Walter G . R . Hinchliffe Captain Walter George Raymond Hinchliffe DFC , aka Hinch ( the surname is often incorrectly given as Hinchcliffe ) ( 10 June 1894 – 13 March 1928 ) was a distinguished Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force flying ace in World War I who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . Private life . Hinchliffe was born in Liverpool ( or possibly Germany ) in 1894 to Richard George Hinchliffe ( 1868 - circa 1942 ) and Florence Williams . His younger sister Gladys was born in 1897 in Germany . He was educated at Liverpool College , where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps , then attended medical school , training as a dentist . He spoke four languages ( including German ) , was an avid reader , a skilled artist , an accomplished sportsman and a skilled mechanic . He met his Dutch wife Emilie Gallizien when he was Chief Pilot of the Royal Dutch Airlines ( KLM ) and she was assistant to the company ' s General Manager . Military career . Hinchliffe was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the North Lancashire Brigade Company , West Lancashire Divisional Transport and Supply Column ( Territorial Army ) of the British Army Service Corps on 20 March 1912 , and promoted Lieutenant on 17 September 1914 . He is then believed to have served in the Royal Artillery from 1914 - 1916 before joining the Royal Naval Air Service where he underwent training at Redcar , Cranwell and Frieston . Gaining his Royal Aero Club Certificate in September 1916 as Flight Sub - Lieutenant , Royal Naval Air Service , he served as an Instructor at Cranwell before joining 10 Squadron RNAS in January 1918 to commence active service . During February and March his successful sorties in a Sopwith Camel named " Allo Lil Bird " included bombing raids and downing 2 enemy aircraft in dogfight s at Rumbeke and Roulers . When the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918 , he was appointed Lieutenant ( Honorary Captain ) RAF in the ( renamed ) No . 210 Squadron RAF . Within three months he had downed a further 5 enemy planes at Roulers , Bailleul , Neuve - Église , Armentières and Hazebrouck . During the Hazebrouck night encounter he was shot through the forehead and crashed at Nieppe Forest ( Dickebusch Lake ) . He suffered severe facial injuries and lost the sight in his left eye for which he wore a patch for the rest of his life . For his exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . He was transferred to the RAF unemployed list on 21 August 1919 . He was initially hospitalised on 23 June 1918 and then invalided home on 27 June and treated at a hospital in central Hampstead . Post war . After the War he became a widely experienced pilot , pioneering , opening and flying many civilian routes for both KLM and Imperial Airways . In 1920 he made the first airmail flight from Holland to England . In 1921 he made the first civilian passenger night - flights from Lympne to Amsterdam , and Amsterdam to Berlin . His new routes included Amsterdam - Gelsenkirchen - Dortmund - London - Amsterdam in 11 hours flying time and Berlin - Amsterdam - London - Lowestoft - Lympne in just over 12 hours flying time . During 1922 - 1923 he was Chief Pilot of KLM . In 1923 he joined Instone Air Line covering Denmark , Germany , Holland , Belgium , London and Paris , and after the merger into Imperial Airways he flew a De Havilland Hercules to Cairo and opened up the Imperial Airways Eastern route . His flying experience included over 40 types of aircraft including ; Avro , British Aerial Transport , Bleriot , Bristol F2b , Caudron , Curtis , De Havilland , Fokker , Grahame - White Boxkite , Handley - Page , Nieuport , Pemberton - Billing Scout , Sopwith Camel , Sopwith Dolphin , Sopwith 1½ Strutter , Sopwith Pup , Vickers Vimy and Vickers Vulcan . In September 1927 , Hinchliffe flew Charles A . Levine back to the US , replacing Clarence Chamberlin who had flown Levine from the US to Germany . Hinchliffe and Levine were filmed at the Clapham Studios in London for a short film made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound - on - film process before their departure . Transatlantic Flight . Hinchliffe ' s peerless reputation made him the natural choice for pilot when Elsie Mackay attempted to achieve her ambition to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean . The daughter of P & O chairman James Mackay , 1st Earl of Inchcape had bought a Stinson Detroiter , and had it shipped from the USA to England and delivered to the Brooklands motor racing track , which at the time was also used as an airfield . Named " Endeavour " , it was a monoplane with gold tipped wings and a black fuselage , powered by a 9 cylinder , 300 h . p . Wright Whirlwind J - 6 - 9 ( R - 975 ) engine , with a cruising speed of 84 mph . In early March 1928 the " Daily Express " discovered that Captain Hinchliffe and Elsie were preparing for a transatlantic attempt by carrying out test flights at RAF Cranwell and were staying at The George Hotel in Leadenham . near Grantham . The story was silenced by Elsie ' s threatened legal action as she intended to depart in secret while her father was in Egypt , having promised her family she would not make the attempt . The Irish Times reported on 14 March 1928 " Captain Hinchcliffe and Captain Joynson - Wreford were at Baldonnel aerodrome about a fortnight ago , and . although no absolute definite arrangements were made , it was understood that he would make the aerodrome the headquarters for his Transatlantic attempt . " At 08 : 35am on 13 March 1928 " Endeavour " took off from RAF Cranwell , Lincolnshire , with minimal fuss as Walter had told only two friends and Elsie had registered under the pseudonym of ' Gordon Sinclair ' . Approximately 5 hours later , at 13 . 30pm the Chief lighthouse keeper at Mizen Head on the south west coast of Cork Ireland saw the monoplane over the village of Crookhaven , on the great circle course for Newfoundland . A French steamer later reported seeing them still on course , but nothing else is known . A crowd of 5 , 000 is reputed to have waited at Mitchel Field , Long Island . In December 1928 , 8 months later , a single piece of identifiable undercarriage washed ashore in North West Ireland .