Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft, whether fixed-wing aircraft, balloon or other device, which involves crossing the Atlantic Ocean — with a starting point in North America or South America and ending in Europe or Africa, or vice versa.
Problems that faced early aviation included the unreliability of early engines, limited range (which prevented them from flying continuously for the periods of time required to completely cross the Atlantic), the difficulty of navigating over featureless expanses of water for thousands of miles, and the unpredictable and often violent weather of the North Atlantic. Today, however, commercial transatlantic flight is routine. Experimental flight (in balloons, small aircraft, etc.) still presents a challenge.
History
The North Atlantic presented challenges for aviators due to weather and the huge distances involved coupled with the lack of stopping points. Initial transatlantic services, therefore, focused more on the South Atlantic, where a number of French, German, and Italian airlines offered seaplane service for mail between South America and West Africa in the 1930s. From February 1934 to August 1939 Deutsche Lufthansa operated a regular airmail service between Natal, Brazil, and Bathurst, The Gambia, continuing via the Canary Islands and Spain to Stuttgart, Germany. From December 1935, Air France opened a regular weekly airmail route between South America and Africa. German airlines, such as Deutsche Lufthansa , experimented with mail routes over the North Atlantic in the early 1930s, both with seaplanes and dirigibles, but these were not regular scheduled services and never led to commercial operations. There were, however, hundreds of commercial transatlantic crossings with passengers made by German airships during the late 1920s and 1930s, including the Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg .
As technology progressed, Pan American World Airways of the United States, Imperial Airways of Britain, and Aéropostale of France, began to use flying boats to connect the Americas to Europe via Bermuda and the Azores during the 1930s. A main reason for using flying boats was the lack of runways long enough to allow large airplanes to take off and land. On 26 March 1939 , Pan American made its first trial transatlantic flight from Baltimore, Maryland to Foynes, Ireland using a Boeing 314 (named Yankee Clipper by PanAm) with a scheduled flight time of about 29 hours.
After World War II long runways were available, and American and European carriers such as Pan Am, TWA, Trans Canada Airlines (TCA), BOAC, and Air France acquired larger piston aircraft, which allowed service over the North Atlantic with intermediate stops (usually in Gander International Airport, Newfoundland and/or Shannon, Ireland). Jet service began in the late 1950s, and supersonic service (Concorde) was offered from 1976 to 2003. Since the loosening of regulations in the 1970s and 1980s, a large number of airlines now compete in the transatlantic market.
Transatlantic Routes
Unlike over land, transatlantic flights use standardized aircraft routes called North Atlantic Tracks (NATs). These change daily in position (although altitudes are standardised) to compensate for weather—particularly the jet stream tailwinds and headwinds, which may be substantial at cruising altitudes and have a strong influence on trip duration and fuel economy. Eastbound flights generally operate during nighttime hours, while westbound flights generally operate during daytime hours, for passenger convenience. Restrictions on how far aircraft may be from an airport also play a part in determining transatlantic routes; in general, the greater the number of engines an aircraft has, the greater the distance it is allowed to be from the nearest airport (since a single engine failure in a four-engine aircraft is less crippling than a single engine failure in a twin). Modern aircraft with two engines flying transatlantic have to be ETOPS certified.
Gaps in air traffic control and radar coverage over large stretches of the Earth's oceans, as well as an absence of most types of radio navigation aids, impose a requirement for a high level of autonomy in navigation upon transatlantic flights. Aircraft must include reliable systems that can determine the aircraft's course and position with great accuracy over long distances. In addition to the traditional compass, inertials and satellite navigation systems such as GPS all have their place in transatlantic navigation. Land-based systems such as VOR and DME, however, are mostly useless for ocean crossings.
Early notable transatlantic flights
Other early transatlantic flights
- June 29 - July 1 , 1927 - Admiral Richard Byrd with crew flies Fokker F.VIIa/3m America from New York City to France.
- July 13 , 1928 - Ludwik Idzikowski and Kazimierz Kubala attempt to crossing the Atlantic westbound from Paris to the USA in Amiot 123 biplane, but crash in the Azores.
- February 6 - February 9 , 1933 . Jim Mollison flies a Puss Moth from Senegal to Brazil, across South Atlantic, becoming the first person to fly solo across the North and South Atlantics.
- July 15 - July 17 , 1933 - Lithuanians Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas were supposed to make a non-stop flight from New York City via Newfoundland to Kaunas on their plane named Lituanica , but crashed in the forests of Germany after 6411 km of flying, only 650 km short of their final destination. Flying time 37 hours, 11 minutes. They carried the first transatlantic airmail consignment.
- July 5 , 1937 - Captain Harold Gray of Pan Am flew from Botwood, Newfoundland to Foynes, Ireland in a Sikorsky 42 flying boat as part of the first transatlantic commercial passenger test flights. Captain Arthur Wilcockson of Imperial Airways flew from Foynes to Botwood July 6 , 1937 in a Short Empire class flying boat named Caledonia
- August 10 , 1938 - first non-stop flight from Berlin to New York. The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 needed 24 hours, 56 minutes and did the return flight three days later in 19 hours, 47 minutes.
References
- ^ Graue, James W; John Duggan. Deutsche Lufthansa South Atlantic Airmail Service 1934 - 1939 . Zeppelin Study Group. ISBN 0951411454.
- ^ The Times, 18 October 1910, p 6; New York Times, 18 October 1910, p 1; Daily News (London), 19 October 1910, p 1
- ^ Althoff, William F.. USS Los Angeles: the Navy's venerable airship and aviation technology . Dulles, Virginia: Brassey's Inc.. ISBN 1-57488-620-7.
- ^ Wagner, Wolfgang (in German). Hugo Junkers: Pionier der Luftfahrt . Die deutsche Luftfahrt. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 3-7637-6112-8.
- ^ Round the World Flights
- ^ Bomberguy. Graf Zeppelin Bomberguy Aviation History, selected clips. Retrieved: 2009-06-07
- ^ bomberguy 2008 07:05 to 08:14
- ^ bomberguy 2008 09:30
- ^ http://www.warwingsart.com/LTA/zp-14.html
- ^ Kline, R. C. and Kubarych, S. J., Blimpron 14 Overseas, 1944, Naval Historical Center, Navy Yard, W
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