From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Post-War Transatlantic Flight
In March 29th's edition of the World War I Centennial News Podcast, Episode 116, host Theo Mayer told the story of the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean; a tremendous feat made possible by innovations in the flight technology that resulted from The War That Changed the World.
Theo Mayer: We've been spending a lot of time looking at the political ramifications in aftermath of World War 1, some progressive and some not much so. But the aftermath of World War 1 also had profound effects on technology and new technology driven industries- take aerospace, for example. Throughout the history of powered flight there have been a host of prizes for achieving major milestones.
The modified Vickers Vimy bomber that carried Alcock and Brown across the Atlantic Ocean in 1919
One of the biggest ever was offered to the first pilot to cross the Atlantic in a single jump. It was a British newspaper, The Daily Mail, who as early as 1913 offered a ten thousand pound sterling prize to accomplish this feat, the equivalent of a little more than a million dollars today.
Driven by World War 1, airplane technology progressed substantially so that by 1919 a whole bunch of adventuring sky pioneers were aiming for the prize. The shortest distance between North America and Europe is the route between Ireland and Newfoundland, but that requires flying into the predominant headwinds so the adventurers all shipped their planes to Newfoundland to fly the other way. The region got so crowded with aviators that when John Alcock and Arthur Brown, the guys who eventually won the prize, shipped their airplane to Newfoundland they couldn't find an open pasture to work in, at least not until one of the other teams failed.
It's interesting to remember that in 1919, all planes were open cockpit. That means cold, miserable and really uncomfortable conditions. It also means you had to fly low under the weather- yuck. These two pioneers converted a Vickers Vimy bomber, which had twin engines, and replaced the bomb-carrying capacity with extra fuel tanks.
On June 15, 1919, John Alcock and Arthur Brown flew into history and a nice payday as they successfully crossed the Atlantic non-stop in spite of fog and ice. Prizes continue to drive flight innovation and it was also in 1919 that New York hotel operator Robert Orteig posted a $25,000 prize, worth nearly $400,000 today, to the first person to fly from New York to Paris. That prize went unclaimed for eight years until Charles Lindbergh's flight in 1927.
Now here's an interesting fact for you: Lindbergh's flight, inside of a comfy cockpit I might add, is usually heralded as the first solo transatlantic flight, and it was. But the prize didn't specify that he had to fly solo; he just chose to fly solo to save weight and add fuel. I didn't know that. World War 1 certainly accelerated the technology of flight and the post-war rush to claim prizes carried those innovations into the civilian flight industry—all part of the aftermath of the War That Changed the World.
Links:
https://www.wired.com/2010/06/0615alcock-brown-fly-atlantic/