Return from Provins via Montois and Brie, or perhaps via Vaux-le-Vicomte (everything is in our power) Chalotre-la-Petite Saint-Loup-de-No Donmarie-Dontilly Rampillon Brie-Comte-Robert Gros-Bois Sin hurry away from Provins, without examining its unique treasures and

Flight-grass To fulfill any desires, you need to tame this amazing grass, but this is not so easy to do, because, according to stories, it is transferred from place to place by itself. All of it shines with rainbow colors, and on a dark night in flight it seems like a falling star.

Chapter 3. The comedy of Charles Ponzi: the great secrets and origins of the pyramid schemes “Ponzi turns one dollar into a million and does it with his sleeves rolled up. You just give him a dollar, and Ponzi screw six zeros to him. " Boston Travel, July 1920 "Reinvest and Tell

1901 Fessenden's radiotelephone patent, Marconi transmission across the Atlantic In 1901, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden received the world's first radiotelephone patent In 1901, on December 12, the 1st long-distance wireless communication (Morse letter S) was

Nowadays, passengers of huge Boeings cross the Atlantic, almost not thinking that they are flying over this particular ocean, and not over any other. At an altitude of twelve thousand meters, the sea space is nameless, barely discernible. Films that passengers watch on board carry them to another location. There is no more space, there is only flight time. This loss of reality will be even worse on a supersonic plane without windows.

However, pilots and navigators are constantly aware that they are flying over the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic with its jet streams (air transport at high altitudes), with its special state of the atmosphere, even affects the automatic flight instruments. And it was this air Atlantic Ocean with all its originality that the people who made the first flights had to overcome.

IN THREE DAYS THROUGH THE ATLANTIC

AIRCRAFT TRIUMPH

MONK MEYSON

Such a sensational headline appeared on April 13, 1844, on the front page of the New York Sun. Further it was reported: “Messrs. Mason, Robert, Holland, Hensen, Ainsworth and four other people arrived on the Sullivan Island near Charleston (South Carolina) on the Victoria balloon. The flight from one country to another lasted 75 hours. " Then came the "complete description of the trip." It was also reported that the English heroes hit the road on April 6 and arrived on the 9th. These were the first people to make a successful attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air. However, their names and their feat were not included in the encyclopedia. The reason for this is simple: The New York Sun was a joke, and its author, a master of fiction, was named Edgar Allan Poe. The newspaper had to admit this and publish a refutation.

On May 28, 1919, that is, eighty-five years later, the newspapers reported: "THROUGH THE ATLANTIC IN 11 DAYS (25 YEAR HOURS), THE TRIUMPH OF THE FOUR-MOTOR AIRPLANE KURTISS". It went on to say, "Lieutenant Commander Reed, Lieutenants Stone and Hinton, Lt. Rodd, Flight Mechanic Rhodes and Emergency Pilot Breeze, departing from St. John's in Newfoundland on May 16, arrived in Lisbon on May 27 after a week's stop in the Azores." This time, there was no need to refute the message. Reed and his crew actually existed. First in Lisbon, then in London, they were given a loud ovation as representatives of the American Admiralty, which had carefully prepared this flight.

Lord Northcliffe, the wealthiest owner of The Times and the Daily Mail, promised £ 10,000 to the first aviator to fly over the Atlantic in one direction or another "without landing and in less than 72 hours."

Two demobilized English pilots decided to try their luck: John Alcock, twenty-eight years old, a former pilot in the rank of captain, merry fellow and a cheerleader, and Arthur Whitten Brown, thirty-four years old, a former navigator with the rank of lieutenant, shy, slightly limping, since in 1915 was shot down with his plane. On June 14, 1919, both of them took off from Newfoundland. Due to the direction of the prevailing winds, flying from west to east was considered much easier.

Less than an hour after the flight, the radio went out of order. The sky was covered with clouds, the fog hid the waves of the Atlantic from the eyes. I had to fly blindly. Turbulence began due to vortexes. Ham sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies and a bottle of beer are a bit uplifting for aviators. But when the speedometer fails, when the airplane loses altitude and the sea waves are six meters away, the spirit also falls. Alcock levels the car when sparks burst from the exhaust elbow of the right engine. All that remained was to pray to God that this fireworks of molten metal droplets would not burn through the stabilizers.

It became very cold in the air, the wings, braces, the fuselage and partly the motors were covered with frost. The rudders were poorly obeyed. A few more minutes, and they will stall, then - a free fall.

“There's only one way out,” Brown shouted to the pilot.

- You mean to say that we need to clean off the ice?

- Yes, I will.

- No, it's too risky.

Without answering, Brown climbed out of the cab. With a penknife in hand, he moved along the lower right wing. His shoes slipped, his stiff legs did not obey. Finally, the suction pipes, Brown uses a knife. The ice is falling off in plates, the gasoline intake indicator is released, the air filters are open. It was necessary to return to the cockpit, and then take the same journey along the left wing. And this whole double operation will be repeated five times.

“Acrobatics never seduced me,” Brown would say later. - And this performance over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of 2600 m at a speed of 160 km per hour, and even without the approval of the audience, seemed to me completely uninteresting.

By six o'clock in the morning on June 15, Alcock risked a slight decline. The ice thawed, the fog cleared. Soon they saw land. This was Ireland. Alcock had to go around the summit of Connemara, then the city of Clifden, where no site could be found, and finally descended into a green field, which seemed very suitable from a height. In fact, it was a swamp, so that the first plane to fly over the Atlantic without landing, buried its nose in the ground. But that didn't matter. With a result of 16 hours and 12 minutes, Alcock and Brown received Lord Northcliffe's ten thousand pounds. The Minister of Defense and Aviation presented the heroes with a check for this amount. The minister's name was Winston Churchill.

King George V granted the victors the nobility. Sir John Alcock had only a few weeks to use the title and money. In December 1919, while delivering a new Vickers apparatus, it crashed into a tree near the Seine.

Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, whose shyness acquired a tinge of sadness over time, lived later on completely imperceptibly and in 1946 died just as imperceptibly.

Although at London airport, the stone faces of Alcock and Brown gaze wistfully at the continuous flow of passengers arriving there in five hours from New York and soon to cross the Atlantic in two and a half hours, they cannot be found in French name dictionaries.

- Who was the first to fly over the Atlantic Ocean from west to east?

Of a hundred people who will be asked this question, at least ninety will answer: Lindbergh. Glory went to Lindbergh for various reasons, of which two are quite obvious: he flew alone and straight from New York to Paris.

Even before Alcock and Brown made their flight, the American Aero Club received a letter dated May 22, 1919. “Gentlemen, in order to encourage the courage of the aviators, I want to offer, according to the rules, through the Aero Club of America, a reward of $ 25,000 to the first pilot of any of the Allied countries who will make a non-stop flight from Paris to New York or vice versa. For additional inquiries, we are always at your disposal. Yours sincerely, Raymond Orteg.

The journalists didn’t need to find the signer. He was a short man with a mustache, of medium height, regular features and courteous demeanor. From his words, they learned that he was a French Basque, that he was a shepherd as a child, and in his youth the hope of getting rich led him to New York. The Breeworth Hotel took him on probation as a waiter. A few years later, Orteg became its owner, and in 1919 he acquired another hotel, Lafayette.

The first entries of applicants for the Ortega Prize began to arrive at the Aeroclub only in early 1925, mostly French. In 1927, a newspaper article reported the listing of an unknown American named Lindenberg.

In fact, he was Lindbergh, Charles Augustus, the son of the Minister of Justice, Scandinavian by birth. His family often changed their place of residence and Charles passed from school to school, not shining in any of them. He is only interested in aviation. He first saw an airplane in Washington when he was ten years old. At that time, there were spectacles all over the United States, where aerobatics were shown and those who wished were lifted into the air. On April 1, 1922, Charles Lindbergh, already admitted to the Wisconsin School of Engineering, entered the flight school of the Nebraska Aviation Company and then became an aerial acrobat. He walks along the wing of a flying airplane, jumps with a parachute, performs dead loops, corkscrews, and dives over a crowd of spectators. He was born in Detroit, but chose the city of St. Louis, Missouri, where he began his career as an air ace and where he developed strong friendships. His first personal airplane was an obsolete Jenny from military warehouses. The experience gained in elementary flight school allowed him to become a pilot of the mail line between St. Louis and Chicago. A year later, Charles Lindbergh writes a letter nominating himself for the Ortega Prize.

Friends in St. Louis lend him $ 10.715 million, and he solicits an appointment with Charles A. Levin, chairman of the board of directors of the Columbia Aviation Corporation.

- I would like to buy a car from you to fly from New York to Paris.

The powerful administrator looked sympathetically at this awkward stranger, who was twenty-six years old, but appeared to be five years younger.

“We cannot allow any aviator to fly our airplane over the ocean. This concerns the reputation of the firm.

Having been refused, Charles Lindbergh tried to talk to various designers, but achieved nothing. Everyone thought his intention was reckless. After all, this guy was going to fly alone in a single-engine airplane.

- Why single-engine?

- With two motors the chance of an accident is doubled. Three times three. I want to fly alone to bring more gas with me. The flight will last forty hours.

“You can't stand forty hours without sleep.

- I already did it.

Finally, the Ryan Company of San Diego, California agreed to sell a 220 hp single-engine airplane to Charles Lindbergh for $ 10,000. with., made of wood and canvas, with a wingspan of 11.3 m. In any modern airport this car would look just ridiculous next to the liners. Lindbergh had long since mentally christened her Soul of St. Louis.

“You will receive it in two months,” the designer told him.

Several pilots have already been preparing for the Ortega Prize. Lindbergh spent many hours every day with the workers and technicians building his car. On April 26, he could already experience it. She was quick and comfortable, only she lacked a little stability. In the following days, this deficiency was eliminated.

- On May 8 I will fly to St. Louis, and then from St. Louis to New York, it will be a real test flight for me.

On May 8, American newspapers reported that two Frenchmen, Nangesser and Coley, flew from Paris to New York. On May 9, there was no news from them, and on May 10, their disappearance was confirmed. Nangesser was a famous World War I ace who shot down 45 enemy aircraft. His disappearance together with Kolya on the White Bird was all the more traumatic for the French public, because on the evening of May 9, 1927, a Parisian newspaper published a special issue, where it was reported about the solemn arrival of two aviators with exciting details: in the car, as if not perceiving the cheers. Then they both rose from their seats at once. A motor boat came for them, and so on. " Officially confirming the message, a special airplane launched rockets into the sky of Paris. Then, after several hours of silence, a telegram hung in the lobbies of newspaper offices: "There is no official confirmation of the arrival of Nangesser and Kolya." The angry mob threw stones and burned a deceitful special edition in the streets. The circumstances of the death of the pilots will remain forever unknown.

Lindbergh flew from San Diego to St. Louis on May 10, and from there on May 11 to New York. At Curtiss Field, reporters were waiting for him, and this time they wrote Lindbergh's name correctly in their reports, as the Soul of St. Louis broke the speed record on a transcontinental flight from St. Louis to New York.

However, this did not prevent New York newspapers from naming Lindbergh, when it became officially known about his intention to fly from New York to Paris alone and about his departure "flying fool". AT english word "Fool" can slip a gentle shade, but nevertheless in the exact translation it means "a flying fool".

On May 20, the same newspapers printed several lines in small print about the eccentric "flight to Paris". The big headlines related to the boxing match, which on that day had to decide which of the two, Sharkey or Malonny, would face off against champion Jack Dempsey.

Lindbergh departed New York at 0752 local time. At 2030 hours it was reported that he had passed St. John's in Newfoundland. The news was heard on the radio at the Yankee Stadium, where the boxers' match was ending at that time. Forgetting about the winner, at the invitation of the announcer, everyone rose from their seats for collective prayer. After all, the young American defended "in the icy solitude of the night and the sea, the honor of the star flag."

The next day, the word "fool" disappeared from almost all headlines. Some newspapers called Lindbergh a "flying eagle."

Departure for the "boy from the West" was not easy. On the evening of May 16, a storm broke out into the ocean. On May 19, due to rain and drizzle, even the tops of skyscrapers were not visible. Before heading to the theater with one of his friends, Lindbergh called - for the sixth time - to the weather station. Answer: "It is starting to clear up, but it is better to wait a day or two."

- I fly out at dawn.

Lindbergh tries to sleep for several hours in his room. The darkest predictions of his detractors are whirring through his head: with a full supply of fuel, his car will weigh 2.5 tons, this is too much to take off with a 220 horsepower engine; the pilot gets lost in the fog; sleep will overpower him and he will break. He had not fallen asleep for a second when in the morning they knocked on his door. The street was still foggy.

The Soul of St. Louis has already been delivered to Roosevelt airfield. She seemed tiny and flimsy, her wings trembling in the wind. Those present were silent, but on all the faces turned to the "flying fool", which was not yet twenty-six, one thought was expressed: "Back off or wait for at least better weather."

Lindbergh climbed into the car. The cockpit was well closed, but because of the tanks, which made it possible to take a large supply of fuel, the pilot could not see anything in front of him and could only look through the side windows. Lindbergh started the engine, then signaled to the mechanics to remove the wedges. The car rolled heavily through the puddles. Lindbergh managed to get off the ground only at the very end of the runway.

Aviation historians wrote that this flight went without incident. Indeed, nothing serious happened, except for the fact that for the first time in many millions of years of the existence of the Atlantic Ocean, a man found himself alone over this blue-green foam expanse. Lindbergh could not help but think of Nangesser and Kolya, missing in this abyss of water. He knew that his worst enemy would be sleep, and to refresh his face, he opened one of the windows. The whirlwind that burst almost carried away his map. A small incident, but it could end everything.

An experienced navigator, Lindbergh flew in a great circle, the shortest path on the globe from one point to another. At that time, almost all ships followed the loxodromic line, a curve that intersected the earth's meridians at one angle, which made it possible not to change course. That is why the waters under the wing of the airplane were completely deserted. However, after Newfoundland, the picture changed. Lindbergh could distinguish on the dark surface of the sea numerous white ships of an unusual appearance: icebergs.

From time to time, by the behavior of the car, the aviator felt that it was getting heavy. Ice crust. He descended, trying to get into the warmer layers of the air, sometimes over the very sea. But then the treacherous dream fell on him with all his might and had to rise again.

The whole day was foggy and gray, then a dreary twilight stretched and finally night fell. The engine ran smoothly, without straying from consistent courses accurately calculated by a good navigator. But the dream did not unclench its treacherous embrace at night. Quite the opposite, there have been moments when Lindbergh had to hold his eyelids with his fingers to keep them from closing. By the beginning of the next day, 3,500 km were left behind, a little more than half the way. Thanks to the favorable wind, the second half took him less time. Keeping at a fairly low altitude, Lindbergh saw a dolphin - the first living creature from the moment of departure, then a flotilla of fishing vessels. He went down almost to the water itself. No one was visible on the decks. Noticing a face in one of the windows, he recklessly opened the window and shouted: "Which way is Ireland?" Of course, no one could hear him. When, at the end of the day, Lindbergh noticed a dark streak on the horizon, he muttered, "Clouds again." But his heart began to beat, for he knew that it could be earth. "If my calculations are correct." They were correct. It turned out to be land. Ireland. From here everything went simply, only once, when the engine began to sneeze, he thought that the gasoline had stopped flowing, but then everything worked out again. Lindbergh recognized Plymouth, flew a little more over the sea and again saw a dark streak with lighthouse lights: France.

The young American feared that the French would receive him too coldly because of the failure of Nangesser and Kolya. He had a small notebook where he wrote down everything that “had to be done” after landing: ask the airport management for a hangar for his car; try to call one of the embassies, etc. At the end of this list, a few words testifying to the incredible modesty of the "flying fool": "Find a not very expensive hotel." Lindbergh had absolutely no idea that at the moment when the Soul of St. Louis appeared over the mouth of the Seine, a huge and already maddened crowd rushed to the Bourget airfield. French radio reported on his departure, and then on the flight over Ireland and Plymouth.

Lindbergh landed at 22 hours 22 minutes Paris time - in New York it was 17 hours 22 minutes. At least such a time was recorded in the protocol at the suggestion of the Belgian aviation attache Willie Coppens Houthulst. Other "officials" forgot to look at their watches, they were so excited. General emotion emerges from the very first line of this protocol: “May 20-21, 1927. Paris-New York "(sic). Instead of New York-Paris.

From a crowd of hundreds of thousands of Parisians, very many managed to break through or bypass the police barriers. The airfield was crowded with men and women in evening dresses, workers in overalls, hastily dressed people, apparently pulled out of their beds by their knowledgeable neighbors, photographers trying to protect their machines, girls waving bouquets of flowers. Even the mayors of the northern suburbs, tied in their tricolor scarf, could be seen in the crowd.

When the airplane appeared, everyone jumped from their place, caps flew into the air, trampled by the running crowd. Women pushed their way with handbags. As soon as Lindbergh landed the car, he had to hastily stop the propeller, otherwise he could blow heads and hands.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh received Ortega's $ 25,000 for the first ever air link across the Atlantic between New York and Paris. He was young, handsome, handsome, he went out alone to meet danger. And the next day Lindbergh became an idol. The French government awarded him the Order of the Legion of Honor, the Americans conferred the rank of colonel in the air force. He received seventeen orders and insignia from different countries, and the secretariat, hastily created by the American embassy, \u200b\u200bsorted out three million letters and three hundred thousand telegrams. The direct air link between the two capitals (New York essentially plays the role of the capital) opened a new era for aviation.

It would take a whole book to revive in the memory of everyone who conquered the Atlantic ocean, and everyone who died in this attempt and took the secret of their death into the depths of the sea. The crew, which made the first flight from east to west, consisted of three people, among them one was terminally ill with cancer and knew that he would soon die. His name was Gunther von Hunefeld, he wore a monocle, was very rich and financed the entire expedition. With him flew two pilot-navigators, Captain Kohl, who headed the night flight service of the German company Lufthansa, and the Irishman James Fitzmaurice. Their 350-horsepower single-engine Junkers, which took off on April 12, 1928 from the Irish city of Bladonnell, landed on Greenlee Island off Labrador the next day, Friday April 13. Their takeoff was difficult, but on the way everything was done without great obstacles. James Fitzmaurice, the "Hero of Ireland", received an honorary award from the President of the Republic of Ireland. Baron von Hunefeld soon died in a German hospital, where he was operated on, trying to do his best.

On June 16, 1929, news spread that three Frenchmen had flown across the North Atlantic, departing from Stary Sad in the Boston area on a Berker monoplane powered by a Hispano-Suiza. After two forced landings, in Spain and in Mimizan (Landa), they landed at Bourges. If they did not manage to make a non-stop flight from Boston to Paris, then the reason for the failure was a secret passenger, whose weight increased gas mileage. The airplane, which had secretly taken off from France, where it was denied permission for a transatlantic flight, was called "Canary" and had a color corresponding to this name. The names of the three heroes of the day - Assolan, Lefebvre, Lottie.

Less than a month after the Canary landed, it was reported that on July 13, at 9.30 am, two French aviators, Coast and Bellont, flew from Bourget to New York on a Breguet airplane with a Hispano-Suiza engine, named “ Question mark". In the first messages from an airplane flying over the ocean, almost the same thing was repeated: "Everything is going well." Then at 18 hours 15 minutes: "Back to Bourges."

The "question mark" met with winds of such force that with the remaining amount of gasoline, they would not have reached New York.

“I want to make our flight in better conditions,” Costa said on his return to Bourges, “so I need a good weather report. We must wait for favorable weather.

Everyone knew that he was right. In France, they could not help but think about the deaths of Nangesser and Kolya, and Kost evoked confidence.

Thirty-eight years old, native of Montalban. During the First World War, he fought brilliantly in the aviation units. And most importantly, in the fall of 1927, he, together with Lieutenant-Commander Lebry, made a non-stop flight across the South Atlantic from Senegal to Brazil, taking off from Saint Louis and landing in Natal in an airplane that was daringly named, contrary to superstition, "Nangesser et Coley".

After the first unsuccessful attempt to fly across the North Atlantic, the Coast changes the engine in the "Question Mark": 780 horsepower, a gasoline supply of 5200 liters, a flight range of 9000 km, that is, almost twice the distance from Paris to New York. Twice a day, a careful pilot makes inquiries at the weather stations. On August 31, 1930, he dispatches the Question Mark to Bourges. Favorable weather in the Atlantic, cloudy in France. Coast and Bellont took off at dawn on September 1.

Radio communication with Paris is maintained continuously through ships that served as an intermediate station. In the early morning of September 2, it was reported that the Question Mark flew southeast of Newfoundland, then south of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. At 12.30, his callsigns suddenly stopped. Radio communication is lost. In France, they are trying to reassure themselves with reports from American coast stations that they have seen the "Question Mark". However, all messages are vague and contradictory, and again the ghost of the "White Bird" begins to instill alarm. Finally, a red airplane was spotted 250 km from New York. This time there could be no mistake. He is accompanied by seven American airplanes.

A huge crowd gathered in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. At 20.30 the loudspeakers announced: "A direct telephone connection will now be established with Curtiss airfield." Such news was unheard of at the time. An amazing silence reigned in the square, everyone heard the noise of the American airfield coming through the loudspeaker. Suddenly there was a clear hum of engines, shouts, cheers. Then the voice of Costa and the voice of Bellont - words addressed to their compatriots at a distance of 5000 km. Then the Marseillaise, picked up by hundreds of voices at the Curtisse airfield and by thousands at the Place de la Concorde.

In 1927, Lindbergh's fame brought aviation enthusiasm to the highest level in the United States. A wealthy American woman, the wife of an Englishman who held a high position in the British Air Department, wanted to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic at all costs. Without saying anything to her neighbors, Mrs. Guest bought a three-engined Fokker, hired a pilot and mechanic, and began preparations. When her family found out about this, the opposition was so great that Mrs. Guest abandoned her idea.

“But only,” she said, “on the condition that my Fokker still flies across the ocean, and that there will be a woman on board, an American. I'll talk to Putman about it.

George Palmer Putman was the publisher. He persuaded Lindbergh to write his "notes", and also prepared a contract for Mrs. Guest, "the first woman to measure her strength with the Atlantic." When she asked to find her a replacement, a thought struck him.

- I dined with my friends with a girl who is passionate about flying, and she is like two peas in a pod like Lindbergh.

Tall and thin, with short-cropped hair, with gray-blue eyes, Amelia Earhart, in fact, was surprisingly reminiscent of the hero of the New York-Paris flight. She was born in Kansas on July 24, 1898. In 1917, a volunteer nurse, she began a preparatory medical course in New York City, but then dropped out and went to work in the social security system. Like Lindbergh, Amelia was very fond of aerial performances. Just like him, at first a simple spectator, she later becomes a performer. She was twenty-three years old when she first flew on her own, and a year later she had already set an altitude record for women exceeding 4600 m.

Amelia Earhart happily agreed to fly across the ocean in a Fokker and, without reading, signed all the advertising contracts that George Putman offered her. When Amelia realized that she would not be a pilot at all, but simply let herself be driven, she was seized with rage, but it was too late to refuse. Mrs. Guest's airplane, piloted by Stolz and also carrying flight mechanic Gordon and passenger Amelia Earhart, took off in Newfoundland, flew safely over the ocean and landed at Bury on June 18, 1928.

“They just drove me like a sack of potatoes,” Amelia said.

However, the whole world, forgetting about the pilot, was occupied with only one passenger. Radio, cinema, newspapers promised her mountains of gold.

First of all, Amelia had to fulfill Putman's contracts. After settling in the house of the publisher, she wrote a story about "her flight" - "Twenty hours and forty minutes", dedicating it to Putman's wife. She did not yet know that her husband was drawing up a divorce with the intention of marrying her, Amelia.

Amelia agreed to this marriage, which some considered fictitious. The conditions were as follows: Amelia continues to fly, and her husband helps her in this. At the time, George Palmer Putman took over the role of his wife's impresario. The very lightweight airline suitcases come with the Amelia Earhart label. Vignettes for cigarette stamps depicting the famous aviator (everyone knows that she does not smoke) with a cigarette in her teeth, in sportswear, are signed by her hand. However, Amelia wants to prove that she is not only an advertising diva, and she sets a new altitude record for women - 6000 m.On May 20, 1932, she takes off alone - finally alone - from Newfoundland on a red Lockheed Vega monoplane and heading for Europe.

The flight turned out to be a great challenge. When the ice crust on the wings got too heavy, Amelia descended, almost brushing the foamy crests of the waves. The hardest part was keeping balance. "It seemed to me that I was inside a drum, where water is poured, and that I was fighting with elephants there." Before, she almost never flew at night, so she is frightened by the flames from the exhaust pipe, which have faded only with dawn. “The day that came only intensified my fears. I was glad to see that the ocean turned pink, then blue, but the pale dawn squeezed my heart. And then I discovered a gasoline leak, it rolled in a trickle along the surface of the wing, not far from the exhaust pipe. I no longer saw the fire near her, but I knew very well that it was there, and asked myself how it would all end ... ”It ended in Ireland. Due to the lack of gasoline, the real goal - Paris - was out of reach for Lockheed.

“Suddenly I noticed a field. And almost all over the field of cows. I began to circle over him, back and forth, up and down. Frightened cows scurried from side to side. My God, I thought, now one of them will break his leg, and when I land, the farmer will go for a gun! "

The airplane finally sat down, the cows stopped running around the field, and the farmer confined himself to the question:

- Where are you from?

- From America.

He left with a shrug. The other farmers showed more curiosity, and the two old maids, although shocked by the awkward outfit of the foreign woman wearing the breeches, still welcomed her with the traditional nice cup of tea.

The telegram that Amelia managed to send that day to the New York Times, which financed the flight, did not take effect until the next day. The cow meadow became a real airport, air squadrons brought there special correspondents of all British newspapers. And that was just the beginning. In Paris, a new celebrity was taken from one banquet to another. Lanvin offered her the most beautiful evening dresses, the Senate arranged a grand reception. The only thing she seemed to lack, like Alcock and Brown, was the recognition of the Grand Larousse French Encyclopedic Dictionary.

In Washington, President Hoover invited Amelia Earhart to dinner at the White House, and for the first time in United States history, the Pilot's Cross adorned a woman's chest.

Amelia was already thinking about another ocean, about the ocean where she was destined to die.

- My concern is mail. I am a postal worker. Flights across the Atlantic can no longer be just a sporting achievement. Letters must be delivered.

The man who said this was a French pilot already famous in Brazil: Jean Mermoz. A brilliant pilot of the last war, then an airline pilot at Latecoer, Mermoz, together with Guillaume, is laying the Rio de Janeiro-Santiago (Chile) air line across the formidable Andes. Having suffered an accident in these harsh mountains, he saves himself at the cost of superhuman endurance and courage. In the last years of his life, he was the organizer of postal airlines in South America. Like many others, Mermoz once dreamed of flying from Paris to New York, but he could not get the necessary plane. And here is the mail.

“Now we need to provide a weekly postal service between Senegal and Brazil.

On May 12, 1930, he takes off from Saint-Louis in Senegal in the seaplane Late-28 "Comte de la Vaux", together with navigator Dabri and radio operator Gimier. On the way, they met a gigantic thundercloud up to 5000 m high - a black mass penetrated by lightning that stood in front of them like a rocky abyss.

“The seaplane has never climbed that high,” Mermoz said. - I decided to go around the obstacle from below.

They flew over this black barrier almost at the very water, made their way through the thick darkness and water tornado penetrated by lightning. It was a fight not only with the air, but also with the sea. Stripped to the waist, the aviators listened anxiously to the engine interruptions, which were now and then flooded with water. The ocean below them was blacker than night.

Mermoz finally managed to get out from under this formidable wall without touching it at all. They flew now in the moonlight over the silver expanse of water. 3173 km were covered in 21 hours. The seaplane range record was broken. And the bags of letters crossed the South Atlantic.

- Mail has to go across the ocean back and forth.

About a month later, Mermoz prepared Late-28 for the return journey. The heavily loaded seaplane could not take off from the unfavorably oriented water surface - it was the Potingi River. Sixteen attempts were made that day and twelve the next. Mermoz reduced the load and moved the car to a different, differently located take-off site 50 km from Natal. By that time the wind had changed, so that the car was again facing the wrong direction. Only after the fifty-second attempt did Mermoz finally manage to break away from the water.

- The mail will be delivered.

The South Atlantic is restless, streams of rain pouring down on it, but all this no longer reaches the fierce force that threatened them last time. The radio operator is now in contact with the ships. Traces of oily droplets appear on the windshield halfway through.

- This is from excess oil.

But it was a leak. 500 km from Dakar, the needle of the oil level gauge was at zero, the engine was incredibly hot. Mermoz was forced to land the car next to the Fose which was on its way. Due to the rough sea, the transfer to the ship was long and dangerous. Huge waves overturned the seaplane, and it soon drowned.

The mail was delivered, but now it became clear that there was no point in sending a car on such a dangerous journey.

“Experience has shown,” said Mermoz, “that when the sea is rough, a seaplane is as vulnerable as a simple plane. And since with an equal load, a simple plane rises into the air more easily, this is the type of aircraft that we should use.

In 1933, a wooden three-engine aircraft "Rainbow", created by a thirty-year-old engineer Rene Cousinet, along with a seaplane "Southern Cross", was assigned for the postal service. In 1934 and 1935, these two aircraft made 47 flights. This was already not only the conquest of the South Atlantic, but also commercial flights.

Mermoz, now Air France's chief inspector, at times could not resist the temptation to take the helm on one of the mail planes. On December 7, 1936, he flew to Brazil in the Southern Cross seaplane. Such flights have now become commonplace. Halfway through the seaplane, a short message was received: "Turn off the rear right engine." That was the end of it. Forever and ever. The ships and planes were searched in vain in the ocean. The mail was not delivered the first and last time.

In 1928, in Wellington, New Zealand, a fragile girl of nineteen was practicing piano exercises in her living room. Suddenly she got up and slammed the lid of the piano.

- I'm not making any progress. And I will never achieve anything if I don't go to study in London. There and only there can you find real teachers.

Mr. Batten, a wealthy man, could not refuse his daughter anything and wanted to see her as a great artist. Despite the bitterness of separation, he agreed to Jin's departure and sent her money for three years to pay for music lessons. And she was passionately carried away by aviation. Father's money went to pay for aerobatics lessons. Jean even bought a small tourist plane.

“I’ll only get home by plane,” she told her friends. - My flight England - New Zealand, isn't it going to make some noise? But I have no money, and I am looking for a sponsor.

In 1934, she met with Lord Wakefield and subdued him, as she had subdued her father before. He financed the flight. Jean Batten left England in May and arrived at Port Darwin 14 days and 22 hours later. Australian newspapers made a star out of her: "Our beauty Jean in the battle with continents and oceans." Jean returned to England and bought herself a 220 horsepower Muette-Percival.

“I want to take a non-stop flight across the South Atlantic.

She was then twenty-five years old. For several months, she conscientiously prepared for the flight. At six o'clock in the morning on November 11, 1935, Jean took off from England, flew over France and Spain and landed in Casablanca, where she allowed herself a few hours of rest, then went on to St. Louis. “The weather was disgusting there. The French military received me very cordially. " They encircled a young aviator who looked even younger than her age: "It looks almost like a child."

- Let's not waste time. I'm leaving in two hours.

- Now, in the middle of the night? But this is crazy!

- No madness. Change candles and oil and I fly.

The take-off was not easy. The small plane, barely breaking away from the puddled runway, circled, as it were, indecisively over the very tops of the trees and then swiftly turned to the sea.

“And then I got scared. After all, I always imagined that I would fly out into a wonderful starry night. I even thought the Southern Cross was in the shape of a cross. " The night was far from wonderful, there was not a single star in the sky, and rain overtook it several cables from the coast. A black cloud was approaching, the rain was getting stronger, and the compass needle darted wildly from the thunderstorms. After the storm, there was a calm, and an hour later there was another storm. Only Jean's small hands and even the indomitable will of her youth kept the car in the midst of the raging elements. In 13 hours 15 minutes after takeoff, she landed in Natal. When the mechanics of the airfield ran up to her, she had already jumped to the ground. She could be heard singing. Jean patted the cockpit.

- My glorious horse! My strong point!

The first woman to fly alone across the South Atlantic broke all men's records, including Jim Mollison's record set just two years ago. On December 30, 1930, Frenchwoman Marise Bastier, who also flew alone, brought this record to 12 hours 5 minutes. After that, the heads of international flying clubs decided to hide their chronometers and no longer register record flights across the North or South Atlantic. What was needed was not records, but regular communication. The world's densest network of air routes will also be laid over the ocean, which has been most studied and mastered, most of all furrowed by various ships. After all, this body of water continues to play an important role in the life of mankind.

Charles August Lindbergh (1902-1974) was an American pilot who made the first single non-stop transatlantic flight on May 20-21, 1927. Several pilots before him had already tried to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, but Lindbergh was the first to make such a flight alone. Lindbergh's feat immediately received international resonance. The press called him "Happy Lindy" and "Lonely Eagle". Americans and Europeans idolized and honored the shy young man in every way. Charles August Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902 in Detroit. His father Lindbergh Sr. served as a senior lawyer and served as the U.S. Congressman from Minnesota from 1907 to 1917. As a child, Lindbergh showed exceptional ability in mechanics. At the age of 18, he entered the University of Wisconsin to study engineering. However, two years later, he left school and became a cadet at the Lincoln Flight School, Nebraska. But he was not allowed to fly solo, money was difficult, and Lindbergh was soon forced to leave school. To make money, he performed complex parachute tricks at fairs and various entertainment events. In 1924, Lindbergh was drafted into the United States Army, where he trained as a pilot. In 1925 he graduated from the flying school, becoming the best pilot in his class. Upon graduation, he was immediately hired by the Robertson Aircraft Corporation as a pilot for a mail plane. By that time, he had already gained a reputation as a careful and capable pilot. In 1925, a New York hotel owner named Raymond Orteig offered $ 25,000 to the first pilot to fly nonstop from New York to Paris. At that time, several pilots had already died and were injured during this competition. Lindbergh was confident that he could win if he had his own private jet. He convinced nine St. Louis businessmen to help finance him. Lindbergh selected Ryan Aeronautical from San Diego to build a special aircraft, which he himself helped develop. The aircraft was named the Spirit of St. Louis. On May 10-11, 1927, the aircraft passed the test - Lindbergh flew on it from San Diego to New York with an overnight stay in St. Louis. The flight time was 20 hours 21 minutes and became a transcontinental record. On May 20, Charles Lindbergh took off in his Spirit of St. Louis from Roosevelt airfield near New York and on May 21 at 7.52 Paris time landed at Le Bourget field near Paris. Thousands of jubilant people gathered to meet him. He flew over 3,600 miles (5,790 kilometers) in 33.5 hours. Lindbergh's heroic flight has delighted people around the world. Parades were held in his honor, thousands of people celebrated his victory. US President John Calvin Coolidge awarded Lindbergh the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lindbergh also became the first pilot to be awarded the Air Merit Cross specially established for the occasion.

NON-LANDING FLIGHT THROUGH THE ATLANTIC

Turning to the historical events that glorified the beginning of the last century with legendary air travel, the question naturally arises: who was the first to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic alone?

One hundred years ago (in 1913) a popular English print publication announced a reward of £ 10,000 for a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The Daily Mail prophesied glory to the aircrew or lone pilot who would be the first in 72 hours to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic in any direction from America to the shores of Ireland or Great Britain.

At that time, flights over such long distances seemed fantastic, because airplanes were just beginning to master the sky, and their structural elements were often destroyed even when they tried to get off the ground.

Attempts to conquer the Atlantic sky

The crew of the Martinsyd Raymore was preparing to conquer the three thousandth distance, but the plane did not take off. The failure was caused by a landing gear failure, in which the nose of the aircraft was buried in the ground.

Likewise, during takeoff, another plane broke the nose ("Handley Page").

The attempt by the crew of the Sopwith Atlantic was almost successful - they did not have the strength to overcome the last 850 miles to the coast.

The first pilots who made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic (they did not fly alone at that time) were the British crew of the Vickers Vimi winged aircraft. The pilot, John Alcock, and the navigator, Arthur Whitten Brown, received the well-deserved cash prize in 1919.
Much more famous is another pilot, namely the one who first made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic alone. But this flight took place already in 1927.

Charles Lindbergh's flight

In 1926, a wealthy New York hotel owner, Raymond Orteig, awarded a $ 25,000 prize for a non-stop New York-Paris flight.

Charles Lindbergh was 25 years old and served as a pilot for an air mail company. Lindbergh decided that the existing models were not suitable for such flights and a special aircraft was needed. According to his calculations, such an aircraft should be a monoplane containing the required amount of kerosene. Maybe someone would have doubted, but Charles Lindbergh decided to fly alone and a year later he was the first to fly non-stop across the Atlantic.

The plane (Spirit of St. Louis), named after St. Lewis, was fully loaded, with all 1,700 liters of fuel, and barely took off on May 19, 1927. They say that during the climb, the telegraph wires were cut off, this flight began so low above the ground.


The pilot had to determine the course, doing the calculations in his head, based on the flight time in any direction, and he estimated the wind speed from the waves! To do this, Lindbergh had to descend to get out of the clouds and fog. On top of that, the plane was heavily iced up and much heavier. Flying in these conditions, fighting sleep, was incredibly difficult and dangerous.

However, luck accompanied the brave pilot, and after 28 hours, Charles Lindbergh's plane was near Valentine Island, which is near Ireland. It's amazing that the deviation from the chosen course was within 5 km!

And six hours later, Lindbergh was received by the Paris Bourget airport. In Paris, over 200,000 French people welcomed him as a hero, and about 4 million of his compatriots awaited his return to New York. We can compare this event with the meeting of the first cosmonauts by our fellow countrymen.

There was no end to the rave reviews of contemporaries: someone admired the courage and courage of the first lone pilot who made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic; someone was carefully analyzing the modernization of an aircraft produced for Lindbergh.

Lindbergh's innovation was that he preferred a single-engine aircraft, although multi-engine aircraft were considered safer. He also demanded an increase in the wingspan and additional fuel tanks. It was important for him to reduce the weight of the aircraft as much as possible, so he fought for every gram. Eyewitnesses claimed that Lindbergh refused to take on board a parachute and a walkie-talkie, he replaced the massive leather seat with a wicker one, special light boots were made to order, and even the map lost its "unnecessary" part.

The flight of Charles Lindbergh made him a legendary pilot forever, and for society marked a breakthrough into previously inaccessible areas. He gave aviation a strategic importance, bringing the distance between the European and American continents closer.

FIRST ATLANTIC FLIGHT PERFORMED BY A PLANE CREW

The first flight across the Atlantic Ocean was made by a brave British crew. The first non-stop flight across the Atlantic on 14 June 1919 was made by the crew of the Vickers Vimi of the British Air Force. Their names are Captain John Alcock (pilot) and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown (navigator).

There were other daredevils who flew over the Atlantic Ocean. Eight years after the British flight, everyone started talking about the American pilot Charles Lindbergh, the same one who made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic alone. People loved Lindbergh's youth and courage. In 1927, the public was already able to appreciate such a flight. Nevertheless, pilots Alcock and Brown were ahead of everyone.

Overcoming obstacles and difficulties

It was decided to fly from Canada to the shores of Ireland. At first I had to look for a suitable place for take-off for a long time. The choice of the site was approached carefully - after the accident of other Britons (the crew of the Martinsayd Raymore), it was clear what they had to risk, raising a bomber overloaded with fuel into the sky.

When an airfield near the Canadian city of St. John's was found, Alcock named it the first transatlantic airfield. They waited for the right weather to come and were very nervous because they feared that others might outrun them.

Once, on the first fine day, a military plane flew right over them towards the ocean. John and Arthur only later learned that it was a test flight. And at first it seemed to them that they were having a terrible dream - another plane had already taken off first to fly across the Atlantic before anyone else.

The pilots were nervous, as everything was ready for the flight, but they had to postpone the start because of the squall wind. Added excitement and came from England a telegram with accusations of indecision.

Finally, on June 13, a favorable weather situation was established. At the command of Captain Alcock, refueling began. First, the fuel was filtered through a sieve, and then it was pumped using a hand pump into aircraft tanks. It was a tedious and lengthy process. Toward noon, a shock absorber break was discovered on one of the chassis. It could not withstand such a heavy load, and the plane began to roll on its side.

To eliminate the defect, it was necessary to raise the plane, and for this it was necessary to drain all the previously filled fuel. People worked the rest of the day until midnight, then poured fuel into the tanks again, working without interruption with the headlights on and lighting the site with paraffin lamps.

The weather report, received on the morning of June 14, promised a strong westerly wind, which will intensify in the coming hours. The pilots who arrived at the airfield decided that if they did not take off now, then they would have to give priority to someone else who would fly across the Atlantic Ocean earlier than they did.

Brown and Alcock climbed into the cockpit, warmed up the engines, brought them to full power, and Alcock signaled to the mechanics to release the wings of the plane. The bomber was slowly rolling along the runway, not picking up sufficient speed and not taking off the ground. The long-awaited start came at the end of the runway, when the plane with great difficulty climbed over the fence and trees, and then disappeared from view over the hills.

All observers decided that there was an accident and ran towards the alleged plane crash. People were worried, and most of all the doctor shouted, asking to make way for him to provide first aid. The panic subsided when the silhouette of the plane was again visible in the sky, gradually gaining altitude.

The crew went through excruciatingly tense moments, it seemed that the car would crash down, so hard it climbed. But now St. John's was left behind. The ships honked off the departing plane, which with a roar overcame the 400-meter mark and went away from the coastline. The navigator headed for Ireland.

Incredibly challenging flight

They walked in solid clouds, and below were drifting faint accumulations of ice. It was getting incredibly cold; even special heated suits did not save from the low temperature. At first, on the ground, they received messages from Brown on the radio about following the route, but then the wind generator broke down and they were left with a useless radio station.


At about seven o'clock the pilot was driving the bomber blindly. Of course, they had to fly in dense clouds before, but not for such a long time, besides, problems began with the right engine. At first, frequent claps were heard, the sounds of which resembled machine-gun bursts, and then the unit "spat out" some part of its structure. The exhaust pipe quickly became hot: at first it turned red, then turned white and was blown off by a stream of air. The exhaust flame of a running engine reached the wire, which was heated, but withstood the temperature and did not change its shape.

At seven o'clock the pilots decided to have a snack, their dinner consisted of sandwiches and coffee. Now they could orient themselves by the starry sky, so Brown wrote a note to Captain Alcock about the need to see the stars. The pilot took the plane out of the clouds only at an altitude of 1800 meters. The navigator was able to determine their location: after eight hours of flight "Vickers Vimi" retired from the shores of Newfoundland by almost one and a half thousand kilometers. The first half of the journey was completed. It turned out that their ground speed was slightly higher than the calculated one. It was decided to descend and go further under the edge of the clouds at an altitude of 1200 meters.

At about three o'clock in the morning, strong gusts of wind began tossing their car, a thunderstorm front appeared in the plane's path. In conditions of poor visibility, orientation was lost, the aircraft's speed dropped sharply. The bomber went into a tailspin. Lightning flashes made it difficult for the pilot to determine the position of the machine in the stormy space and to align the aircraft. Alcock tried to put the rudders in a neutral position - nothing worked. The only thing he could see was the readings of the altimeter, which showed the ever-smaller distance to the ground: first 900, then 600, 300, now 150 ...

There was still nothing to be seen, but Alcock heard the sound of the ocean raging below them, and at the same moment the low sky around the plane cleared. They flew upwards on wheels, incredibly close to the surface of the ocean, huge shafts rolled over their heads. A split second remained for making decisions.

In this critical situation, the pilot talent of Captain John Alcock passed the most stringent test. An experienced pilot instantly regained spatial orientation and last seconds leveled the plane, giving the engines full throttle. It seemed to both aviators that from their cockpit they could reach the foam ridges. Moving away from the ocean waves, which were at a distance of some fifteen meters, the car picked up a saving speed.

The heavy rain continued to fall, and with the climb it began to snow. The weight of the aircraft grew rapidly - dangerous icing began, which caused interruptions in the operation of the right engine. Its carburetor was clogged with snow, and the aircraft began to lose altitude due to a lack of power when one engine was running. The situation was becoming critical.

Alcock looked back at his navigator, but he was not there. It turned out that Brown went along the wing to the failed engine. He clung to the racks with all his might and cleaned the ice with a knife. In their position, this was the only saving decision. After a while, the left engine began to fail. Brown had to repeat his feat on the left wing. His courageous actions saved the engines and saved the lives of both pilots. In total, Lieutenant Brown made 5 such exits.

On June 15 "Vickers Vimi" jumped out of the cloud layer in the morning, and after another half an hour the crew saw two small islands, beyond which the Irish coast was already guessed. They flew along the coast and found a green landing field. The Clifden radio station was located not far from this place. People noticed them and began waving their hands, showing that it was impossible to sit on the field - it was swampy.

However, it seemed to the pilots that they were being greeted, they waved back and continued landing. As a result, the plane buried its nose in a swamp and got stuck in the ground, but the guys were lucky: the damage to the plane was insignificant, and they themselves did not suffer (except for Brown's scratched nose).

Their legendary flight lasted 16 hours and 28 minutes. Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown were the first to conquer the Atlantic skies, covering 3,040 kilometers. The average speed of the Vickers Vimi was about 190 km / h. Interestingly, after landing, the supply of fuel in the tanks remained quite impressive, they could have reached the English coast.

Across the English Channel

On July 25, 1909, French aviator Louis Blériot became the first person to cross the English Channel and receive a £ 1,000 prize from the British Daily Mail. Bleriot made a historic flight in a small monoplane with a 24 horsepower engine. He did not take a compass with him; a French journalist pointed out a safe landing spot near Dover, who began waving the French tricolor as soon as Bleriot crossed the line of the British coast.

A week earlier, on July 19, 1909, Hubert Latham (England-France) attempted to fly over the English Channel, but was forced to splash down, having covered only 11 km. A week later, he was preparing to try again, but Louis Blériot beat him.

Just 10 years after Blériot's 49.8 km flight, English pilot John W. Alcock and navigator Arthur Whitten Brown (son of Americans, born in Scotland) traveled 60 times longer and three times faster to complete the very first non-stop transatlantic flight. This time the prize offered by the Daily Mail has increased tenfold to £ 10,000. On June 14, 1919, Alcock and Brown took off from Newfoundland, Canada in a Vickers-Vimy biplane, and 16 hours 27 minutes later made a forced landing in a swamp near Clifden, Ireland, covering 3,057 km to claim the prize.

Shortly thereafter, both members of the flight were knighted, but Alcock, a test pilot for Vickers Aircraft, was rather indifferent to his achievement and said that the flight, which took place in bad weather, was "terrible." By the way, poor Alcock died in a plane crash in France the same year he flew across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1919, the R-34 airship flew over the Atlantic

By the way, in 1919, the R-34 airship flew over the Atlantic, upon arrival in New York, one of the crew members had to jump with a parachute to help anchor the airship.

Another goal in the field of transatlantic flights was achieved by the American aviator Charles Lindbergh, who made a solo flight, received a prize of 25 thousand dollars and was awarded the Cross of Flying Merit and the Honorary Medal of the Congress. On May 20, 1927, Lindbergh took off from New York in the now legendary Ryan monoplane, called the Spirit of Saint Louis, and after 33 hours 39 minutes landed in Paris, having covered 5792 km on a dead reckoning course.

On May 21, 1932, American Amelia Earhart landed in Londonderry and became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Dmitry Demyanov, Samogo.Net (