Journal of Aeronautical History Paper 2020/04 ALCOCK & BROWN’S COMPETITORS Peter Elliott Curator Emeritus, Royal Air Force Museum ABSTRACT Alcock and Brown are rightly remembered as the first to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic, but it is not generally appreciated that they were in competition with several other aviators. Some of them had tried and failed, while others had not completed their preparations before Alcock and Brown reached Ireland. This paper will set out the background to the competition and throw light on those who might have become as well-known as Alcock and Brown, had the circumstances changed. 1. Who might have been first across the Atlantic? In 2019 the centenary of the first non-stop crossings of the Atlantic was widely celebrated in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but little attention was paid to those who also set their sights on the distinction of being the first to make a transatlantic flight. It has been said that, if there had been a speck of dust in their carburettors, we would not have heard of John Alcock and Arthur W Brown; whilst their success was doubtless attributable to factors such as reliable engines, others were not so lucky. This paper will describe those who are seldom in the limelight, and who might easily have become as well-known as – if not better-known than – those pioneers. It sets out the background to the competition that motivated many aviators, describes the little-known plans for the delivery of Handley Page bombers by air from American factories and tells the stories of the “also-rans” whose bids to be first across the Atlantic came to naught. Conclusions regarding the competing aircraft are drawn. 2. The Competition Lord Northcliffe, owner of the Daily Mail, gave substantial prizes to help promote aviation and – indirectly – his newspaper. These were (with winners): • 1906 London to Manchester (Paulhan 1910) • 1908 Cross-Channel (Blériot 1909) • First circular flight of a mile or more by a British pilot in a British-built machine (Moore-Brabazon) • 1911 1,000-mile Circuit of Britain (Conneau) • 1912 1,000-mile Seaplane Circuit of Britain (not won) This paper is based on a presentation given to a RAeS Historical Group seminar on 3 June 2019 99 Journal of Aeronautical History Paper 2020/04 In 1913 he announced a prize of £10,000 for the first transatlantic flight. Several people were reported to be making preparations, including Gordon England and Herr Rumpler, and a report in Flight implies that the Bleriot company and Colonel Samuel Cody were also intending to compete. The Belgian Charles Van den Born proposed flying from French Guinea to Brazil, but the competition rules effectively stipulated the North Atlantic.(1) Two firm entries were made, by Gustav Hamel (with a Martinsyde monoplane) and Lt J C Porte (Curtiss flying-boat).(2) Hamel was lost in the Channel in May 1914, and the war then intervened. 3. An Atlantic air bridge? After the US entered the war in 1917 the Standard Aircraft Corporation, located in New Jersey, USA, gained a contract to build 500 Handley Page O/400 bombers, which would be powered by Liberty engines in place of Rolls-Royce Eagles. In October 1917 Sir Frederick Handley Page proposed delivering the aircraft via Newfoundland to Ireland, pointing out the considerable morale effect that such a successful flight would have. “To Germany it would show that no point in that country was secure against Air raid and that the submarine no longer held the key of the transport problem. In this country it would enhance the prestige of the Air Service and increase the confidence of the British public.” He also pointed out that “the Italians planning a flight in the autumn with a Caproni machine. We can beat them if we start now”.(3) Standard also had a contract to build Caproni Ca 46s. The Air Board conducted a thorough investigation of the proposal, involving specialists in meteorology, navigation, aircraft performance, and compasses. The considered three possible routes: • Newfoundland – Cape Clear • St John’s – the Azores – Lisbon • Labrador – Greenland – Iceland – Scotland but their calculations indicated that the flight was at the edge of the O/400’s range.(4) In January 1918 reports were received that the US Government were “most anxious to fly their large machines straight across to France instead of by shipment, time and money being saved thereby.” The emphasis had shifted from national prestige to strategic advantage, although the air staff were keen to point out the need for special navigation techniques and instruments if the direct route was to be taken; they preferred going via the Azores. A minute on the file – the author’s name is illegible – states, “Personally I am of the opinion that if machines from America are to be delivered by air, we shall be lucky to get 20% of them across this way.” (5) In March 1918 Vickers sought permission to fly from New York to London in late July, with a Vimy, but the request was turned down by the Air Council. Lord Weir recommended that the decision be reconsidered in three months’ time. (6) 100 Journal of Aeronautical History Paper 2020/04 Porte – by now a lieutenant colonel – submitted a paper in May 1918 proposing a flight “in conjunction with the United States Naval Authorities, so as to get their full co-operation and to prevent any jealousy or misunderstanding in the matter.” The aircraft, apparently a modified Felixstowe F.5 flying-boat, should be built in America and powered by Rolls-Royce engines. Porte was rather dismissive regarding landplanes. He felt that private manufacturers would use a transatlantic flight as “advertisement, with its scientific side a very bad second” whereas a national (i.e. service) flight “would be solely for the collection of sufficient data to … show others how to follow after, allowing aircraft to be delivered by air.(7) He pointed out that using a landplane would require the construction of aerodromes in the Azores and that a seaplane would be more likely to survive ditching. Porte had planned to use this route when he entered the competition in 1914. A paper by Lt Col R C M Pink (later of Pink’s War fame) considered a flight by RAF flying-boats via the Azores, noted the US Navy’s preparations and warned that Porte’s proposed flight would “risk the crews of the boats on far too slender a chance”. He contended that it was better not to attempt the flight at all rather than to throw away useful lives on an ill-considered scheme, but tempered this by asking “Is it or is it not worthwhile that the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic shall be built, designed and manned by the British?” (8) Stirring stuff! The Royal Navy were apparently unwilling to provide ships to support the flight. The Air Council included transatlantic flights (whether by landplane or flying-boat) in a proposed programme of demonstration flights discussed at a meeting in December 1918.(9) In Newfoundland, an RAF officer had identified a site for an airfield. A lease was taken out on land at Mount Pearl in the summer of 1918, but the ground had to be cleared and levelled, at significant cost – not least because the landowner was proving difficult, claiming compensation for (10 ) the destruction of a rhubarb patch! The Air Ministry informed the Society of British Aircraft Constructors in April 1919 that the site was available for use albeit requiring further improvement and noted that firms were “making their own arrangements for aerodrome accommodation”.(11) 4. Competition renewed In February 1919 the Royal Aero Club reissued the rules for the Daily Mail prize: • The flight must be in an aeroplane, rather than an airship or balloon • It could be made from any point in Great Britain or Ireland to any point in Newfoundland, Canada or the USA, or vice versa. Newfoundland was not part of Canada at the time – it was a separate Dominion until 1949. • The competition was open to persons of any nationality not of enemy origin, and no aeroplane of enemy origin or manufacture could be used – the war was, technically, not over until the Treaty of Versailles was signed four months later on 28 June 1919. • There was a limit of 72 consecutive hours for the flight. • Competitors were allowed only one aircraft per attempt – no changing horses in mid- stream – but 101 Journal of Aeronautical History Paper 2020/04 • An intermediate stop or stops on water would be allowed without penalty. (12) It seems that 11 contenders declared their intention to try for the prize: six of them didn’t make it to the starting line. Table 1: entrants who did not compete Pilot & Crew Aircraft Capt Sundstedt & Maj. Morgan Sundstedt Sunrise (seaplane) Kennedy-Dawson (Modified Mr Dawson Sikorsky) S Pickles & Capt A G D West Fairey Atlantic (modified IIIC) Capt A Payze + 2 Whitehead biplane J A Peters & Capt W R Curtis Alliance Seabird Maj Savory, Capt Woolner & Boulton & Paul P.8 A L Howarth Sundstedt was originally Swedish but was applying for American citizenship. His seaplane had a wingspan of 100 ft, with two engines driving pusher propellers and was built in New Jersey. Unfortunately, it crashed on a test flight. Mr Dawson’s aircraft seems not to have been built. Designed by C J H M Kennedy, who had worked with Sikorsky, it would have had a span of 108 feet and been powered by four Napier Lion engines.(13) Little information is available regarding two of the competitors.