Conquerors of the Atlantic

[Deleted]

In 1929 The French aviators Costes and Bellonte set a new world distance record with their Breguet XIX "point d'intérocation" (question mark in french), flying 4,909 miles from Paris to Manchurian Tsitsikhar (now Chinese Qiqihar).

At arrival there both have been arrested and accused to be Communist spies. Was not their plane painted the red of the Soviets? Chinese and Russians have been then fighting off in northwestern Manchuria near Sibirian border.


The red Breguet XIX ready for departure at Le Bourget ...




getting in stormy weather near Siberian Irkutsk ,..




crossing Chinese border in Southern Buryatia ...




and finally landed on the airstrip at Tsitsikhar




This flight showed Costes and Bellonte that the Breguet XIX can cross the North Atlantic in an unfavorable direction (with headwinds) from east to west.

After a failed Paris-New York non-stop flight attempt in 1929, the first Paris-New York was finally successful in September 1930. They landed at Curtiss Field after a flight of 37 h 14 min.

Again taking off from Le Bourget ...




left the European continent west of Cornwall ...



reaches the American continent over Eastport at Newfoundland ...




and approaches Curtiss Field, NY (aka Roosevelt Field)




Of all the air crossings, the one from Paris to New York appeared to be the most difficult to defeat, but also the most glorious for who would succeed in the feat. Many aviators had already attempted the bet and many had died.

The Atlantic had been defeated by Lindbergh in 1927, but the west-east route taken by the young American aviator was more favorable due to the winds. The first Paris-New York connection will be attempted by experienced aviators on a plane specializing in long-distance raids, the Question Mark.


The same Spanish type named "Cieno Ventos" flew 1933 nonstop from Seville to Camaguey, Cuba. This aircraft disappeared while attempting to reach Mexico afterwards.


The CASA build Bréguet XIX at Seville Airport, also used aas stopover by the airship "Graf Zeppelin" on its way to Rio de Janeiro ...




leaves Western Portuguese coast ...




flies over Porto Delgado at Açores ...




reaches a couple of hours later the Cuban coast ...




and touches down on the airstrip at Camaguey




All these flights are performed with AI flightplans.

Bernard

[Tom/CalClassic]

Wow, quite the capable aircraft for the 1920s.

[Herman]

Nice account of these historic flights.

Herman

[Al]

Interesting

[Erik]

Beautifully done as usual, Bernard. Incredible, try to imagine more than 37 hours non-stop like that! Nearly impossible to move, plus the noise, vibrations, turbulence... Respect!

Erik

[Deleted]

The St Peter and St Paul Archipelago is made of a few rocks that poke above the surface in the Atlantic Ocean. Just north of the equator and northeast of the well known Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. The rocks are Brazilian territory, today permanently occupied by scientific research groups of several Brazilian universities.

The islands were used by the Portuguese aviators Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho as a waypoint when they crossed the South Atlantic with a Fairey F3D named "Santa Cruz" for the first time in 1922. They started at Lisbon and stopped at Las Palmas, Gando (The Canaries), San Vicent and San Tiago on Cabo Verde. From Fernando de Noronha they flew to Recife, Baia, Porto Seguro, Vitoria and finally reached Rio de Janeiro.

The archipelago doesn't exist in default FS9. The tiny scenery has been done by Fern Marques several years ago. The islands are shown below the airplane. 



Bernard