THE FIRST FLIGHTACROSS THE ATLANTIC ‘We are safely across

the pond.

The job is finished!’— LCdr. Albert C. Read

ARRIVAL of NC-4 inLisbon (left) andapparent loss ofHawker and Grieve overthe North Atlanticshattered British hopesof being the firstto fly Atlantic.The Americansreceived worldwideacclaim and werefeted in onegala celebrationafter the other.

THE REST i s h i s t o ry .

Read arrived in Lis-bon harbor at twilighton May 27, 1919, thefirst man to cross the

Atlantic by air. He “finished the job”four days later as the NC-4 landed atP l y m o u t h . T h e l a s t l e g h a d b e e nplanned for “sent imental” reasons.Later, in London, he was pleased togrip the hand of Harry Hawker. Thetwo British flyers had been forceddown in the mid-Atlantic but managedto ditch near a passing ship. Lack of awireless had postponed news of therescue for several days.

The excitement over the flight ofthe NC-4 soon faded. Within twoweeks the British team of Alcock andBrown accomplished what Hawker hadset out to do. A month la ter , thedirigible R-34 flew from Scotland toNew York — and then returned toEngland. More flights followed, includ-ing Dick Byrd’s, his dream of flyingthe Atlantic finally come true.

And for the men involved with theNC project, the future held divergentpaths.

Glenn Curtiss, who had done somuch for the development of aircraftin America, wearied of his courtroomba t t l e s w i th a t t o rneys o f t he a l l -encompassing Wright aero patents. Hemoved to Florida where his invest-ments in such holdings as Hialeah andOpa-locka paid handsome dividends:in five years, more than he had evermade in building airplanes.

Jim Breese, too, became a success-ful businessman, and Walter Hintonleft the service to find adventure onthe Amazon.

Most of the others stayed with theNavy, completing lengthy and, in somecases, illustrious careers. Bellinger,Byrd, Mitscher, Read and Towers allachieved flag rank. During World WarII, Mitscher’s work with Task Force 58earned him the title of “Admiral ofthe Marianas.” Later, Towers becameCommander of the Pacific Fleet.

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THE FIRST FLIGHTACROSS THE ATLANTIC

TUMULTUOUS RECEPTIONS greetedLCdr. Read and crew in Plymouth. Flightfrom Portugal involved two stops en route.

LORD MAYOR of Plymouth (above) greetsthe crew. Later in London (right), the Ameri-cans receive heroes’ welcome from Princeof Wales, Winston Churchill and officials.

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