This egg-shaped monument in Ireland is one of the most important aviation sites in the world
Alcock and Brown might have semi-crash-landed -- but regardless, the pioneering pilots had completed a monumental feat, paving the way for transcontinental aviation as we know it today.
As well as the enigmatic egg, there's a more conventional memorial in recognition of Alcock and Brown's flight: an airplane wing that's closer to the road. The British Daily Mail newspaper ran a competition promising £10,000 to the first pilots who crossed the Atlantic without stopping in less than 72 hours .Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first trans-Atlantic jetliner flight
The duo completed the journey in 16 hours and 12 minutes, grabbing the prize money and sharing it with the Rolls-Royce and Vickers engineers who'd built the aircraft."The crossing of the Atlantic by aviation was seen as a real [Marco Polo-style] adventure that could be achieved at that time -- showing that aviation isn't just a 'fly by night' sort of activity. It's here to stay," says Collins.
"That's what I enjoy about it -- and to think of these guys flying at 110 miles an hour across the Atlantic, you think of how cold it was," says Ewing."They're sitting there going: 'Whoa, wait a minute. 110 miles an hour? There's no cockpit? How did they do that? Man, they did some crazy things back in those days.'"
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