Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race
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The Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race was a two-way race between
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, UK and
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, USA to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the first trans-atlantic crossing by John Alcock and Arthur Brown.


The race

Organised by the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' newspaper, the race was held between 4 and 11 May 1969, although named an air race it was actually a race of individuals between the
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in London to the
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in New York. Each of the individuals or "Runners" had to use some form of air transport. With a number of different categories a total of 21 prizes could be won. These included separate categories for the westbound (London to New York) and eastbound (New York to London) directions. A number of point-to-point world records for aircraft were broken. The shortest overall time from London to New York was by
Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...
Tom Lecky-Thompson flying a
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British jet-powered attack aircraft designed and produced by the British aerospace company Hawker Siddeley. It was the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeo ...
in 6 hours 11 minutes. The shortest time from New York to London was by Lieutenant Commander Peter Goddard, a passenger in a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
McDonnell Douglas Phantom (callsign 'Royal Blue 3', serial XT859) in 5 hours 12 minutes.


Civilian competitors

The first civil competitor to leave London was Anne Alcock, the niece of
Sir John Alcock Captain Sir John William Alcock (5 November 189219 December 1919) was a British Royal Navy and later Royal Air Force officer who, with navigator Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, piloted the first non-stop transatlantic flight from St. John's ...
. She was designated as a licensed mail carrier for the event in order to carry a letter from
John Stonehouse John Thomson Stonehouse (28 July 192514 April 1988) was a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician, businessman and minister who was a member of the Cabinet under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He is remembered for his unsuccessful atte ...
( British Postmaster General) to Winton M. Blount (
United States Postmaster General The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...
), just like Alcock and Brown carried mail on their flight in 1919. Alcock was followed by a number of other notable runners including Sir Billy Butlin,
Clement Freud Sir Clement Raphael Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) was a British media personality, broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany ...
,
Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula On ...
,
Mary Rand Mary Denise Rand, Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (née Bignal; born 10 February 1940) is a British former track and field athlete. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British ...
, and
Prince Michael of Kent Prince Michael of Kent (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family who is 53rd in line to the British throne as of 2025. The younger son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Gr ...
. English aviator
Sheila Scott Sheila Christine Scott OBE (née Hopkins; 27 April 1922 – 20 October 1988) was an English aviator who broke over 100 aviation records through her long-distance flight endeavours, which included a "world and a half" flight in 1971. On this fl ...
piloted her own aircraft.


Military competitors


Royal Navy

The Royal Navy entered three "runners" each to be flown eastbound across the Atlantic in a McDonnell Douglas Phantom. The navy runners used Phantoms which flew from the
Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park, Brooklyn, Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before bein ...
to Wisley Aerodrome and were refuelled by
Handley Page Victor The Handley Page Victor was a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final ''V bomber'' to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Vickers ...
tankers over the ocean. Radar coverage for the rendezvous of the Phantoms with the tankers over the mid-Atlantic was provided by the . In New York City, the runners used a helicopter to travel between the airfield in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
and the
West 30th Street Heliport The West 30th Street Heliport is a heliport on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Originally constructed by the Port of New York Authority in 1956, the facility has been operated by Air Pegasus since 1981. The heliport currently op ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
; a motorcycle was used to travel between the heliport and the Empire State Building. In England, a helicopter was used to travel between Wisley Aerodrome and a temporary helipad near the Post Office Tower. The Royal Navy did not operate any supersonic flights in the westbound direction from London to New York. On 11 May 1969 a Royal Navy F-4K Phantom of
892 Naval Air Squadron 892 Naval Air Squadron (892 NAS), also known as 892 Squadron, was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It most recently operated the Phantom FG.1 all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor ...
set a new world speed record between New York and London in 4 hours and 46 minutes. The flights by the Phantoms broke the record three times during the competition. The first eastbound flight from New York to London was flown by Phantom FG.1 XT860 on 4 May 1969 in 5 hours and 3 minutes and the second flight was made by XT861 on 7 May 1969 in 4 hours and 53 minutes. The jets broke a record that had been previously set in 1958 by a Stratotanker operated by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
. The Vickers Alcock and Brown trophy was awarded to Lieutenant Commander Peter Goddard for his 5 hour 11 minute crossing which was the fastest West to East crossing.


Royal Air Force

The
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
decided to use the unique
vertical take-off and landing A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing ...
(VTOL) capability of the
Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British jet-powered attack aircraft designed and produced by the British aerospace company Hawker Siddeley. It was the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeo ...
. The decision to use the Harrier was made at the beginning of 1969 whilst the aircraft was still undergoing testing at
Boscombe Down MOD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the south-eastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the D ...
; the aircraft was not scheduled to enter service until 1 April 1969. Mike Adams was selected to be the lead pilot for the race, but was injured before the competition when the nosewheel collapsed on a Harrier he was testing. Apart from Lecky-Thompson, the only other person qualified on the Harrier at the time was Squadron Leader Graham Williams, who was originally supposed to be a reserve pilot. The Harrier's VTOL capability could provide an advantage in the race by allowing it to take-off and land closer to start and finish lines, provided that suitable landing could be obtained in the city centres near the Post Office Tower and Empire State Building. For take-off in London, the Harrier used a coal yard next to
St Pancras station St Pancras railway station (), officially known since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a major central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, F ...
, which was temporarily designated as RAF St Pancras. For landing in New York, it used a platform that had been constructed for the planned site of the
United Nations International School The United Nations International School (UNIS) is a private international school in New York City which was established in 1947. Many members of the United Nations staff arriving with young families found unexpected difficulties with the school s ...
(UNIS) at Bristol Basin on the East River, using a landing pad that had been set up by the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
. A helicopter was used for the trip in London between the Post Office Tower and St Pancras station and a motorcycle was used for the trip across Manhattan between the waterfront landing site and the Empire State Building. Like the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force used Handley Page Victor tankers to refuel its aircraft over the Atlantic. The Harriers employed ferry wing tips to improve their cruising performance. The westbound flight from London to New York was flown with GR.1 XV741, which is now displayed at the
Brooklands Museum Brooklands Museum is a motoring and aviation museum occupying part of the former Brooklands Motor Course in Weybridge, Surrey, England. Formally opened in 1991, the museum is operated by the independent Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, a private l ...
in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. The eastbound flight was flown with GR.1 XV744, which is now displayed at the
Tangmere Military Aviation Museum The Tangmere Military Aviation Museum is a museum located on the former site of RAF Tangmere, West Sussex. The museum was opened in June 1982. Many aerospace exhibits covering the First World War to the Cold War are on display including fixed-w ...
in
West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
. The westbound trip flown by Lecky-Thompson had been completed on 5 May 1969 and the eastbound flight was piloted by Williams on 9 May 1969. The week before the race, Lecky-Thompson had flown XV744 from
RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...
to Floyd Bennett Field as a practice run and also to position another aircraft in New York for the eastbound leg of the race (XV741 would serve as the spare for the New York to London flight). Both of the Harriers joined in the salute to the ''
Queen Elizabeth 2 ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner. Built for the Cunard Line, the ship was operated as a transatlantic liner and cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. She was laid up until converted into a floating hotel, operating sin ...
'' when she arrived in New York Harbour on her maiden voyage on 7 May 1969 and hovered on each side of the ocean liner. The pilots had learned about the ship's arrival from news on a television in a Manhattan pub the day before and didn't want the ship's arrival to draw attention from their participation in the race, so they devised a plan to meet the ship when she was passing through
The Narrows The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay (of larger New York Bay) and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Ri ...
. They obtained local clearances for their planned flight but decided to skip getting approval from the Royal Air Force because they assumed their request would be declined. On the eastbound leg of the race from New York to London, Williams was driven by a
Jaguar E-Type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British FMR layout, front mid-engined sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars, Jaguar Cars Ltd from 1961 to 1974. Its sleek appearance, advanced technologies, ...
from the Empire State Building to the take-off location on the East River. He attributed getting caught in several red traffic lights in Manhattan on the way to the Harrier as costing him valuable time in the race. Williams decided to leave on a rainy day with poor visibility—when
Kennedy Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...
was closed due to the weather conditions—because time was running out in the race. When he arrived at the Harrier to prepare for take-off, several officials tried to prevent him from flying because of the weather.
Bill Bedford Alfred William Bedford OBE AFC FRAeS (18 November 1920 – 20 October 1996) was a British test pilot and pioneered the development of V/STOL aircraft. Bedford was born on 18 November 1920 at Loughborough and was educated at Loughborough Colle ...
, the former chief test pilot for
Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in list of aircraft manufacturers, aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers ...
and the sales director for the aircraft manufacturer, kept a
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
officer engaged in conversation long enough for Williams to start the engine and take-off before they could stop him. Upon landing at St Pancras, he was carried on a motorcycle and helicopter to the finish line at the Post Office Tower.
No. 543 Squadron RAF No. 543 Squadron RAF was a photographic reconnaissance squadron of the Royal Air Force, active in two periods between 1942 and 1974. History The squadron was formed on 19 October 1942 at RAF Benson as a photo-reconnaissance unit with the Superm ...
also had two Handley Page Victor reconnaissance bombers flying in the competition. Flight lieutenant Derek Aldous was a passenger on Victor B.2 XH672, which flew from Floyd Bennett Field to Wisley Aerodrome with two extra fuel tanks in the bomb bay. He had an overall finishing time of 5 hours 49 minutes, the leading time for subsonic travel between New York and London, and beat Williams' time with the Harrier by just 29.71 seconds. XH672 was subsequently converted into a tanker and is now displayed at the
Royal Air Force Museum Midlands The Royal Air Force Museum Midlands, located at RAF Cosford in Shropshire, is a free museum dedicated to the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force in particular. The museum is part of the Royal Air Force Museum, a non-departmental public b ...
in Cosford. The two Victors carried four crates of postage stamps from London to New York that were being donated from the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
to the UNIS. The stamps were being held at
Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and phila ...
and were to be auctioned off the following month at the
Headquarters of the United Nations , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004 (cropped).jpg , image_size = 275px , caption = View of the complex from Long Island City in 2021; from left to right: the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buil ...
to raise money for the UNIS scholarship fund. The stamps could not be carried aboard the Harriers because the jets were not equipped to carry cargo and the landing site was not designated as a
port of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border control, border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not impo ...
for goods. In exchange for using the future site of the UNIS as a take-off and landing point in the competition, the Royal Air Force also donated $1,000 of its prize money to the school.


Others

A
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
CHSS-2 helicopter competed in the race, landing two times on destroyers positioned in the Atlantic for refuelling. The United States Air Force was going to enter the race with a
B-58 Hustler The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air ...
, but withdrew to avoid political issues due to the country's involvement in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.


Prize winners

Trophies and prizes for the air race's 21 categories were awarded at a dinner held at the
Royal Garden Hotel Royal Garden Hotel is a 5-star hotel in London, England, located in the borough of Kensington. History The Royal Palace Hotel The hotel was preceded by the former Royal Palace Hotel, a Victorian-era hotel completed in 1893 designed by Briti ...
in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
on 14 May 1969. The winners were presented to
Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...
at the reception before the dinner.


London to New York


New York to London


Non-Winning Meritorious Awards


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* *


External links


''The Atlantic Race - Details of Categories in the "Daily Mail" event''
- 1969 ''Flight'' pre-race article
''Harrier at St Pancras?''
- a 1969 news item in ''Flight'' about the probable take-off point for the RAF's Harrier entry

news of the unofficial New York - London record set by the Royal Navy Phantom
''Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Record Holder 1969''
From an article in the FAAOA News Sheet September 2009, Doug "Stormy" Fairweather, Anthony "Robbie" Roberts {{Authority control 1969 in aviation 1969 in London 1969 in New York City Air races Air sports in the United Kingdom Aviation history of the United Kingdom Aviation in New York City Empire State Building History of the Atlantic Ocean Transatlantic flight