"Yesterday We Were In America is a very fine book; I only wish I had written it."
Len Deighton
One of aviation's most significant flights is the subject of a new book by award-winning author Brendan Lynch. Yesterday We Were in America recounts in dramatic detail the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic ocean by Manchester airmen John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in their open-cockpit Vickers Vimy plane in June 1919. Author Len Deighton said; "The story of this historical flight has been shamefully neglected. It marked a moment when British aviation might have led the world. Alcock and Brown showed the way but the lesson was not learned."
The 90th anniversary book relates the story of the flight from the Vimy's assembly to its arrival in Ireland from St John's, Newfoundland, after a journey of 1880 miles, the longest distance ever flown by man.
During their 16-hour epic, Alcock and Brown survived continuous cloud, snow and ice and a near-fatal stall, as well as a damaged exhaust and a non-functioning wireless. With no modern aids and depending solely on Dead Reckoning, they landed in Connemara, Galway only 20 miles north of their target destination.
Their flight was a triumph of navigation, flying skill and rare courage which gained both men OBEs and international acclaim. Staff from the Marconi radio station were first to greet the Atlantic conquerors. They refused to believe that the fliers had crossed the ocean. "We are Alcock and Brown. Yesterday we were in America," the pilot reiterated.
In addition to recounting the Alcock and Brown flight in great detail, the book records the war experiences of both ex-prisoners of war and sets their flight firmly in the context of its time. It explains how their success provided a welcome spark of optimism in the immediate post-WW1 period of austerity and uncertainty.
Author Brendan Lynch is a former racing cyclist, driver and Grand Prix correspondent who has written five books. He has researched this book on both sides of the Atlantic and interviewed the last surviving witness to the Vimy's arrival and the late Steve Fossett, who replicated the flight in 2005. John Alcock's nephew, Group Captain A J H Alcock, MBE, described Yesterday We Were In America as; "A comprehensive and exciting account of one of the greatest feats of early aviation completed by two determined and courageous British pioneers."
15 June 2009 marks the 90th Anniversary of this historic flight |
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