Azores, was 1200 smi and lasted 15h 18m.
Sopwith Atlantic failure: On 18 May 1919, the Australian Harry Hawker
, together with navigator Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve, attempted to become the first to achieve a non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. They set off from Mount Pearl
, Newfoundland, in the Sopwith Atlantic
biplane. After fourteen and a half hours of flight the engine overheated and they were forced to divert towards the shipping lanes: they found a passing freighter, the Danish Mary, established contact and crash-landed ahead of her. Mary's radio was out of order, so that it wasn't until six days later when the boat reached Scotland that word was received that they were safe. The wheels from the undercarriage, jettisoned soon after takeoff were later recovered by local fishermen and are now in the Newfoundland Museum in St. John's
.
First non-stop transatlantic flight: June 14–15, 1919. Capt. John Alcock
and Lieut. Arthur Whitten Brown
of the United Kingdom in Vickers Vimy
bomber
, between islands, 1960 nautical miles (3,629.9 km), from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden
, Ireland, in 16h 12m.
First east-to-west transatlantic flight: 2 July 1919 Major George Herbert Scott
of the Royal Air Force
with his crew and passengers flies from RAF East Fortune
, Scotland
to Mineola, New York
(on Long Island
) in airship R34, covering a distance of about 3000 smi in about four and a half days. R34 then made the return trip to England arriving at RNAS Pulham
in 75 hours, thus also completing the first double crossing of the Atlantic (east-west-east).
First flight across the South Atlantic: March 30 - June 17, 1922. Lieutenant Commander Sacadura Cabral
and Commander Gago Coutinho
of Portugal, using three Fairey III
D floatplanes (Lusitania, Portugal, and Santa Cruz), after two ditchings, with only internal means of navigation (the Coutinho-invented sextant with artificial horizon) from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
.
First non-stop aircraft flight between European and American mainlands: October 1924. The zeppelin
ZR-3
(LZ-126), from Germany to New Jersey
with a crew commanded by Dr. Hugo Eckener
, covering a distance of about 4000 smi.
First flight across the South Atlantic made by a Non-European crew: April 28, 1927. Brazilian João Ribeiro de Barros
with the assistance of João Negrão (co-pilot), Newton Braga (navigator) and Vasco Cinquini (mechanic) crossed the Atlantic in the hydroplane Jahú. The four aviators departed from Genoa
, in Italy
, to Santo Amaro (São Paulo)
, making stops in Spain, Gibraltar
, Cabo Verde and Fernando de Noronha
, in the Brazilian territory.
Disappearance of The White Bird: May 8–9, 1927. Charles Nungesser
and François Coli
attempted to cross the Atlantic from Paris to the USA in a Levasseur
PL-8 biplane The White Bird
(L'Oiseau Blanc), but were lost. Wreckage was found off the coast off the island of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon near the southern coast of Newfoundland.
First solo transatlantic flight and first non-stop fixed-wing aircraft flight between America and mainland Europe: May 20–21, 1927. Charles A. Lindbergh flies Ryan
monoplane
(named Spirit of St. Louis
), 3600 nautical miles (6,667.2 km), from Long Island
(New York) to Paris
, in 33½ hours. The flight was timed by the Longines
watch company.
First transatlantic air passenger: June 4–5, 1927. The first transatlantic air passenger was Charles A. Levine. He was carried as a passenger by Clarence D. Chamberlin from Roosevelt Field, New York, to Eisleben
, Germany, in a Wright-powered Bellanca.
First non-stop air crossing of the South Atlantic: October 14–15, 1927 - Dieudonne Costes
and Joseph le Brix, flying a Breguet 19
from Senegal
to Brazil
.
First non-stop fixed-wing aircraft westbound flight over the North Atlantic: April 12–13, 1928. Gunther von Huenfeld and Capt. Hermann Köhl
of Germany and Comdr. James Fitzmaurice
of Ireland fly a Junkers W33 monoplane (named Bremen
), 2070 smi, from Baldonnell near Dublin, Ireland to Labrador
, in 36½ hours.
First crossing of the Atlantic by a woman: June 17–18, 1928 - Amelia Earhart
. The aircraft was piloted by Wilmer Stultz
and since most of the flight was on instruments for which Earhart had no training, she did not pilot the aircraft. Interviewed after landing, she said, "Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes. Maybe someday I'll try it alone."
Notable flight (around the world
): August 1-August 8, 1929. In making the circumnavigation, Dr Hugo Eckener piloted the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
across the Atlantic three times: from Germany 4391 smi east to west in 4 days from August 1; return 4391 smi west to east in 2 days from August 8; after completing the circumnavigation to Lakehurst
a final 4391 smi west to east landing 4 September, making three crossings in 34 days.
First scheduled transatlantic passenger flights: From 1931 onwards the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin operated the world's first scheduled transatlantic passenger flights, mainly between Germany and Brazil (64 such round trips overall) sometimes stopping in Spain, Miami, London
, and Berlin
.
First nonstop east-to-west fixed-wing aircraft flight between European and American mainlands: September 1–2, 1930. Dieudonne Costes
and Maurice Bellonte fly a Breguet 19
Super Bidon biplane (named Point d'Interrogation, Question Mark), 6,200 km from Paris to New York City.
Notable flight (around the world): June 23-July 1, 1931. Wiley Post
and Harold Gatty
in a Lockheed Vega
monoplane (named Winnie Mae), 15,477 nm (28,663 km) from Long Island in 8d 15h 51m, with 14 stops, total flying time 107h 2m.
First solo crossing of the Atlantic by a woman: May 20, 1932 - Amelia Earhart. Earhart set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, intending to fly to Paris in her single engine Lockheed Vega 5b to emulate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight. After a flight lasting 14h 56m, Earhart landed in a pasture at Culmore
, north of Derry
, Northern Ireland
.
First solo westbound crossing of the Atlantic: August 18–19, 1932. Jim Mollison
, flying a de Havilland Puss Moth
from Dublin to New Brunswick
Lightest (empty weight) plane that crossed the Atlantic: May 7–8, 1933. Stanisław Skarżyński makes a solo flight across the South Atlantic, covering 3582 kilometres (2,225.8 mi), in a RWD-5
bis - empty weight below 450 kilograms (992.1 lb). If considering the total takeoff weight (as per FAI records) then there is a longer distance Atlantic crossing: the distance world record holder, Piper PA-24 Comanche
in this class, 1000–1750 kg. http://records.fai.org/documents.asp?from=general_aviation&id=10921|FAI.
Mass flight: mass transatlantic flight: July 1–15, 1933. Gen. Italo Balbo
of Italy leads 24 Savoia-Marchetti S.55
X seaplane
s 6100 smi, from Orbetello
, Italy, to Chicago
, Illinois, in 47h 52m.
First around the world solo flight: July 15–22, 1933. Wiley Post flies Lockheed Vega monoplane Winnie Mae 15596 smi in 7d 8h 49m, with 11 stops; flying time, 115h 36mi.
First transatlantic passenger service on heavier-than air aircraft: Pan American inaugurated transatlantic passenger service using Boeing 314
flying boats on June 24, 1939 between New York and Marseilles, France. On July 8, 1939 a service began between New York and Southampton
as well. A single fare was US$375 — equivalent to $5,300 today. Scheduled landplane flights started in October 1945.
First transatlantic flight of non-rigid airships: On June 1, 1944, two K class blimp
s from Blimp Squadron 14 of the United States Navy
(USN) completed the first transatlantic crossing by non-rigid airships
. The two K-ships (K-123 and K-130) left South Weymouth, Massachusetts
, on May 28, 1944, and flew approximately 16 hours to Naval Station Argentia
, Newfoundland. From Argentia, the blimps flew approximately 22 hours to Lajes Field
on Terceira Island
in the Azores. The final leg of the first transatlantic crossing was about a 20-hour flight from the Azores to Craw Field in Port Lyautey (Kenitra
), French Morocco
.
First jet aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean: July 14, 1948, six de Havilland Vampire
F3s of No. 54 Squadron RAF, commanded by Wing Commander
D S Wilson-MacDonald, DSO, DFC, flew via Stornoway, Iceland
, and Labrador to Montreal
on the first leg of a goodwill tour of Canada and the US.
First jet aircraft to make a non-stop transatlantic flight: February 21, 1951. An RAF English Electric Canberra B Mk 2
(serial number
WD932) flown by Squadron Leader
A Callard, from Aldergrove Northern Ireland, to Gander
, Newfoundland. The flight covered almost 1800 nautical miles (3,333.6 km) in 4h 37 m. The aircraft was being flown to the U.S. to act as a pattern aircraft for the Martin B-57 Canberra.
First jet aircraft transatlantic passenger service: British Overseas Airways Corporation
(BOAC) flew the first jet airliner
service using the de Havilland Comet
, when G-APDC
initiated the first transatlantic Comet 4 service and the first scheduled transatlantic passenger jet service in history, flying from London to New York with a stopover at Gander on 4 October 1958.
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
or Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and terminating in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
or South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east. Such flights have been accomplished by fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
, airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s, balloon
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
s and other devices.
The Atlantic Ocean stood as a significant obstacle to the aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
pioneers of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The first aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
s did not have sufficient reliability necessary for the crossing, nor sufficient power to lift the required fuel. Additionally, there are difficulties navigating over featureless expanses of water for thousands of miles, and the weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
, especially in the North Atlantic Ocean is often unpredictable and violent. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, transatlantic flight has been routine and common, for commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
, diplomatic
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
, and other purposes. Experimental flights (in balloons, small aircraft, etc.) still present technological challenges for transatlantic fliers.
First transatlantic flight
Between May 8 and May 31, 1919, the Curtiss seaplane, NC-4NC-4
The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat which was designed by Glenn Curtiss and his team, and manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. In May 1919, the NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, starting in the United States and making the crossing as far as Lisbon,...
made a crossing of the Atlantic flying from the U.S. to Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
, then to the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
and on to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and finally the UK. The whole journey took 23 days. NC-4 was the only one of the three United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
aircraft to set out that completed the journey. The journey had been organised by the Navy to include crew rest, aircraft maintenance and repair and refuelling, and had been supported by a trail of 22 "station ships" across the Atlantic giving the aircraft points to navigate by.
British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
aviators Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919. They flew a modified World War I Vickers Vimy
Vickers Vimy
The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft of the First World War and post-First World War era. It achieved success as both a military and civil aircraft, setting several notable records in long-distance flights in the interwar period, the most celebrated of which was the first non-stop...
bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
, to Clifden
Clifden
Clifden is a town on the coast of County Galway, Ireland and being Connemara's largest town, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". It is located on the Owenglen River where it flows into Clifden Bay...
, Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
, County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
presented them with the Daily Mail prize
Daily Mail aviation prizes
Between 1907 and 1925 the Daily Mail newspaper, initially on the initiative of its proprietor Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, awarded numerous prizes for achievements in aviation. The newspaper would stipulate the amount of a prize for the first aviators to perform a particular task in...
for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
in "less than 72 consecutive hours" and they were knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
.
First intercontinental passenger airship flight
On October 11, 1928, Dr. Eckener, commanding the Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
as part of DELAG
DELAG
DELAG, an acronym from was the world's first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service. It was founded on November 16, 1909 with government assistance, and operated airships manufactured by Zeppelin Corporation...
's operations, began the first non-stop transatlantic passenger flights, leaving Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen
This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...
, Germany, at 07:54 on October 11, 1928, and arriving at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, on October 15. Thereafter, DELAG used both the LZ 127 and LZ 129 for regular scheduled passenger services across the Atlantic until 1937.
By balloon
Fourteen attempts at crossing the Atlantic by balloon were known to be made before the first successful one, with the Double Eagle IIDouble Eagle II
Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours 6 minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine....
, was completed from Presque Isle, Maine
Presque Isle, Maine
Presque Isle is the commercial center and largest city in the sparsely populated Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,692 at the 2010 census...
, to Miserey
Miserey
Miserey is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:...
, near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1978, long after airplanes were already making transatlantic flights.
The first ideas of transatlantic flight came about during the mid-nineteenth century period of ballooning
Ballooning
Ballooning may refer to:* Hot air ballooning* Balloon * Ballooning * Ballooning degeneration...
. The best-known balloonists in the world were the Americans John Wise
John Wise (balloonist)
John Wise was a pioneer in the field of ballooning. He made over 400 flights during his lifetime and was responsible for several innovations in balloon design...
, John LaMountain and Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt Lowe , also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, was an American Civil War aeronaut, scientist and inventor, mostly self-educated in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and aeronautics, and the father of military aerial reconnaissance in the United States...
. The balloons of the period were inflated with coke gas, a moderate lifting medium compared to hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
or helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
, but with enough lift to obtain the high winds in the atmosphere that would later be known as the Jet Stream
Jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on Earth are westerly winds...
.
In 1859 John Wise had built an enormous aerostat that he appropriately named the Atlantic. He invited John LaMountain and a few other passengers to join them at a start point in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Though intended to cross the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, the flight, only lasting a little less than a day ended caught in a sudden windstorm over Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
and crash-landing in Henderson, New York
Henderson, New York
Henderson is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,360 at the 2010 census. The town is named after William Henderson, the original land owner....
. Neither Wise nor LaMountain ever attempted a transatlantic flight again.
Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, with a little more scientific approach to an Atlantic crossing prepared a massive balloon of 725000 cubic feet (20,529.7 m³) called the City of New York to take off from Philadelphia at a proper season during 1860. He even equipped the rig with a small escape boat towed under the gondola should anything go awry over the ocean. Defeating circumstances, most of them outside the realm of aeronautics, caused postponements until the best time of year ran out. Lowe opted to wait for mid 1861 to attempt the flight, but upon a suggestion from Prof. Joseph Henry
Joseph Henry
Joseph Henry was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as a founding member of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smithsonian Institution. During his lifetime, he was highly regarded...
at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
Lowe took the smaller balloon Enterprise
Enterprise (balloon)
The Enterprise was a gas inflated aerostat built by Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe along with his father Clovis Lowe in 1858. It was the second balloon built by Lowe at his Hoboken, N.J. facility and named with the express approval of his wife Leontine because of the money and time they put into...
to Cincinnati for a test flight that would return him to the East Coast. The flight, which took off two days after the beginning of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, went well short of the fact that Lowe ended up in Confederate South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Upon returning home he was summoned by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...
to bring his balloon to Washington, D.C. Lowe ended up as Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps
Union Army Balloon Corps
The Union Army Balloon Corps was a branch of the Union Army during the American Civil War, established by presidential appointee Thaddeus S. C. Lowe...
which all but ended any idea of his making a transatlantic flight.
By plane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
service for mail between South America and West Africa in the 1930s. From February 1934 to August 1939 Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and throughout the Third Reich.-1920s:Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded on 6 January 1926 in Berlin...
operated a regular airmail service between Natal, Brazil
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte
-History:The northeastern tip of South America, Cabo São Roque, to the north of Natal and the closest point to Europe from Latin America, was first visited by European navigators in 1501, in the 1501–1502 Portuguese expedition led by Amerigo Vespucci, who named the spot after the saint of the day...
, and Bathurst, The Gambia
Banjul
-Transport:Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of ECOWAS.Banjul International Airport...
, continuing via the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and Spain to Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Germany. From December 1935, Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
opened a regular weekly airmail route between South America and Africa. German airlines, such as Deutsche Luft Hansa, experimented with mail routes over the North Atlantic in the early 1930s, both with seaplanes and dirigibles.
The US was mainly concerned about Trans-Atlantic flight for the faster postal service between Europe and America. In 1931 W. Irving Glover, the second assistant postmaster, wrote an extensive article for Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
concerning the challenges and the need for such a regular service. In his article he even mentioned the use of aerial refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
after takeoff as a possible solution.
In 1931, the airship Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
began offering regular scheduled passenger service between Germany and South America which continued until 1937. Over its career Graf Zeppelin crossed the South Atlantic 136 times.http://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin/history In 1936, the airship Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
entered passenger service and successfully crossed the Atlantic 36 times before crashing at Lakehurst, New Jersey
Lakehurst, New Jersey
Lakehurst is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 2,654.Lakehurst was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 7, 1921, from portions of Manchester Township, based on the results of a...
, on May 6, 1937. http://www.airships.net/hindenburg
As technology progressed, Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
of the United States, Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East...
of Britain, Lufthansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and throughout the Third Reich.-1920s:Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded on 6 January 1926 in Berlin...
of Germany, and Aéropostale
Aéropostale (aviation)
Aéropostale was a pioneering aviation company. It was founded in 1918 in Toulouse, France, as Société des lignes Latécoère, also known as Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère or simply "The Line" .- History :Aéropostale founder Pierre-Georges Latécoère envisioned an air route connecting France to the...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, began to use flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s to connect the Americas to Europe via Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and the Azores during the 1930s. A main reason for using flying boats was the lack of runways long enough to allow large airplanes to take off and land. On 26 March 1939, Pan American made its first trial transatlantic flight from Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland, to Foynes
Foynes
Foynes is a village and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 606 as of the 2006 census.-Foynes's role in aviation:...
, Ireland, using a Boeing 314
Boeing 314
The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941 and is comparable to the British Short S.26. One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary...
(named Yankee Clipper
Yankee Clipper
Yankee Clipper can refer to:* Clipper ships developed by New Englanders in the mid-19th Century* A Pan American Airways Boeing 314 flying boat* The nickname of Joe DiMaggio, a Major League Baseball player* The Apollo 12 command module...
by PanAm) with a scheduled flight time of about 29 hours.http://www.clipperflyingboats.com/transatlantic-airline-service
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the crossing of the Atlantic by air became much more commonplace with the instigation of RAF Ferry Command
RAF Ferry Command
The RAF Ferry Command had a short life, but it spawned, in part, an organisation that lasted well beyond the war years during which it was formed.-History:...
, whose purpose was to deliver US- and Canadian-built combat aircraft to the United Kingdom, flying from Gander
CFB Gander
Canadian Forces Base Gander , is a Canadian Forces Base located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is home to air/marine search and rescue operations that cover a vast swath of the western North Atlantic and southern Arctic...
, Newfoundland, to Prestwick in Scotland. Over the course of the war, more than 9,000 aircraft were ferried
Ferry flying
Ferry flying refers to delivery flights for the purpose of returning an aircraft to base, moving an aircraft from one base of operations to another or moving an aircraft to or from a maintenance facility for repairs, overhaul or other work.-Ferry permit:...
across the ocean. The Atlantic Division of the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its mission was to meet the urgent demand for the speedy reinforcement of the United States' military bases worldwide during World War II, using an air supply system to supplement surface transport...
ferried aircraft and carried supplies and passengers from the USA to the British Isles. By the end of the war, crossing the Atlantic had become a routine operation, presaging the inauguration of scheduled commercial air transport services after the war.
After World War II long runways were available, and American, Canadian and European carriers such as Pan Am
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
, TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
, Trans Canada Airlines (TCA), BOAC
Boac
Boac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...
, and Air France acquired larger piston aircraft, which allowed service over the North Atlantic with intermediate stops (usually in Gander
Gander International Airport
Gander International Airport is located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and is currently run by the Gander Airport Authority. Canadian Forces Base Gander shares the airfield but is a separate entity from the airport.-Early years and prominence:...
, Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
and/or Shannon, Ireland). Scheduled jet flights began in October 1958, and supersonic service (Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
) was offered from 1976 to 2003. Since the loosening of regulations in the 1970s and 1980s, a large number of airlines now compete in the transatlantic market.
Transatlantic routes
Unlike over land, transatlantic flights use standardized aircraft routes called North Atlantic TracksNorth Atlantic Tracks
North Atlantic Tracks are trans-Atlantic routes that stretch from the northeast of North America to western Europe across the Atlantic Ocean. They ensure aircraft are separated over the ocean, where there is little radar coverage...
(NATs). These change daily in position (although altitudes are standardised) to compensate for weather—particularly the jet stream
Jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on Earth are westerly winds...
tailwind
Tailwind
A tailwind is a wind that blows in the direction of travel of an object, while a headwind blows against the direction of travel. A tailwind increases the object's speed and reduces the time required to reach its destination, while a headwind has the opposite effect...
s and headwinds, which may be substantial at cruising altitudes and have a strong influence on trip duration and fuel economy. Eastbound flights generally operate during night-time hours, while westbound flights generally operate during daytime hours, for passenger convenience. For European readers it should be mentioned that the "Eastbound Flow", as it is called, generally makes European landfall from about 0600UT to 0900UT. The westbound flow generally operates within a 1200–1500UT time-slot. Restrictions on how far a given aircraft may be from an airport also play a part in determining its route; in the past, airliners with three or more engines were not restricted, but a twin-engine airliner was required to stay within a certain distance of airports that could accommodate it (since a single engine failure in a four-engine aircraft is less crippling than a single engine failure in a twin). Modern aircraft with two engines flying transatlantic have to be ETOPS certified.
Gaps in air traffic control and radar coverage over large stretches of the Earth's oceans, as well as an absence of most types of radio navigation aids, impose a requirement for a high level of autonomy in navigation upon transatlantic flights. Aircraft must include reliable systems that can determine the aircraft's course and position with great accuracy over long distances. In addition to the traditional compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
, inertial
Inertial navigation system
An inertial navigation system is a navigation aid that uses a computer, motion sensors and rotation sensors to continuously calculate via dead reckoning the position, orientation, and velocity of a moving object without the need for external references...
s and satellite navigation systems such as GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
all have their place in transatlantic navigation. Land-based systems such as VOR
VHF omnidirectional range
VOR, short for VHF omnidirectional radio range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. A VOR ground station broadcasts a VHF radio composite signal including the station's identifier, voice , and navigation signal. The identifier is typically a two- or three-letter string in Morse code...
and DME
Distance Measuring Equipment
Distance measuring equipment is a transponder-based radio navigation technology that measures distance by timing the propagation delay of VHF or UHF radio signals....
,because they operate "line of sight", are mostly useless for ocean crossings, except in initial and final legs within about 240 nautical miles (444.5 km) of those facilities. In the late 1950s and early 1960s an important facility for low-flying aircraft was the Radio Range. Inertial Nav. systems became prominent in the 1970s
Early notable transatlantic flights and attempts
Airship America failure: In October 1910, the American journalist, Walter WellmanWalter Wellman
Walter Wellman was an American journalist, explorer, and aëronaut, born at Mentor, Ohio, and educated in the public schools.- Biographical background :...
, who had in 1909 attempted to reach the North Pole by balloon, set out for Europe from Atlantic City in a dirigible, America
America (airship)
The America was a non-rigid airship built by Mutin Godard in France in 1906 for Walter Wellman's attempt to reach the North Pole by air. Wellman had been inspired to fly to the pole during a failed overland attempt in 1893. When he saw a French dirigible at the Portsmouth Peace Conference in 1905,...
. A storm off Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
sent him off course, and then engine failure forced him to ditch half way between New York and Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. Wellman, his crew of five – and the balloon’s cat – were rescued by RMS Trent
RMS Trent
RMS Trent was a British Royal Mail paddle steamer built in 1841 by William Pitcher of Northfleet for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She measured 1,856 gross tons and could carry 60 passengers....
, a passing British ship. The Atlantic bid failed, but the distance covered, about 1000 smi, was at the time a record for a dirigible.
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer that went public in 1916 with Glenn Hammond Curtiss as president. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States...
NC-4
NC-4
The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat which was designed by Glenn Curtiss and his team, and manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. In May 1919, the NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, starting in the United States and making the crossing as far as Lisbon,...
flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
under the command of Albert Read
Albert Cushing Read
Albert Cushing "Putty" Read was an aviator and Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.-Biography:Read was born in Lyme, New Hampshire into a Boston Brahmin family. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, graduating in the Class of 1907. In 1915, he was designated Naval Aviator No. 24.As...
, flew 4526 smi from Rockaway, New York, to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
(England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
), via inter alia
Inter Alia
-Track listing:# Inter Alia# Outfox'd # Righteous Badass # The Altogether feat. Bix, Apt, UNIVERSE ARM and Cal# The Day-to-Daily# Trouble Brewing # The Prestidigitator# The Force...
Trepassey (Newfoundland), Horta
Horta (Azores)
Horta is a single municipality and city in the western part of the Archipealgo of the Azores, encompassing the island of Faial. Horta has a population of about approximately 15,038 people and an area of 173.1 square kilometers. The population density is about 88 persons per square kilometer...
and Ponta Delgada (both Azores) and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
(Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
) in 53h 58m, spread over 23 days. The crossing from Newfoundland to the European mainland had taken 10 days 22 hours, with the total time in flight of 26h 46m. The longest non-stop leg of the journey, from Trepassey, Newfoundland, to Horta in the Azores, was 1200 smi and lasted 15h 18m.
Sopwith Atlantic failure: On 18 May 1919, the Australian Harry Hawker
Harry Hawker
Harry George Hawker MBE, AFC, was an Australian aviation pioneer and co-founder of Hawker Aircraft, the firm that would later be responsible for a long series of successful military aircraft.-Early life:...
, together with navigator Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve, attempted to become the first to achieve a non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. They set off from Mount Pearl
Mount Pearl
Mount Pearl is the second largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The city is located southwest of St. John's, on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. Mount Pearl is part of the St...
, Newfoundland, in the Sopwith Atlantic
Sopwith Atlantic
|-See also:-References:*"". Flight, 5 April 1913. p. 393.*"". Flight, 21 November 1918. p. 1316.*"". Flight, 10 April 1919. pp. 476–480.*"". Flight, 17 April 1919, pp. 503–505....
biplane. After fourteen and a half hours of flight the engine overheated and they were forced to divert towards the shipping lanes: they found a passing freighter, the Danish Mary, established contact and crash-landed ahead of her. Mary's radio was out of order, so that it wasn't until six days later when the boat reached Scotland that word was received that they were safe. The wheels from the undercarriage, jettisoned soon after takeoff were later recovered by local fishermen and are now in the Newfoundland Museum in St. John's
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
.
John Alcock (aviator)
Sir John William Alcock KBE, DSC was a Captain in the Royal Air Force who, together with navigator Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, piloted the first non-stop transatlantic flight from St. John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland.-Biography:Jack Alcock was born on 5 November 1892 at...
and Lieut. Arthur Whitten Brown
Arthur Whitten Brown
Sir Arthur Whitten Brown KBE was the navigator of the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight.-Life and work:...
of the United Kingdom in Vickers Vimy
Vickers Vimy
The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft of the First World War and post-First World War era. It achieved success as both a military and civil aircraft, setting several notable records in long-distance flights in the interwar period, the most celebrated of which was the first non-stop...
bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
, between islands, 1960 nautical miles (3,629.9 km), from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden
Clifden
Clifden is a town on the coast of County Galway, Ireland and being Connemara's largest town, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". It is located on the Owenglen River where it flows into Clifden Bay...
, Ireland, in 16h 12m.
First east-to-west transatlantic flight: 2 July 1919 Major George Herbert Scott
George Herbert Scott
Major George Herbert Scott, CBE, AFC, was a pioneering British airship pilot and engineer. After serving in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force during World War I, Scott went on to command the airship R34 on its return Atlantic crossing in 1919, which marked the first transatlantic...
of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
with his crew and passengers flies from RAF East Fortune
RAF East Fortune
RAF East Fortune is a former RAF station, just south of the village of East Fortune in East Lothian, Scotland. The motto of the station was "Fortune Favours the Bold"....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Mineola, New York
Mineola, New York
Mineola is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a Native American word meaning a "pleasant place"....
(on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
) in airship R34, covering a distance of about 3000 smi in about four and a half days. R34 then made the return trip to England arriving at RNAS Pulham
RNAS Pulham
RNAS Pulham was an Royal Navy Air Service airship station, south of Norwich, UK. Though land was purchased by the Navy in 1912 the site was not operational until 1915...
in 75 hours, thus also completing the first double crossing of the Atlantic (east-west-east).
First flight across the South Atlantic: March 30 - June 17, 1922. Lieutenant Commander Sacadura Cabral
Sacadura Cabral
Artur de Sacadura Freire Cabral, GCTE , known simply as Sacadura Cabral , was a Portuguese aviation pioneer who in 1922, together with Gago Coutinho , conducted the first flight across the South Atlantic Ocean, and also the first using astronomical navigation only, from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de...
and Commander Gago Coutinho
Gago Coutinho
Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho, GCTE, GCC, generally known simply as Gago Coutinho was a Portuguese aviation pioneer who, together with Sacadura Cabral , was the first to cross the South Atlantic Ocean by air, from March to June 1922 , from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.The Fairey IIIB seaplane used by...
of Portugal, using three Fairey III
Fairey III
The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants...
D floatplanes (Lusitania, Portugal, and Santa Cruz), after two ditchings, with only internal means of navigation (the Coutinho-invented sextant with artificial horizon) from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
First non-stop aircraft flight between European and American mainlands: October 1924. The zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
ZR-3
USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)
The second USS Los Angeles was a rigid airship, designated ZR-3, that was built in 1923-1924 by the Zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where it was originally designated LZ-126...
(LZ-126), from Germany to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
with a crew commanded by Dr. Hugo Eckener
Hugo Eckener
Dr. Hugo Eckener was the manager of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin during the inter-war years, and was commander of the famous Graf Zeppelin for most of its record-setting flights, including the first airship flight around the world, making him the most successful airship commander in history...
, covering a distance of about 4000 smi.
First flight across the South Atlantic made by a Non-European crew: April 28, 1927. Brazilian João Ribeiro de Barros
João Ribeiro de Barros
João Ribeiro de Barros was the first aviator of the three Americas to make an air crossing from Europe to America, on April 28, 1927, crossing the Atlantic Ocean with the Savoia-Marchetti S.55 hydroplane Jahú. On his flight, he had the company of three others: João Negrão , Newton Braga and Vasco...
with the assistance of João Negrão (co-pilot), Newton Braga (navigator) and Vasco Cinquini (mechanic) crossed the Atlantic in the hydroplane Jahú. The four aviators departed from Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, to Santo Amaro (São Paulo)
Santo Amaro (São Paulo)
Santo Amaro is a district in the subprefecture of the same name of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It was formerly a separate municipality until 1933, when it was incorporated to the municipality of São Paulo.It is located in the southern area of the city...
, making stops in Spain, Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, Cabo Verde and Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago of 21 islands and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, offshore from the Brazilian coast. The main island has an area of and had a population of 3,012 in the year 2010...
, in the Brazilian territory.
Disappearance of The White Bird: May 8–9, 1927. Charles Nungesser
Charles Nungesser
Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser, MC was a French ace pilot and adventurer, best remembered as a rival of Charles Lindbergh...
and François Coli
François Coli
François Coli was a French pilot and navigator best known as the flying partner of Charles Nungesser in the doomed attempt to fly the Atlantic Ocean on the aircraft known as The White Bird....
attempted to cross the Atlantic from Paris to the USA in a Levasseur
Pierre Levasseur (aircraft builder)
Pierre Levasseur was a French aircraft manufacturer. He produced aircraft for the French Navy.François Denhaut was the chief pilot of Pierre Levasseur's flying school...
PL-8 biplane The White Bird
The White Bird
The White Bird was a French biplane which disappeared in 1927, during an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight between Paris and New York...
(L'Oiseau Blanc), but were lost. Wreckage was found off the coast off the island of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon near the southern coast of Newfoundland.
First solo transatlantic flight and first non-stop fixed-wing aircraft flight between America and mainland Europe: May 20–21, 1927. Charles A. Lindbergh flies Ryan
Ryan Aeronautical Company
The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California in 1934. Part of Teledyne after 1969, Northrop Grumman purchased Teledyne Ryan in 1999...
monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
(named Spirit of St. Louis
Spirit of St. Louis
The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt...
), 3600 nautical miles (6,667.2 km), from Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
(New York) to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, in 33½ hours. The flight was timed by the Longines
Longines
Longines is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. The company was originally founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832 and it currently holds the oldest registered logo for a watch company . Longines is currently owned by the Swatch Group.Longines is known for its 'Aviators' watches...
watch company.
First transatlantic air passenger: June 4–5, 1927. The first transatlantic air passenger was Charles A. Levine. He was carried as a passenger by Clarence D. Chamberlin from Roosevelt Field, New York, to Eisleben
Eisleben
Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as the hometown of Martin Luther, hence its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. As of 2005, Eisleben had a population of 24,552...
, Germany, in a Wright-powered Bellanca.
First non-stop air crossing of the South Atlantic: October 14–15, 1927 - Dieudonne Costes
Dieudonne Costes
Dieudonné Costes was a French aviator, well-known for long distance and record breaking flights, as well as being a fighter ace during World War I.-Life:...
and Joseph le Brix, flying a Breguet 19
Breguet 19
The Breguet 19 was a light bomber and reconnaissance plane, also used for long-distance flights, designed by the French Breguet company and produced from 1924.-Development:...
from Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
First non-stop fixed-wing aircraft westbound flight over the North Atlantic: April 12–13, 1928. Gunther von Huenfeld and Capt. Hermann Köhl
Hermann Köhl
Hermann Köhl was a German Aviation pioneer and pilot of the first trans-atlantic flight in the East-West direction....
of Germany and Comdr. James Fitzmaurice
James Fitzmaurice (pilot)
James Fitzmaurice DFC was an Irish aviation pioneer. He was a member of the crew of the Bremen, which made the first successful Trans-Atlantic aircraft flight from East to West on 12–13 April 1928.-Early life:...
of Ireland fly a Junkers W33 monoplane (named Bremen
Bremen (aircraft)
The Bremen is a German Junkers W33 type aircraft that made the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west between April 12 and April 14, 1928....
), 2070 smi, from Baldonnell near Dublin, Ireland to Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
, in 36½ hours.
First crossing of the Atlantic by a woman: June 17–18, 1928 - Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
. The aircraft was piloted by Wilmer Stultz
Wilmer Stultz
Wilmer Stultz was born in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania. He was a pioneering pilot. On March 5, 1928, Stultz, Oliver Colin LeBoutillier and Mabel Boll on a improvised seat, made the first non-stop flight in the Columbia between New York City and Havana, Cuba. Stultz was the pilot on June 18, 1928...
and since most of the flight was on instruments for which Earhart had no training, she did not pilot the aircraft. Interviewed after landing, she said, "Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes. Maybe someday I'll try it alone."
Notable flight (around the world
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
): August 1-August 8, 1929. In making the circumnavigation, Dr Hugo Eckener piloted the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
across the Atlantic three times: from Germany 4391 smi east to west in 4 days from August 1; return 4391 smi west to east in 2 days from August 8; after completing the circumnavigation to Lakehurst
Lakehurst, New Jersey
Lakehurst is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 2,654.Lakehurst was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 7, 1921, from portions of Manchester Township, based on the results of a...
a final 4391 smi west to east landing 4 September, making three crossings in 34 days.
First scheduled transatlantic passenger flights: From 1931 onwards the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin operated the world's first scheduled transatlantic passenger flights, mainly between Germany and Brazil (64 such round trips overall) sometimes stopping in Spain, Miami, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
First nonstop east-to-west fixed-wing aircraft flight between European and American mainlands: September 1–2, 1930. Dieudonne Costes
Dieudonne Costes
Dieudonné Costes was a French aviator, well-known for long distance and record breaking flights, as well as being a fighter ace during World War I.-Life:...
and Maurice Bellonte fly a Breguet 19
Breguet 19
The Breguet 19 was a light bomber and reconnaissance plane, also used for long-distance flights, designed by the French Breguet company and produced from 1924.-Development:...
Super Bidon biplane (named Point d'Interrogation, Question Mark), 6,200 km from Paris to New York City.
Notable flight (around the world): June 23-July 1, 1931. Wiley Post
Wiley Post
Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's...
and Harold Gatty
Harold Gatty
Harold Charles Gatty was an Australian navigator, inventor, and aviation pioneer...
in a Lockheed Vega
Lockheed Vega
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Allen, Richard Sanders. Revolution in the Sky: Those Fabulous Lockheeds, The Pilots Who Flew Them. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1964....
monoplane (named Winnie Mae), 15,477 nm (28,663 km) from Long Island in 8d 15h 51m, with 14 stops, total flying time 107h 2m.
First solo crossing of the Atlantic by a woman: May 20, 1932 - Amelia Earhart. Earhart set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, intending to fly to Paris in her single engine Lockheed Vega 5b to emulate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight. After a flight lasting 14h 56m, Earhart landed in a pasture at Culmore
Culmore
Culmore is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is between Derry and Muff, at the mouth of the River Foyle. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,960 people.- History :...
, north of Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
First solo westbound crossing of the Atlantic: August 18–19, 1932. Jim Mollison
Jim Mollison
James Allan Mollison was a famous Scottish pioneer aviator who set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930s.-Early years:...
, flying a de Havilland Puss Moth
De Havilland Puss Moth
|-See also:-References:* Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 . London, Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10010-7-External links:*...
from Dublin to New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
Lightest (empty weight) plane that crossed the Atlantic: May 7–8, 1933. Stanisław Skarżyński makes a solo flight across the South Atlantic, covering 3582 kilometres (2,225.8 mi), in a RWD-5
RWD-5
|-See also:-References:* , retrieved on 2008-07-06.* Glass, Andrzej: "Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939" , WKiŁ, Warsaw 1977...
bis - empty weight below 450 kilograms (992.1 lb). If considering the total takeoff weight (as per FAI records) then there is a longer distance Atlantic crossing: the distance world record holder, Piper PA-24 Comanche
Piper PA-24 Comanche
The Piper PA-24 Comanche is a four-seat, low-wing, all-metal, light aircraft of monocoque construction with retractable landing gear that was first flown in May 1956 according to a Piper Aircraft Company press release...
in this class, 1000–1750 kg. http://records.fai.org/documents.asp?from=general_aviation&id=10921|FAI.
Mass flight: mass transatlantic flight: July 1–15, 1933. Gen. Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo was an Italian Blackshirt leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.After serving in...
of Italy leads 24 Savoia-Marchetti S.55
Savoia-Marchetti S.55
|-References:NotesBibliography* Yenne, Bill. Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age. New York: BCL Press, 2003. ISBN 1-932302-03-4.-External links:* *...
X seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
s 6100 smi, from Orbetello
Orbetello
Orbetello is a town and comune in the province of Grosseto , Italy. It is located c. 35 km south of Grosseto, on the eponymous lagoon, which is home to an important Natural Reserve.-History:...
, Italy, to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois, in 47h 52m.
First around the world solo flight: July 15–22, 1933. Wiley Post flies Lockheed Vega monoplane Winnie Mae 15596 smi in 7d 8h 49m, with 11 stops; flying time, 115h 36mi.
First transatlantic passenger service on heavier-than air aircraft: Pan American inaugurated transatlantic passenger service using Boeing 314
Boeing 314
The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941 and is comparable to the British Short S.26. One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary...
flying boats on June 24, 1939 between New York and Marseilles, France. On July 8, 1939 a service began between New York and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
as well. A single fare was US$375 — equivalent to $5,300 today. Scheduled landplane flights started in October 1945.
First transatlantic flight of non-rigid airships: On June 1, 1944, two K class blimp
K class blimp
The K-class non-rigid airship was a class of blimps built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy. These blimps were powered by two radial air-cooled engines mounted on outriggers on the side of the control car that hung under the envelope...
s from Blimp Squadron 14 of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
(USN) completed the first transatlantic crossing by non-rigid airships
Blimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...
. The two K-ships (K-123 and K-130) left South Weymouth, Massachusetts
Naval Air Station South Weymouth
Naval Air Station South Weymouth, or SOWEY as it is sometimes known, was an operational United States Navy airfield from 1942 to 1997. It was first established as a regular Navy blimp base during World War II...
, on May 28, 1944, and flew approximately 16 hours to Naval Station Argentia
Naval Station Argentia
Naval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941-1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Canadian province .-Construction:Established under the British-U.S...
, Newfoundland. From Argentia, the blimps flew approximately 22 hours to Lajes Field
Lajes Field
Lajes Field or Lajes Air Base , officially designated Air Base No. 4 , is a multi-use air field, home to the Portuguese Air Force Base Aérea Nº4 and Azores Air Zone Command , a United States Air Force detachment , and a regional air passenger terminal located near Lajes...
on Terceira Island
Terceira Island
Referred to as the “Ilha Lilás” , Terceira is an island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 56,000 inhabitants in an area of approximately 396.75 km²...
in the Azores. The final leg of the first transatlantic crossing was about a 20-hour flight from the Azores to Craw Field in Port Lyautey (Kenitra
Kenitra
Kenitra is a city in Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey. It is a port on the Sebou River, has a population in 2004 of 359,142 and is the capital of the Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen region. During the Cold War Kenitra's U.S...
), French Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
First jet aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean: July 14, 1948, six de Havilland Vampire
De Havilland Vampire
The de Havilland DH.100 Vampire was a British jet-engine fighter commissioned by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Following the Gloster Meteor, it was the second jet fighter to enter service with the RAF. Although it arrived too late to see combat during the war, the Vampire served...
F3s of No. 54 Squadron RAF, commanded by Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
D S Wilson-MacDonald, DSO, DFC, flew via Stornoway, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, and Labrador to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on the first leg of a goodwill tour of Canada and the US.
First jet aircraft to make a non-stop transatlantic flight: February 21, 1951. An RAF English Electric Canberra B Mk 2
English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...
(serial number
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
WD932) flown by Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
A Callard, from Aldergrove Northern Ireland, to Gander
Gander International Airport
Gander International Airport is located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and is currently run by the Gander Airport Authority. Canadian Forces Base Gander shares the airfield but is a separate entity from the airport.-Early years and prominence:...
, Newfoundland. The flight covered almost 1800 nautical miles (3,333.6 km) in 4h 37 m. The aircraft was being flown to the U.S. to act as a pattern aircraft for the Martin B-57 Canberra.
First jet aircraft transatlantic passenger service: British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
(BOAC) flew the first jet airliner
Jet airliner
A jet airliner is an airliner that is powered by jet engines. This term is sometimes contracted to jetliner or jet.In contrast to today's relatively fuel-efficient, turbofan-powered air travel, first generation jet airliner travel was noisy and fuel inefficient...
service using the de Havilland Comet
De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at the Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, it first flew in 1949 and was a landmark in aeronautical design...
, when G-APDC
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
initiated the first transatlantic Comet 4 service and the first scheduled transatlantic passenger jet service in history, flying from London to New York with a stopover at Gander on 4 October 1958.
Other early transatlantic flights
- 29 June - 1 July 1927 - Admiral Richard ByrdRichard Evelyn ByrdRear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN was a naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics...
with crew flies Fokker F.VIIFokker F.VIIThe Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence....
a/3m AmericaAmerica (aircraft)The America was a trimotor Fokker C-2 monoplane that was flown in 1927 by Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen, George Otto Noville, and Bert Acosta on their transatlantic flight. For eight years after the first non-stop heavier than air Atlantic crossing by a British Vickers Vimy in 1919, there were no...
from New York City to France. - 13 July 1928 - Ludwik IdzikowskiLudwik IdzikowskiLudwik Idzikowski was a Polish military aviator. He died during a transatlantic flight trial.-Early life and service:Ludwik Idzikowski was born in Warsaw. He started mining studies in Liege, Belgium....
and Kazimierz Kubala attempt to crossing the Atlantic westbound from Paris to the USA in Amiot 123 biplane, but crash in the Azores. - 6–9 February 1933. Jim MollisonJim MollisonJames Allan Mollison was a famous Scottish pioneer aviator who set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930s.-Early years:...
flies a Puss Moth from SenegalSenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
to BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, across South Atlantic, becoming the first person to fly solo across the North and South Atlantics. - 15–17 July 1933 - LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
ns Steponas DariusSteponas DariusSteponas Darius was a Lithuanian-American pilot....
and Stasys GirėnasStasys GirenasStasys Girėnas was a Lithuanian-American pilot....
were supposed to make a non-stop flight from New York City via Newfoundland to KaunasKaunasKaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
on their plane named LituanicaLituanicaLituanica was an Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane flown from the United States across the Atlantic Ocean by Lithuanian-American pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas in 1933...
, but crashed in the forests of GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
after 6411 km of flying, only 650 km short of their final destination. Flying time 37 hours, 11 minutes. They carried the first transatlantic airmailAirmailAirmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
consignment. - 5 July 1937 - Captain Harold Gray of Pan Am flew from Botwood, Newfoundland to FoynesFoynesFoynes is a village and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 606 as of the 2006 census.-Foynes's role in aviation:...
, Ireland, in a Sikorsky S-42Sikorsky S-42|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Davies, R.E.G. Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft. New York: Orion Books, 1987. ISBN 0-517-56639-7....
flying boat as part of the first transatlantic commercial passenger test flights. Captain Arthur Wilcockson of Imperial Airways flew from Foynes to Botwood July 6, 1937 in a Short Empire classShort EmpireThe Short Empire was a passenger and mail carrying flying boat, of the 1930s and 1940s, that flew between Britain and British colonies in Africa, Asia and Australia...
flying boat named CaledoniaCaledoniaCaledonia is the Latinised form and name given by the Romans to the land in today's Scotland north of their province of Britannia, beyond the frontier of their empire... - 21 July 1938 Short MercuryShort Mayo CompositeThe Short Mayo Composite was a piggy-back long-range seaplane/flying boat combination produced by Short Brothers to provide a reliable long-range air transport service to the United States and the far reaches of the British Empire and the Commonwealth....
flew from Foynes, on the west coast of Ireland, to Boucherville, Montreal, Canada, a flight of 2930 smi. The Short Maia, flown by Captain A.S. Wilcockson, took off carrying Mercury (piloted by Captain, later Air Vice Marshal Don BennettDon BennettAir Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett CB CBE DSO RAF was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Force" from 1942 to the end of the Second World War in 1945...
), Mercury separating from the carrier aircraft to continue what was to become the first commercial non-stop East-to-West transatlantic flight by a heavier-than-air machine. This initial journey took 20 hrs 21 min at an average ground speed of 144 mph (232 km/h). - 10 August 1938 - first non-stop flight from Berlin to New York. The Focke-Wulf Fw 200Focke-Wulf Fw 200The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, also known as Kurier to the Allies was a German all-metal four-engine monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner...
flew StaakenStaakenStaaken is a locality at the western rim of Berlin within the borough of Spandau. In the west it shares border with the Brandenburg municipalities of Falkensee and Dallgow-Döberitz in the Havelland district. Buildings range from small detached houses in the west to larger 1960s and 1970s housing...
to Floyd Bennett in 24 hours, 56 minutes and did the return flight three days later in 19 hours, 47 minutes.
Notable transatlantic flights of the 21st century
- 22-23 September 2011 - Mike Blyth and Jean d'Assonville flew a Sling 4 prototype Light Sport Aircraft, registration ZU-TAF, non-stop from Cabo Frio International AirportCabo Frio International AirportCabo Frio International Airport is the airport serving Cabo Frio, Brazil.The airport is owned by the municipality of Cabo Frio and operated by the private company .-History:...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
to Cape Town International AirportCape Town International AirportCape Town International Airport is the primary airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second busiest airport in South Africa and third busiest in Africa. Located approximately from the city centre, the airport was opened in 1954 to replace Cape Town's previous airport in the suburb of...
, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, a distance of 6,222km, in 27 hours. The aircraft departed Cabo Frio carrying 760 litres of AvgasAvgasAvgas is an aviation fuel used to power piston-engine aircraft. Avgas is distinguished from mogas , which is the everyday gasoline used in cars and some non-commercial light aircraft...
and still had four hours reserve after landing in Cape Town. The crew set course for co-ordinates 34°S 31°W to take advantage of the westerly winds and at the turning point proceeded in an easterly direction, roughly following the 35°S parallel. This took them within 140km north of the most remote inhabited island in the world, Tristan da CunhaTristan da CunhaTristan da Cunha is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying from the nearest land, South Africa, and from South America...
. The crew were assisted with weather and wind information throughout the flight by a team member based in PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, South Africa. During the flight people from around the world monitored the aircraft's progress via an IndigoSat aircraft tracker on Google EarthGoogle EarthGoogle Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
with updates every 6 minutes. The Cabo Frio/Cape Town leg was part of an around the world flight.
External links
- Current North Atlantic Weather and Tracks
- How The Vampires Crossed - a 1948 FlightFlight InternationalFlight International is a global aerospace weekly publication produced in the UK. Founded in 1909, it is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine...
article on the first jet crossing of the Atlantic