Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-06-16
DARING WINS
OVER SEA IN
-NOSTOPTRI
British Pilot and Ameri-
can Aid Land Safely
on Irish Coast.

London, June 16-(By the AS
sociated Press. Capt. John AL
cock and Lieut. Arthur w. Brown,
in their Vickers-Vimy biplane, land
ed at Clifden, Ireland, this morning,
completing the first nonstop air
plane flight across the Atlantic.
Their trip from St Johns, N. F.,
1850 land miles or ,682 sea miles,
was made in sixteen hours twelve
minutes, and wins the Daily Mail
$4,000 prize.
The landing was made at $40
O'Clock, British summer time 1875
a. m. Sunday, Chicago time.) In TAX
ing the ground. the machine struck
heavily and the fuselage pIowed
into the sand. Neither of the oc-
cupants was injured.
Conditions Bad.
Much of the flight was made
through a fog, with an occasional
drizzle. This hampered the airmen
considerably during their journey.
Captain Alcock explained the
silence of his radio instrument dur
ing the trip by saying that the wire
less propeller blew off soon after
the alrplane left Newfoundland.
Flyers Are Dazed.
When assistance reached the ma
chine the two aviators were helped
to the ground and it was found that
Lieutenant Brown was slightly IN
jured 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 spr some minutes. They
quickly recovered, and were escort
ed to the wireless station IN
triumph, being given the best hos
pitality available
Trip is Trying Ordeal.
Describing the trip the aviators
said they had very trying ordeal,
Captain Alcock saying that the sun
came out only once when the BIZ
plane had attained a height of H.
900 feet Only three astronomical
observations were possible during
the voyage. The altitude of the ma
chine varied from a few feet from
the water up to 1900 feet and the
fliers never sighted single ship.
81 did not know once during the
night whether l was upside down
or not" said Captain Alcock.
"Once we ascended hurriedly
when we saw the green Atlantic
only 30 feet below
Would Have Turned Back.
The breaking away of the pro-
peller generating current for the
wireless apparatus soon after the
start prevented the men from COM
municating 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 un-
til they had landed at Clifden. When
AlcOck learned of the incident he
said:
=. Il would have turned back had l
known"
Weather conditions were very
bad during the trip and Lieutenant
Brown had to climb from his seat
to clear the ice away from the
petrol guage.
Has Had Enough Flying.
After breakfast today Lieutenant
Brown went to bed, while Captain
Alcock inspected the machine The
lieutenant however, was unable to
sleep and soon got up. By noon
both were looking perfectly well
and willingly distributed auto
graphs to admirers. Captain Alcock
wanted OF fly to England in a bor-
rowed plane but his companion OBJ
served:
"I have had enough flying for
bit"
Captain Alcock exhibited a.
bunch of rain soaked letters which
he had been asked to mail if the
flight was successful. saying:
Il am the first transatlantic
postman."
Nearly Dived Into Ocean.
The two avaitors said they were
only once in real danger. when the
machine went into a flat spin owing
TO the pilot being unable to tell how
the machine was moved Lieutenant
Brown, noticing that the compass
needle was winging from side to
side-the first indication that some
thing was wrong managed to get
Captain Alcock to understand the
difficulty The machine travelled at
a rate of 140 miles an hour at
times and the pilot once found him
Self diving straight toward the sur
face of the ocean. He was so near
the water that he had to Snatch"
the machine from its dive so quick !
ly that it almost loOped the loop |
He says the machine would have
crumpled up had it touched the !
water at the sped it was then trav- ,
elling.
The biplane is being guarded by
soldiers and it is probable that 1t
will be necessary to dismantle it
First Honor Belongs to c. s.
The feat of Alcock and Lieut.. !
Brown won for them the $4,000 |
prize offered by the London Daily !
Mail for the first nonstop flight J