The Great Atlantic Air Race

Gavin Will

The Great Atlantic Air Race

chapter 1

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The Great Atlantic Air Race Broyle, a community situated halfway between St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Trepassey, was cancelled when the war ended in November 1918.

With peace, the navy focused on Byrdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transatlantic project, using its new NC flying boats. Byrd had hoped to fly one of the aircraft across the Atlantic, but again his ambitions were dashed, this time by an edict issued by his superiors that the planes be crewed entirely by men who had not participated in a combat zone. The rationale for this rule remains obscure, but it applied to Byrd.

The navy did allow Byrd to command the American transatlantic effort, however, which included one more dramatic element besides the flying boats. On May 15, 1919, spectators dashed to the shores of Quidi Vidi Lake and watched in awe as a blue cigar-shaped airship sailed serenely over St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. The US Navy planned to fly the C-5 blimp non-stop to Europe from Newfoundland.

Under the command of Emory Coil, it had flown from Montauk Point, Long Island, and, after arriving in St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, was now tethered to the ground close to the Martinsyde biplane.

The C-5 was awaiting the arrival of Byrd, who was travelling by train to St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s from Trepassey to meet the airship, before Coil and his men set off across the ocean.

But the crew underestimated the ferocity of maritime storms in Newfoundland, and high winds suddenly tore the C-5 from its moorings on the day of its arrival in St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Two crewmen leaped to the ground â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one of them sustaining serious injuries â&#x20AC;&#x201C; before the airship was carried out to sea. It was never seen again.

Right: The C-5 blimp, seen here shortly after it arrived in St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in May 1919. High winds tore the blimp from its moorings and carried it out to sea. The C-5 was one of a series of lighter-than-air craft designed by the US Navy following the First World War. The ) # X ! ) YE 4 ! # ! < ' * )# " ZE " E ! " leg of a planned transatlantic journey.

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Racing the Atlantic Although the airship was out of the contest, the Americans still had their flying boats, which were now ready to attempt an ocean crossing. With the two British air teams bogged down in testing their machines, many of the dozens of reporters covering the air race boarded a train to visit the windswept, barren landscape of Trepassey. They would not be disappointed, for on May 16 they watched as the three flying boats took off and headed southeast for the Azores.

The journey would prove to be a perilous one, even with support from the US fleet. Each flying boat carried a radio, but all three instruments proved unreliable. As a result, the crews had to rely heavily upon visual beacons provided by the naval vessels which were strategically lined up along the route to the Azores.

However, a dense fog bank soon rendered this assistance useless and the three aircraft flew blind for much of the journey. The NC-1, under Lieutenant Commander Peter Bellinger, encountered engine trouble and landed at sea 320 kilometres from the Azores. A ship rescued the crew, but the plane sank. The NC-3, piloted by Commander John Towers, became lost in the fog and also landed on the ocean, 120 kilometres

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