Non-stop transatlantic flight. Where does Aeroflot fly? Domestic, transatlantic and transcontinental routes

Modern world it's hard to imagine without transcontinental flights. For airlines, it's a multi-million dollar business that carries billions of people every year. Airlines are fighting a ruthless war for every passenger, but behind the scenes there is an even fiercer war going on between aircraft manufacturers. And it's not just about the colossal amount of money; it’s about national prestige and superiority in technology, namely aviation technologies are the locomotives of progress in the economy. It’s hard to imagine the modern world without transcontinental flights. For airlines, it's a multi-million dollar business that carries billions of people every year. Airlines are fighting a ruthless war for every passenger, but behind the scenes there is an even fiercer war going on between aircraft manufacturers. And it's not just about the colossal amount of money; it’s a matter of national prestige and superiority in technology, namely aviation technologies are the locomotives of progress in the economy.

Our article is dedicated to transatlantic passenger flights and the people who made it possible.

First successful transatlantic flight in world history was made by 25-year-old American pilot Charles Lindbergh on May 20-21, 1927, flying on the Spirit Of St. Louis" from New York, and landed in Paris 33.5 hours later, having overcome many difficulties, including fog, icing, flying above clouds at an altitude of more than 3000 m, flying several meters above water, etc. However, commercial Passenger Transportation began only after the Second World War. The first European aircraft used for these purposes were British rebuilt bombers, which were not equipped with a pressurized cabin, flew slowly and were terribly noisy. In the United States, the Lockheed Super Constellation passenger aircraft was already ready by this time, and by the time the passenger line from America to Europe opened, the “old world” airlines, in the struggle for the few passengers, were forced to buy aircraft in America.

Another American aircraft for these purposes was the Boeing-377 “Stratocruiser”, the largest and most comfortable double-deck aircraft with four piston engines. Passengers of those years were wealthy businessmen and diplomats who expected a high level of service on board, and the Stratocruiser had everything for this: well-trained flight attendants, first-class food and drinks, a bar on the lower deck. The flight on a piston aircraft lasted 14-16 hours, and the number of passengers grew at a rapid pace.

Great Britain at this time made significant progress in the creation of jet engines, and the DeHavilland company developed and built the world's first jet passenger aircraft, the Comet. The aircraft, with four jet engines installed in pairs in the wing root and providing flights at unprecedented speeds (about 800 km/h) at unusually high altitudes, promised calm and fast air travel. On July 27, 1949, test pilot John Cunningham took the revolutionary aircraft into the air for the first time. This was a real breakthrough in the field civil aviation: The start of commercial operation of the new aircraft in 1952 was very successful. And, although the flight range of the first series of Comet did not allow flights across the ocean, the future of the aircraft seemed cloudless. However, after two crashes of aircraft of this type in 1954, which revealed serious design problems associated with fatigue failure of the metal, and explained primarily by the lack of experience in creating jet passenger aircraft, the Comet program was on the verge of closure.
On May 14, 1954, the new American passenger aircraft Boeing-707 was presented to the public, and on July 15 of the same year it made its first flight. The head of Boeing, Bill Ellen, invested $15 million of his own money in the construction of the aircraft, therefore, no technical aspects should have cast doubt on the reliability of the airliner and its attractiveness to buyers. Boeing designers took into account the negative experience of building the Comet, making the skin of their aircraft 4 times thicker than that of the ill-fated British airliner. In addition, it used its own experience in building B-47 and B-52 bombers. It took four years to fine-tune the aircraft to serial production, when in October 1958 the first Pan American aircraft entered passenger service, and on November 1 of the same year the first flight on an aircraft of this type was made from New York in London. At the same time, DeHavilland presented to the public a redesigned version of its aircraft, the Comet4, already capable of transatlantic flights. However, the capacity of the British airliner was almost half that of the American one, and the boom in traffic forced even British airlines to opt for the Boeing 707. The Douglas company developed its DC-8 aircraft in a similar layout to the B-707, but a number of design features made the Boeing aircraft more attractive to buyers.

The Soviet Union did not stand aside: on June 17, 1955, the first flight was made by the pride of domestic aviation, the Tu-104 jet, which a year later, in September 1956, entered regular service, thereby ahead of the Boeing-707 in the successful start of commercial operation. However, the flight range of the Tu-104 (about 2,700 km) did not allow flights across the ocean, so already on November 15, 1957, the long-range turboprop aircraft Tu-114 made its first flight. This record-breaking aircraft (the fastest turboprop, the largest aircraft of its time) already in 1958 delivered the Soviet delegation from Moscow to New York, causing shock and excitement in America. The aircraft has been flying since 1962 regular flights from Moscow to Havana, until it was replaced by the beginning of the 1970s by the new Il-62 aircraft.

Meanwhile on the American continent air transport remained too expensive for ordinary people, but Boeing CEO Bill Ellen wanted to put an end to this. In 1966, he launched the 747 project, which later became the epochal “Jumbo” - a flying double-deck “elephant”, the most recognizable and largest passenger aircraft for several decades. What was revolutionary this time was the size and weight of the aircraft - length 70.6 m, wingspan 59.5 m, the ability to accommodate up to 550 passengers. The company had to build a new plant to produce the new model, and the financial risks were so great that failure could ruin the entire corporation. Jack Quadell, a test pilot who flew the plane for the first time on February 9, 1969, when asked by journalists about his impressions of the flight, said: “I know it sounds ridiculous, but the plane is easier to control, it’s a pilot’s dream!” After one year of intensive testing, the aircraft entered service, and in 1970 it made its first flight from New York to London. Not a single major airline could afford not to buy a new aircraft. More than 200 copies were immediately ordered, and every 5 days a new aircraft left the factory. This aircraft has become extremely popular among both airlines and passengers. 40-50 aircraft were constantly in flight, crossing the Atlantic from West to East and back in 7 hours.

European manufacturers, in the fight for “Atlantic” passengers, took a different route: instead of size, they chose speed. British and French firms, together, began developing a supersonic passenger plane Concorde in 1962. The project required new technological solutions, which brought the aircraft industry to the next stage of development of aviation materials, aerodynamics, engines, flight and navigation equipment. The creation and operation of a supersonic passenger aircraft is associated with problems unusual for subsonic aviation: ensuring high speed (about 2200 km/h) and altitude (18-20 thousand m), combating kinetic heating of the aircraft skin (from friction with air, the outer surface of the aircraft becomes hot up to 120 degrees Celsius), stability and controllability of the aircraft at subsonic speeds. When the Concorde prototype was ready (the first flight took place on March 2, 1969), airlines expressed great interest in the project, however, the prolonged development of the aircraft (the start of commercial operation in January 1976) and a sharp increase in fuel prices in 1973 led to , that the insanely expensive aircraft (about 2 billion US dollars were spent on the program) was unaffordable for buyers, and the manufacturer sold 7 copies each to British Airways and Air France for a symbolic price of 1 franc per piece. And, although the cost of tickets for a transatlantic flight reached several thousand dollars, Concorde was in demand among famous people show business, politicians, businessmen, for whom a 3-hour flight across the ocean was at the same time emphasizing their prestige, entertainment and saving time.
In 1970, the world was introduced to the world's new wide-body aircraft, the Douglas DC-10, capable of carrying up to 380 passengers over a distance of 6,000-10,000 km; however, it was in significantly less demand than the Boeing-747, including due to numerous technical problems. and a series of disasters with a large number of victims.
Europe, albeit belatedly, also began developing large-capacity wide-body aircraft as part of the Airbus Industries consortium, formed in 1970 by four partner countries: France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain. The first joint product of the new enterprise was the successful A-300 aircraft (1972), and its shortened, long-range deep modification A-310 (1982). The A-300 was the first wide-body aircraft with two engines, which significantly increased the aircraft's fuel efficiency .

Subsequently, competition for the long-haul aircraft market concentrated between the world's two largest manufacturers - Boeing and Airbus, with their B-757, B-767, B-777, B-787 and A-330, A-340, A-380, A-350.

Gerhard Vysogan
RAScholefield Collection
Royal S. King
David O. Hill
Christoph Flink
Frank C. Duarte Jr
Barry Shopley

The Wright brothers made their first airplane flight in December 1903. But it took another five years before airplanes actually began to fly. An important psychological barrier was overcome on July 25, 1909, when Louis Blériot crossed the English Channel for the first time. Conquering a significant water obstacle showed that the plane is capable of being not only a new circus attraction, but also a serious one. vehicle. Many private aviation schools provided flight training to everyone, and airplanes were continuously improved.

Bleriot's flight stimulated a further assault on the water area. On September 11, 1910, Robert Loraine flew the Irish Sea for the first time in a Farman airplane. True, due to problems with the engine, he did not reach the Irish coast 60 m. His work was completed by Denys Corbett Wilson in April 1912. A year later - September 23, 1913, Roland Garros on the company's monoplane Morane-Saulnier crossed the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, his journey was 730 km. Then it was Atlantic's turn.

However, several aviators from Great Britain, the USA, Denmark and other countries began to prepare for a transatlantic flight back in 1910 - 1912. After the failure of Wellman's airship, pilot Harry Grahame Carter decided to challenge the ocean. He set the launch date for March 19, 1911. On a plane of his own design, Carter was going to fly from Sandy Hook, USA, to Queenstown (now Cove), Ireland. The aviator expected to cross the Atlantic in 49 hours.

According to the project, Carter's plane had an all-metal frame and a covering made of material, which the author called parchment. Two 30 hp engines were used as a power plant. unspecified model with two-blade metal propellers. The engine life was only 27 hours, but Carter hoped to increase it to 54 hours. He believed that 136 liters of gasoline would be enough for him to cover a distance of 3860 km.

Hollow tubular frame structures served as gas tanks. To build the car, Carter rented a garage in Jamaica Plain, a suburb of Boston. Even perhaps the most complete reference book on US aircraft knows nothing about what happened next, but the available description of the design makes us strongly doubt that Carter’s plane could fly long distances.

A more serious contender was Hugh Armstrong Robinson (1881-1963), a former chief pilot at Curtiss. He began preparing for the transatlantic expedition in September 1911. But having made preliminary calculations, Robinson came to the conclusion that existing technologies did not yet allow such a project to be implemented. In 1912, Robinson switched to developing the Benoist XIII flying boat, on the basis of which the Benoist XIV aircraft then emerged, which was the first in the world to begin regular passenger air transportation in January 1914.

Robinson's refusal to storm the Atlantic did not prevent his former boss Glenn Curtiss (Glenn Hammond Curtiss, 1878-1930) from completing the job. More precisely, almost to the end. In August 1913, he began building a twin-engine flying boat, the Curtiss N. The project was sponsored by Rodman Wanamaker, owner of a chain of department stores in New York and Philadelphia. The transatlantic flight was planned to take place in the summer of 1914.

The flying boat, named "America", was a wooden three-post biplane of the classical design. Ailerons were located only on the upper wing. The aircraft had two Curtiss OX 90 hp engines. between the wings with pushing two-blade propellers. The boat has a slight keel. The cockpit, designed for two pilots and a flight mechanic, was closed. The fuel supply allowed for a non-stop flight over a distance of 1770 km.

The Curtiss H-1 prototype was launched on June 22, 1914, with its first flight the next day. During intensive testing, a number of shortcomings were identified that required modification of the design. But even after this, the car could not raise the required fuel supply. Therefore, a third engine with a pulling propeller was installed on the upper wing.

Having decided technical problems, the organizers of the flight scheduled the launch for August 5, 1914 (the sources also give the date August 15). The expedition was supposed to start from St. John's, Newfoundland. The further route passed through the islands of the Azores archipelago Faial and San Miguel, where intermediate landings were planned. From there, America was to fly to Portugal, then cross the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel and reach the British coast near the city of Plymouth.

The crew included the aircraft's designer and his friend, naval pilot John Henry Towers. But Curtiss’ flight was categorically opposed by his wife, and Towers’ flight by the command of the US Navy (five years later, he still took part in the transatlantic expedition).

Then Weinamaker appointed retired British Navy lieutenant John Cyrill Porte (1883-1919) as crew commander, and American George Hallett as co-pilot. But the First World War began, and the flight was cancelled. Port went to serve in the Royal Navy, and there he persuaded the Lords of the Admiralty to purchase the America and her backup. On the basis of these machines, more powerful flying boats were developed, which were built in large series, but that’s another story.

One of the incentives for the creation of the Curtiss H-1 "America" ​​aircraft was a prize established on April 1, 1913 by the British newspaper magnate Alfred Harmsworth, Lord Northcliffe. The owner of the Daily Mail has promised to pay £10,000 to the first person to cross Atlantic Ocean from any point in the USA to any point in the UK or Ireland on any aircraft without stopping in 72 hours. The winner of the prize could be either an Englishman or a foreigner. The high prize amount stimulated the work of many designers, most of whom turned out to be fellow countrymen of Lord Northcliffe.

Photo of Curtiss H-1 America.

One of the main contenders was Samuel Cody, creator of the first British actually flying aircraft. He developed a project for the float-mounted monoplane Cody monoplane No.VII with a gigantic wingspan of 36.58 m for that time and a cabin designed for three crew members. Such an aircraft required a 400 hp engine, which did not exist in nature at that time. Cody issued an order to an unnamed French company to develop the motor. But the death of an aviator on August 7, 1913 stopped work on the project. In the aviation press of 1913 - 1914 one can find reports about the construction of transatlantic aircraft by the British firms of the James Bros. and A. V. Roe and Co. (Avro), however, no details are provided.

Another applicant for the prize was Handley Page. In December 1913, the company's chief designer, George Rudolph Volkert (1891-1978), developed a design for a single-engine biplane L/200 - in the 1920s it was retrospectively designated HP.8, in which a woman first decided to conquer the Atlantic. Lady Anne Savile, married Princess of Lowenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (Lady Anne Savile / Anne Prinzessin zu Lowenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, 1864-1927) was going to fly with Roland Ding (William Rowland Ding, 1885-1917). The pilot and air attendant were to be seated side by side in the cockpit. Power point— 14-cylinder liquid-cooled engine Salmson (Canton-Unne) 200 hp. with tension screw. The fuel supply is designed for a 23-hour flight. But before the outbreak of the First World War, the aircraft was never completed, and later the company was fully loaded with military orders.

Characteristics airplaneswho unsuccessfully tried to cross Atlantic by air

Model	Curtiss H-1	Handley Page L-200	Martin-Handasyde Transatlantic
Engines, power, hp	Curtiss OX-5 3×90	Salmson 1x200	Sunbeam 1×215
Upper wing span, m.	22,55	18,29	20,12
Lower wing span, m.	14
Length, m.	11,43	12,5	14,12
Height, m.	4,87	4,87
Wing area, sq.m.		83,6	71,5
Take-off weight, kg.	2268	2722	2177
Empty weight, kg.	1360	1270	1089
Speed ​​max., km/h	105	129	137
Ceiling, m.	1372
Flight range, km.	1770
Crew	3	2	2

The transatlantic aircraft was also created by the British company Martin-Handasyde Ltd.. The sponsor of this project was the Canadian financier Mackay Edgar. The wooden monoplane with a trapezoidal wing received the understandable name Martin-Handasyde Transatlantic. The flight across the Atlantic was planned to take place from Newfoundland to Ireland. The pilot was Gustav Hamel (1889-1914), who had previously completed the first official postal flight in Great Britain.

The Sunbeam 215 hp engine was chosen for the aircraft. — 12-cylinder V-shaped liquid-cooled engine with a Lang pulling 4-blade propeller with a diameter of 3.66 m.

Although Transatlantic had a wheeled chassis, the design allowed it to splash down safely on the ocean surface. The triangular fuselage had watertight bulkheads. In the front part of the fuselage there was a fuel tank 2.74 m long and 0.91 m in diameter. Behind it was a two-seat pilot's cabin with side-by-side seats. The landing gear was separated after takeoff, reducing the weight of the structure. A standard landing was planned on water.

Construction of the aircraft began in May 1914. Shortly thereafter, on May 23, 1914, Hamel disappeared without a trace while flying another airplane over the English Channel. Nevertheless, the construction of the aircraft and the search for a new pilot continued until the outbreak of the First World War.

The outbreak of war did not allow a number of projects to conquer the Atlantic to be carried out. At the same time, it stimulated the development of aircraft designs. Strength and reliability have increased, the service life of engines and the speed of airplanes have increased. The flight range has increased, especially for bombers. The latter could already, with sufficient fuel reserves, cover a distance of more than 4000 km without landing. This was enough for a non-stop flight from Newfoundland to Ireland. The only obstacle to the implementation of the idea was the involvement of the main aviation powers in hostilities. But in industrialized countries that did not take part in the war, or remote from the theaters of war, flight attempts resumed already in 1917.

In August 1917, Italian pilot Silvio Resnati arrived in the United States. The main purpose of his visit was to prepare serial production in the USA and train American pilots to fly it. On the same machine, equipped with three Isotta-Fraschini engines, the Italian pilot planned to make a transatlantic flight in 1918. This was not destined to come true - on May 16, 1918, Resnati died in the crash of his Caproni Sa.3 near Hampstead, New York.

Two months later, on July 15, 1918, forty American military pilots immediately submitted a petition on command with a proposal to carry out a transatlantic flight on an American-made Caproni or Handley-Page bomber. The idea was supported by US Secretary of Defense Baker. At the military airfield in Elizabeth, New Jersey, preparations began for the expedition that was to take place that same year on the Handley-Page bomber. The expedition was prepared thoroughly. It was planned to station ships at intervals of 200 nautical miles along the entire route from Newfoundland to Ireland to quickly assist pilots in the event of an emergency. However, the land pilots were ahead of the sailors on the Curtiss NC flying boats.

Sources: V.O. Bykov. "The Conquest of the Northern Atlantic."

NOTES
A working model of the first Bird of Prey airplane in flight

In the center of Rio de Janeiro, on the waterfront near the ultra-modern Museum of Tomorrow, there is a model of the world's first airplane, the 14-bis or "Oiseau de proie" (in French, "bird of prey").
Today, Brazil occupies one of the world's leading positions in the field of aircraft manufacturing. Brazil's Embraer (E-Jet) leads the world in the medium-haul (regional) aircraft market.
Thanks to the dominance of the American media in the world, there was a belief about the priority of the Wright brothers, who made the first flight on an airplane. In Brazil and France, undeniable primacy is given to a native of Brazil, holder of the Legion of Honor, aeronaut, pilot and inventor Albert Santos-Dumont(1873 - 1932), who lived for some time in France. The Brazilian was the first in the world to prove the possibility of regular, controlled flights. Santos-Dumont made a public airplane flight in Paris on October 23, 1906. It was the first heavier-than-air vehicle to take off, fly, and land and, unlike the Wright brothers, did not use catapults, high winds, launch rails, or other external devices. The inventor was against the use of aircraft for military purposes.

***
The first transatlantic direct flight was made from Newfoundland (Canada) to Ireland by British pilots John Alkon and Arthur Brown on June 14 - 15, 1919 in 16 hours 28 minutes at an average speed of 190 km per hour. The effect of the jet air current in the Northern Hemisphere from west to east was used. In the opposite direction it would have taken more time, and there were no aircraft with the appropriate resource at that time. The first non-stop 36-hour flight across the Atlantic from Europe (Dublin) to North America took place only a decade later in April 1928.

***
Today, flying across the Atlantic to South America is an everyday affair and requires only patience (up to a 14-hour flight from Paris to Santiago). I first saw the monument to the first airplane (seaplane) and crew that flew from Europe to South America many years ago in Lisbon.

On an English-made Fairey 17 seaplane, Portuguese pilots Gago Coutinho and Sakadura Cabral made the first dramatic flight from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, dedicated to the centenary of Brazilian independence. Aircraft of this type were produced from 1918 to 1941, and took an active part in the Second World War.

During the flight to South America, a new attitude indicator device was tested, allowing one to control the position of the aircraft beyond the visibility of the ground or sea surface.

On March 30, 1922, the pilots took off from naval base Lisbon and reached late in the evening Canary Islands(Las Palmas) for refueling. On April 5, another rush was made to the Cape Verde Islands (San Vicente), where engine repairs were required. On April 17, the pilots continued their journey to the rocky desert island Sao Paulo (St. Peter and St. Paul). Here, during splashdown in a stormy sea, the airplane lost one of its floats and sank. The aviators were rescued by the Portuguese cruiser Republic, which assisted in the flight. The cruiser delivered the pilots to the port of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha.

But the epic did not end there. Enthusiastic Brazilians and Portuguese watching the flight forced the government in Lisbon to send another seaplane to the aviators.

The new plane was delivered to the island and on May 11, the pilots took off... in the opposite direction to the island of Sao Paulo to resume the flight from the crash site. However, an engine breakdown forced them to do it again. emergency landing in the ocean. The seaplane successfully sank again, and the pilots were picked up by a British cargo ship and taken back to Fernando de Noronha.

But this time, with the support of the Brazilian government, the brave aviators received a third plane, on which they were able to complete the flight with stops in Recife, Salvador da Bahia and Vitoria. Finally, on June 17, the flight was completed in Rio de Janeiro, where the seaplane landed in Guanabara Bay. Brazil greeted the aviators as heroes; at a rally of thousands on the embankment, aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont gave a welcoming speech. The journey lasted 79 days, of which the actual flight time was 62 hours and 26 minutes. The aviators covered a distance of 8,383 kilometers (5,209 miles) by air.

Flight map

***
In 1930, a French pilot Jean Mermoz made the first non-stop flight in history across the South Atlantic. From Toulouse, France, he flew to the African port of Saint Louis (Senegal) located on the Atlantic coast. From here, with 130 kg of mail on a converted plane, he completed a transatlantic flight to Rio de Janeiro in 21 hours. In 1936, the pilot and the plane disappeared on a regular flight over the South Atlantic.

***
Over time, regular passenger flights from Europe to South America began. On July 10, 1962, regular transatlantic flights of the Soviet Aeroflot began to Latin America to Cuba along the route Moscow - Conakry (technical landing) - Havana, and then through North Pole with an intermediate landing in Murmansk. The specially modernized Tu-114 could accommodate only 60 passengers, but had a large fuel supply. The flight took over 20 hours.

On May 27, 1973, regular flights to Peru and Chile began on the route Moscow - Rabat - Havana - Lima (Peru) - Santiago (Chile). For that time, it was the longest passenger airline in the world (18,000 km), travel time was 23 hours. Today, people fly from Moscow to South America with connecting flights through Paris, Amsterdam, Istanbul and other aviation hubs.

***
On the air route between Europe and South America On June 1, 2009, one of the largest aviation disasters occurred. The Air France airliner Airbus A330-203 operated flight AF447 on the route Rio de Janeiro - Paris, but 3 hours and 45 minutes after takeoff it crashed into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and was completely destroyed. All 228 people on board (12 crew members and 216 passengers) were killed. This is the largest disaster in the history of Air France and the largest crash of a passenger aircraft since 2001 until the Boeing 777 crash in the Donetsk region (July 17, 2014, 298 dead).

The causes of the disaster are indicated as freezing of the pitot tubes, the subsequent disconnection of the autopilot and uncoordinated actions of the crew, which led to the stalling of the aircraft, from which the crew was unable to recover. Inconsistency of actions, poor preparation and panic of the crew (co-pilot and trainee who were in the cockpit during the commander's rest). The called commander made the right decision and at an altitude of about 600 meters the plane began to pick up speed, but it was not possible to stop the stall in time. Experts point to design flaws modern aircraft and in crew training. Computer systems control the aircraft for the vast majority of the flight, depriving pilots of direct piloting experience and reducing their preparedness for emergency situations.

Ask any person: “Who was the first to fly across the Atlantic?”, and 90 out of a hundred people will answer: “Charles Lindbergh.” Lindbergh was an incredibly popular character in the 1930s, the hero of numerous newspaper publications, films, historical studies and fiction novels. However, he was not the first to fly across the Atlantic.

In 1913, the British newspaper Daily Mail established a special prize of 10 thousand pounds for the first air flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The prize aroused great interest, and several aviators and engineers began to make plans to win it. But in 1914 the First World War, and put an end to all plans. In 1918 the war ended and competition for the prize resumed with renewed vigor. The competition was made more intense by the fact that during the First World War, aviation made a qualitative leap, turning from an exotic toy into a real fighting force. The design and production of airplanes has ceased to be the lot of eccentric enthusiasts, and has become a powerful industry with serious engineering teams, large production capacities and considerable cash flows. In addition to money, the first transatlantic flight promised good advertising for the developers, so aircraft manufacturing companies did not stand aside.

In May 1919, pilot H.G. Hawker and navigator Mackenzie Grieve took off on the Sopwith Atlantic airplane. The attempt was unsuccessful - the plane fell into the Ocean, fortunately, both pilots were saved. Around the same time, several US Navy flying boats flew from Newfoundland to Portugal via Azores. The purpose of the flight (initiated by none other than Richard Bird) was to practice flying over seas. There was no record, since the flight lasted 19 days, and the planes had a large number of landing

On May 26, 1919, a container with a Vickers Vimy aircraft was delivered to Newfoundland. The airplane was unpacked and assembled in a couple of days without any troubles or delays. The wait for suitable weather began. In the meantime, it was raining, interspersed with sleet. The crew consisted of two people - the pilot, Captain John Alcock, and the navigator, Lieutenant Arthur Brown. Both officers were assigned to the Royal Firing Corps (the prototype of the Royal Air Force). The goal is a direct flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
The fates of these people were in many ways similar - both fought in the World War, both experienced the severity of captivity: Alcock in Turkey, and Brown in Germany, both returned to their jobs after the war, both were inspired by the idea of ​​​​a direct flight across the ocean. Captain John Alcock was born in 1892 in Seymour, Old Trafford, England. He began to show an interest in flying at the age of seventeen, and during the War he became an experienced pilot. Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown was born in Glasgow in 1886. He worked as an engineer in the development of aeronautical instruments. Having heard about the upcoming flight across the Atlantic, he expressed a desire to take part in it and was chosen to be John Alcock's partner.

By that time, the Vickers company had already taken one of the leading positions not only in Britain, but also in Europe. By the beginning of the twentieth century, this company was well known as a shipbuilder. In 1908, His Majesty's Navy turned to its long-time partner with an unusual order - the Admiralty needed an airship. Thus, the Vickers company moved from the sea element to the air element. Over the next few years, the company's factories produced French airplanes under license, and in 1913 they also produced their own design - the F.B.I. At the same time, the Vickers flying school was opened in Brookland. By 1918, the number of Vickers military airplanes reached 4,500 copies.

Vickers Vimy 4

At the end of the war, Great Britain began developing a twin-engine bomber designed to bomb German fortifications at the front and factories in the rear. The aircraft (heavy by the standards of those years), designed by engineer R.K. Pierson and built by Vickers, was named Vickers Vimy IV. A crew of two was required to operate the aircraft. The length of the aircraft is 13 meters (43 feet), the wingspan is 21 meters (69 feet). The power plant is two 12-cylinder Rolls Royce Eagle engines with a power of 350 horsepower each. Like all aircraft of those years, the Vickers Vimy was made of wood, and the three-meter propellers were also made of wood. Maximum speed- 160 km/h, cruising - 145 km/h. The maximum flight altitude is 2100 m. Vickers decided that this aircraft was the best suited for the flight.
The aircraft was built at the Weybridge plant in Surrey (Weybridge, Surrey). The cost of a production copy was 3 thousand pounds. It did not have time to take part in the First World War, and was never used for its intended purpose. The aircraft was slightly modified for the transatlantic flight. Firstly, all military equipment was removed from it, and secondly, additional fuel tanks were installed. In order for both pilots to feel a little more comfortable during a long flight, the cabin was slightly expanded. The pilots sat side by side on a narrow wooden bench, on which a thin bedding was laid.

Finally, on June 14, the long-awaited improvement came, and at 16.12 GMT Vickers Vimy 4 took off from a pasture near St. John's on the island. Newfoundland. The fuel capacity was 4,000 liters (1,050 gallons), giving a theoretical range of 2,500 miles (4,000 km). When fully loaded, the aircraft weighed 6 thousand kilograms (13,300 pounds).

Taking off from Newfoundland

There were enough problems during the flight; the danger of a forced landing (which in their situation meant almost one hundred percent death) did not leave the pilots during the entire flight. Radio communications failed immediately after takeoff, and the engines periodically failed. The fog that shrouded the plane prevented the pilots from seeing anything for most of the flight. At some point, the plane stopped obeying the controls and, spinning randomly, began to fall. Falling out of the fog, the pilots saw that the surface of the ocean was already very close. Fortunately, at this moment Alcock was able to regain control of the controls, and the plane began to slowly gain altitude. Orientation in the fog was almost impossible, and throughout the entire journey Brown had a very rough idea of ​​their location. An undoubted success was the brief clearing, during which Brown was able to decide by the stars.

Landing in Ireland

The next morning - June 15, 1919 at 8.25 am - Alcock and Brown crossed the coast of Ireland. The fog stretched all the way to the ground, but the pilots managed to find a suitable clearing and land. The landing was quite hard, the plane was damaged, but the pilots remained safe and sound. Behind us was 15 hours 57 minutes of flight and a journey of 3000 kilometers. The landing site turned out to be next to the Clifden Wireless Station, from where Alcock sent news of the successful completion of the first transatlantic flight.

Brown and Alcock were celebrated as national heroes. The Daily Mail hosted an incredibly grand celebration at the Savoy restaurant, with guests served Oeufs Poches Alcock and Poulet de Printemps a la Vickers Vimy, specially created for the occasion. The pilots and the Vickers company received a special prize of 10 thousand pounds. The plane was taken to the London Science Museum, where it is on display to this day.

In addition to the prize from the Daily Mail, participants received 2,000 guineas from Ardath Tobacco and £1,000 from Lawrence R. Phillips. Both Alcock and Brown were knighted. Much later, in 1954, a monument was erected at Heathrow Airport in honor of their flight. A memorial sign was also installed at the landing site.

John Alcock and Arthur Brown

John Alcock died on December 18, 1919, while flying a Vickers Viking to the Paris Air Show - in Normandy his plane fell into fog and crashed into a forest. Brown continued his work for the company and lived until October 4, 1948, but never flew again.

In 30-40 Vickers was a leading company in the British aircraft industry. Suffice it to say that bombers such as the Wellington and Lancaster and fighters such as the Spitfire were developed by this company. And the production of Vickers military aircraft in World War II already amounted to tens of thousands of units.

The historic British flight fell into obscurity after Charles Lindbergh made his solo flight in the single-engine Spirit of St. in 1927. Louis Lindbergh was the first to fly from continent to continent, which caused an immeasurably greater stir among the public. Well, it should be noted that his PR situation was much better.
The flight of Alcock and Brown ushered in the golden era of propeller-driven aviation, when the romantics' desire for adventure and the general public's interest in their achievements was successfully combined with the desire of the air force to create and demonstrate aircraft with ever greater speeds, payload capacity and range.

Sources used.

When preparing for a long journey, when you need to make a visit to the countries of America, you have to long road, where even an airplane needs a lot of time to cover such a distance. Flying across the ocean is always unusual, as it takes a lot of time and passengers get tired waiting for the end of the flight. A flight to any country in this region lasts from 13 to 16 hours.Which significantly tires passengers.

Flight over the ocean video

The most enterprising, especially those who do not like long stay in an enclosed space, tries to spend most of the flight having a good night's sleep, trying to immediately after eating, get comfortable and fall asleep. Yes, if nothing interferes, then this is one of the most reliable ways to spend time. After all, there is not much entertainment on the plane, and a long flight causes fatigue. The best part is still ahead, after landing, so it won’t hurt anyone to gain strength.

Flights of this complexity are carried out on special types of aircraft. Not everyone can travel such a distance without landing. More than one crew is also needed, because managing such a long flight is also difficult. This requires certain strength and energy. After all, making any flight is a very important moment for the crew.

Transatlantic flights are mainly carried out on Boeing 747 or 767 aircraft, and Airbus, as well as other types passenger aircraft cannot operate such long non-stop flights. This requires not only a special type of aircraft, but also special training. What is needed is an aircraft that can take on enough fuel, fill all the available seats with passengers, and provide food for everyone on board for that long period of time.

Transatlantic flight– this is a difficult and long flight that exhausts everyone. Therefore, special safety precautions must also be observed in such challenging environments. Most of such a flight occurs over the ocean, this causes special feelings in many that are associated with increased anxiety. But you should not be afraid of this, since there is no particular danger; the aviation services have provided everything for any flight to be completed successfully.

So, takeoff, the planned provision of food to passengers, a sound, restful sleep, and here it is, America, which one could only dream of. The transatlantic flight is completed, and as always, thanks to the airline, successfully!