15 June 1919 Alcock & Brown complete first non stop transatlantic flight
John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown flew the modified Vickers Vimy, powered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle 360 hp engines. Their altitude varied between sea level and 12,000 ft (3,700 m) and upon take-off they carried 865 imperial gallons (3,900 L) of fuel. They made landfall in Galway at 8:40 a.m. on 15 June 1919, not far from their intended landing place, after less than sixteen hours’ flying time.
The aircraft was damaged upon arrival due to an attempt to land in what appeared from the air to be a suitable green field but which turned out to be a bog, near Clifden in County Galway, Ireland, but neither of the airmen was hurt. They had spent around fourteen-and-a-half hours over the North Atlantic crossing the coast at 4:28 p.m., having flown 1890 miles (3040 km) in 15 hours 57 minutes at an average speed of 115 mph (185 km/h).