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.rATLANTIC FLOWN.I r -

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r ATLANTIC FLOWN. I r < Triumph for British Airmen. I NEWFOUNDLAND TO IRELAND IN 16 HOURS. The Atlantic has been crossed in direct ffight. Cafttain John Alcock, D.S.C. (pilot), and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown (navigator), flying a Viewers-" Vimy -Rolls-Royce twin-engine aeroplane, arrived at Clifden, Ireland, on Sunday morning from Newfoundland, the jour- ney, nearly 2,000 miles, having taken 16 hours 27 minutes. They left St. John's (Newfoundland) at 4.13 p.m. Greenwich time on Satur- day, and landed in Ireland at 8.40 a.m. Greenwich time on Sunday. FIRST NON-STOP FLIGHT. This glorious achievement places the honour of the first direct non-stop flight across the great western ocean in British hands, and wins for a British frm, machine, and pilots the Plo 000 prize. Great glory attaches to the flight for the re-son that it was accomplished under bad weather conditions. Fog and drizzling rain obscured vision to such an extent that at times the machine was discovered to be flying upside down, and once only 10ft. from the water. COURAGE AND SKILL. The world will acclaim the cool courage and flying skill of Alcock and the wonderful navigation of Brown, which alone oould bring the machme to it* landing on the west coast of Ireland N-Imfter such a perilous passage of the rackless waste. The landing was made in a bog close to the great Marconi wireless station at Chfden, in Galway. At this point the airmen were only 10 miles out of the course they had planned and some 60 miles from the town of Galway, where they had intended to alight. Tieii- tenant Brown's first words were "That's the best way to cross the Atlantic." CAPTAIN ALCOCK'S STORY. Writing in the Daily Ma; l" on Mon- day Captain J Alcock, D.S.C., save:— We have had. a terrible journey. The w,oad,er is we are here at all. We eeajcely eaw the sun or the moon or the stadtk For hours we saw none of them. The fog was very dense, and at one time we had to deecend to within 300ft. of the •ea. For four hours the machine was covered in a sheet of ice, caused by frozen sleet. At another time the fog was 80 dense that my s;peed indicator d(d not work and fo<r a few seconds it wa, v&rv Ularming. We looped the loop, I do believe, and did a very steep spiral. We did eojue very comic- stunts, for I haw had no eenee of horizon. FAVOURABLE WINDS. I The winœ were favourable all the vmy, nor'i?-west, and we said in New- foundland we wM?d do the trip in 16 1 hours, but we never thought we Mould. l An hour and a half before we saw land we had no certain idea where we -were, but we believed we were at Gal- way or thereabouts. Our delight in see- ing Eashal Island and Turbot Island was great. "The people did not know who we ■were when TO landed. They thought we ¡ were scouts lookiiig for Aloock. We encountered no unforeseen con- ditions. We did not suffer from cold or exhaustion except when looking over the side. Then th* sit chewed bits out of I our faces. We drank coffee and aile and jkte sandwiches and chocolate. I The flight has phown that the Atlantic t flight 115 practicable, but I think .that it should not be done with an aeroplane or I a seaplane but with a flying-boat PLENTY OF RESERVE FUEL. I •' We had plenty of reserve fuel left, only using two-thirds of our supply. Tht) only thi-rg thai; upset me was to I Bee -the machine at the end damaged. Prom above the bog looked like a lovely field, but the machine sank into it up to I the axle and fell over on to her noee.^ KING HEARS THE NEWS, I The King received the news as he was leaving Church service at Windsor, and through General Sykes, Controller of Civil Aviation, he at once sent the fol- lowing message of congratulation to Captain Alcock and Lieutenant Brown: The King was delighted to receive your welcome announcement that Cap- tain Alcock and Lieutenant Brown have safely landed in Ireland after their Transatlantic flight. His Majesty wishes you to communicate at once with these officers and to convey to them the King's warmest congratulations on the success of their splendid achievement/' The news made a wonderful impres- sion in London. At first there was some incredulity. The rapidity with which j the flight had been accomplished seemed beyond belief, but the publication of the news in special editions of the Sunday newspapers soon allayed all such feel- ing, and the talk of the crowds everv- where testified to the pleasure of the Eeople that the men were safe and the IO'nour secure in British hands. THE START. I ST. JOHN'S (Newfoundland), Saturday. When' Captain Alcock, to use his own words, rushed off to-day at 4.13 p.m., Greenwich mean time, he was more con- fident than ever that the blue riband of the air would be his. It's a long flight, but it doesn't worry me," he declared. H any more than the night bombing raids my squadron used to carry out." He neglected to mention that he was mainly responsible for the success of those bombing raids, which added not a little to the prestige of the R.A.F. in the East. In those days Captain Alcock wa,s flying one of the early type Handley Page machines, a forerunner of the giant machine h3 is now trying to beat in the I race across the Atlantic. Another point is that MajoT Brackley, chief pilot of tlie Handley Page-RQlls-Royce that is at Harbour Grace ready to start, was taught fo fly by Captam Alcock Mechanically," said Captain Alcock {his morning, I am satisfied that the l machine is in perfect order. If we fail, and I do not think we shall, it will be no I 4aalt ci the machine or the engines, but i I causes over which neither we nor any men have any control." Lieut. Brown was equally oonfident of success and was impatient to be off-an I impatience which may be "accounted for by the fact that he is literally flying to  his bride, for arrangements are on ioot I for the celebration of the wedding of I Lieut. Brown and Mias. M. K. Kennedy, daughter of Major D. H. Kennedy, one I of the chiefs of the Aircraft Production Department of the Ministry of Muni- tions. I FIVE TON LOAD. I- 1 Capt. Alcock made a daring get ¡ away," going uphill in face of a 40-mile gale. This would have been nothing to the machine on a properly prepared aero- drome and only carrying its normal load. but with three and a half tons of petrol on board, giving a total loading of over five tons, the attempt to take off from an imperfect ground was a plucky ffort. I MR. HAWKER DELIGHTED. I I Seen by a Press representative, Mr. Hawk er 6ail I am delighted that Aleock and Brown have pulled it off. They haw indeed put I up an excellent show, and it is altogether a splendid perforin, nc\ of which pvery- one connected with British aviation will be hugely proud. Their average speed would probably be between 120 and 1,30miles an hour." r A BRIDE'S VIGIL. I Magnificent. Never doubted your I success. Of all the messages of congratulation received on Sunday by Lieut. Brown, the navigator of the machine, none would be more welcome than this tele- gram. It came from the lady who in a few weeks will be his bride. The wed- ding of Lieut. Brown and Miss Mar- guerite Kathleen Kennedy, daughter of Major D. H. Kennedy, who is the Assis- tant Controller of the Aircraft Produc- tion Dept., had been fixed for April, but when at the end of March Lieut. Brown undertook to pilot Capt. Alcock's machine it was decided to postpone the marriage until the perils of the flight were a thing of the past. Now Lieut. Brown has flown to his bride, and the wedding will be delayed no longer. There was rapturous rejoicing at Miss Kennedy's home in Ealing when the news came of the success of the flight. In » twinkling the long-drawn suspense of the night was lulled into a delirium of joy. The house, No. 26, Oakley- avenue, was at once decked with flags, and all day long the tolephone bell rang merry peals as friend after friend called up to convey congratulations. up?'tTo he suspense of waiting for the news was terrible," said Miss Kennedy, a tall, vivacious girl who looked charming in her cool tennis costume. I shall sleep sounder to-night, you may be certain."

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