Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1919-06-17
LONDON Halls
AS HEROES TWO
DARING FLYERS
Celebrates the First Nonstop
Fligth Across Atlantic
in 16 Hours.
WIRELESS DAMAGED
EARLY AFTER, START
Aviators Suffer Ordeal Because of
Bad Weather and Intense
Cold, But Soon Recover
from III Effects.


ted today the achievement of the
two British airmen who yesterday
completed the first nonstop trans
Atlantic flight, meanwhile preparing
for formal reception to the aviators,
Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant
Arthur w. Brown.
Bad weather, accompanied by fog,
permitted only three observations for
laying the course, while sleet stopped
The working Of the petrol Indicator.
Captain Alcock, describing his ex-
F eriences while flying at an altitude
OF / 500 feet said
ct was hailing and showing. The
machine became covered with ice by
o'clock in the morning and re-
manned so until an hour before we
landed My radiator shutter and
water temperature Indicator were
covered with ice for five hours, Lieu
tenant Brown continually had to
climb up in the fuselage to clip off
the ice with knife. The air speed
Indicator also gave trouble being full
of frozen particles. The aviators
said they did not feel hungry during
the flight but were extremely thirsty.
"For time," Captain Alcock said,
eve spoke to each other through the
communication telephone, but these
broke down after four hours"
Rescueing Plane Wrecked.
When the Cickers-V imy machine
driven by Captain John Alcock was
first sighted crossing the Irish coast,
says dispatch to the Daily Mail,
from Clifden. Glaway, and airplane
flew out Of the Oranmore airdorome
to render assistance. This machine
landed near the Vimy but unfortu-
nately was wrecked, owing to the
softness Of the ground.
Wren the Vickers- Vimy machine
landed, Lieutenant Arthur w. Brown,
the navigator, said to Captain Alcock:
"What do you think of that for
fancy navigating and the pilot of
the machine responded: every good.'
The two men who had just completed
on epoch making voyage then shook
hands.
When assistance reached the ma
chine the two aviators were helped
to the ground and it was found that
Lieutenant Mrown was SLIGHTLY in
.iured on the nose and mouth by the
Jolt given them when it struck the
ground. Both men were deaf and
dazed and were unable to walk
steadily for some minutes. They
quickly recovered, however, and were
escorted to the wireless station in
triumph.
A TRYING Odeal.
Describing the trip the aviators
said they had very trying odeal,
Captain Alcock saying that the sun
came out only once when the biplane
had attained height of 90 feet.
Only three astronomical observations
were possible during the voyage. The
altitude Of the machine varied from
a few feet from the water up 10000
feet and the filters never sighted a
single ship.
81 didn't know once during the
night whether I was upside down or
not" said Captain Alcock. "Once we
assembled hurriedly when we saw the
green Atlantic only 80 feet below"
The breaking away of the propeller
generating current for the wireless
apparatus soon after the start pre-
vented the men from communicating
with the shore. When it happened,
Lieutenant Brown noticed that the
propeller had carried away with it
one of the stay wires, but he did not
tell CAPTAIN Alcock until after they
raj landed at Citizen. Where Alcock
learned of the incident he said:
81 would have turned back had I
known"
In Real Danger Once.
The two aviators said they were
only once in real danger, when the
machine went into a flat spin, owing
how the machine was MOVING. Lieu
tenant Brown. noticing that the COM
pass needle was swinging from side
to side-the first indication that
something was wrong-managed to
get Alcock to understand the diff
ficulty.
The machine travelled at rate of
140 miles an hour at times and the
pilot once found himself driving
straight toward the surface of the
ocean. He was so near the water
that he had to Snatch" the machine
from its rive so quickly that it almost
looped the loop. He says the ma
chine would have crumpled up had it
touched the water at the speed it
was then travelling.
The hiplane is being guarded by
soldiers and it is probable it will be
necessary to dismantle it.
Report of Flyers.
The report of Alcock and Brown to
the Aero club was as follows:
LANDED at Clifden at $40 am.
Greenwich mean time, 18th of June,
Vickers-Vimy Atlantic machine leav-
ing Newfoundland coast at 4:2S pm.
Greenwich mean time. 14th Of June.
"Total time Is hours, II minutes.
tSigncd) "Alcock. and Brown"
The foregoing is verbatim copy
of the report.
81 believe the great secret of long
distance flying under such conditions
we experienced is to nurse your en-
gine," said Alcock. 81 never opened
the throttle once. The machine it