The plane was a Vickers Vimy twin-engined biplane. It was built mainly of
wood and fabric and was powered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII V-12 engines.
The Vimy was originally
designed as a bomber to be used during the First World War. Bombing equipment
was removed and extra fuel tanks were added for the transatlantic flight.
The Vickers Vimy biplane that landed
at Ballyconneely, Clifden on 15th June,1919. The plane is now on display
in the Science Museum, London.
|
The plane took off from St. John's, Newfoundland on Saturday, 14 June, 1919
and landed in Clifden, Co. Galway some 16 hours later. It completed the
journey of 1,890 miles (3,040 km) at an average speed of approximately 118
miles (193 kilometres) per hour.
Weather conditions
were difficult, dense fog and drizzling rain obscured vision to such an
extent that at times the aircraft was flying upside down and once only
10ft from the water. The landing place was a bog near the Clifden Wireless
Station.
Once safely out of
the plane, Alcock, with the assistance of the Marconi staff, sent a telegram
announcing their success. At this point the airmen were only 10 miles
(16 km) off the course they had planned and some 50 miles (80 km) from
Galway, the intended destination.
"From above,
the bog looked like a lovely field, but the machine sank into it up to
the axle and fell over on her nose" said Alcock after the flight.
The plane suffered some damage. Alcock and Brown came away unhurt.
|
Sir John W Alcock (18921919) was born in Manchester. He joined
the Royal Naval Air Service at the beginning of World War I. After the
war Alcock became a test pilot for Vickers Aircraft. Six months after
his Atlantic crossing, while delivering an amphibian aircraft to Paris,
Alcock crashed in bad weather and was fatally injured.
Arthur Whitten
Brown (18861948) was born in Glasgow. He began his career in
engineering before the outbreak of World War I when he became a pilot
in the Royal Air Force. After the Atlantic crossing, Brown later returned
to engineering and was general manager of the Metropolitan Vickers Company
in Swansea.
|
|
John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown |