effort as a whole.

The French route which Lieutenant Fontan, of the French army, tried
twice, and on which he was twice forced to land because of engine
trouble, was laid to take advantage of favoring winds. Across the
South Atlantic the winds prevail in the spring of the year from east
to west, contrary to the winds on the northern course. A twenty-mile
wind at the back of a flier jumping the one thousand eight hundred
miles across this bit of water would add just twenty miles an hour to
the ground speed of the machine.

Capt. John Alcock and Lieut. Arthur Whitten Brown startled the entire
world on June 15, 1919, with the success of their straight flight
from Newfoundland to Ireland, covering 1,960 land miles in 16 hours
and 12 minutes, at an average speed of 120 miles an hour. Not only was
this the longest non-stop flight over land or water on record, but the
greatest international sporting event. As such, though credit for the
first flight of the Atlantic belongs to the American NC-4, it eclipses
for daring the flight of the American navy. The Vickers-Vimy plane
left St. John's, Newfoundland, on June 14th, at 4.29 P.M., Greenwich
mean time, and landed at Clifden, Ireland, on June 15th, at 8.40 A.M.,
Greenwich mean time. The machine was equipped with two 375-horse-power
Rolls-Royce Eagle engines, and had a wing span of 67 feet and measured
42 feet 8 inches over all.

The start of the American fliers was made after a series of tests of
the seaplanes which covered a period of almost two months. At the
outset it was decided to fly three out of the four NC planes, on the
theory that one of the machines would probably prove to be weaker or
less easy to handle than the others. The NC-2 proved to be the
unfortunate sister in this case, and because of some defects in the
arrangement of her engine-bearing struts she was dismantled and left
behind.

With the decision to start three planes simultaneously, the navy made
it clear that, although it hoped all three seaplanes might complete
the trip, allowance was made for one or two machines to give up the
flight if they found themselves in trouble.

The NC-1, and NC-3, and the NC-4 all proved to be up to expectations,
and, with increased engine power, showed that they could take-off the
water with a load of twenty-eight thousand five hundred pounds. After
the necessary tests had been made on Jamaica Bay, Commander Towers
said on May 4th that the start would be made a little