Sopwith Atlantic

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Use British English|date=December 2016}}  {{Infobox aircraft | name = Atlantic | logo = | logo_size = | image = Sopwith_Atlantic_ExCC.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Long range experimental aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = [[United Kingdom]] | manufacturer = [[Sopwith Aviation Company]] | design_group = | designer = [[George Carter (engineer)|W G Carter]] | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1919 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = [[Sopwith B.1]] | variants = [[Sopwith Wallaby]] | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} The '''Sopwith Atlantic''' was an experimental [[United Kingdom|British]] long-range aircraft of 1919. It was a single-engined [[biplane]] that was designed and built to be the first aeroplane to [[Transatlantic flight|cross the Atlantic Ocean]] non-stop. It took off on an attempt to cross the Atlantic from [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] on 18 May 1919, but ditched during the flight owing to an overheating engine.

==Development and design== In 1913, the British newspaper the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' offered a [[Daily Mail aviation prizes|prize]] of [[Pound sterling|£]]10,000 for the first flight across the Atlantic.<ref name="Flight 13 p393">''Flight'' 5 April 1913, p.393.</ref> Although plans were drawn up to attempt to win the prize, notably by [[Rodman Wanamaker]], who ordered two [[Curtiss Model H|Curtiss America]] [[flying boats]], with [[John Cyril Porte]] selected to be the pilot, the outbreak of the [[First World War]] in August 1914 put a stop to these plans. Following the [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|Armistice]] on 11 November 1918, the competition was reopened<ref name="Flight 18 p1316">''Flight'' 21 November 1918, p.1316.</ref> and [[Thomas Sopwith]], the head of the [[Sopwith Aviation Company]], decided to build an aircraft to compete for the prize.<ref name="Robertson p134">Robertson 1970, p.134.</ref>

[[George Carter (engineer)|George Carter]] of Sopwith based his design for the transatlantic aircraft on the single-engined [[Sopwith B.1]] [[bomber aircraft]]. It was a large, two-bay [[biplane]] powered by a [[Rolls-Royce Eagle]] engine in a [[tractor configuration]].<ref name="Robertson p134"/> The new aircraft had a deeper fuselage than the B.1,<ref name="Robertson p134"/> housing a fuel tank carrying 330 [[Gallon|imperial gallons]] (1,500 [[Litre|L]]) of petrol and with the crew of two sat well aft of the wings.<ref name="flight 10th p476"/> The [[Landing gear|undercarriage]] mainwheels were jettisonable to reduce [[Drag (physics)|drag]], while a boat was provided in case of emergency landing on the sea, being built into the fuselage decking behind the crew's cockpit.<ref name="Robertson p134"/>

==Operational history== [[File:Harry Hawker's Sopwith Atlantic.jpg|thumb|Another view of the aircraft, seen here with its engine cowling removed]] The transatlantic aircraft, named the '''Sopwith Atlantic''' was designed and built quickly, being completed early in 1919. Following testing at [[Brooklands|Brooklands airfield]], the Atlantic was dismantled and dispatched to Newfoundland aboard ship, arriving on 28 March 1919.<ref name="Robertson p134"/> The aircraft was soon assembled, but weather was poor, with the chosen airstrip at [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St John's]] snowbound. Despite the fact that the competing [[Martinsyde]] aircraft had also arrived in Newfoundland, the crew of the Atlantic, Australian pilot [[Harry Hawker]] and navigator [[Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve]] could not attempt the Atlantic flight for several weeks.<ref name="Robertson p134"/><ref name="NYT 13 April19">''New York Times'' 13 April 1919.</ref><ref name="NYT 19 May19">''New York Times'' 19 May 1919.</ref>

Hawker and Grieves finally took off from St John's on 18 May 1919<ref name="Robertson p134"/><ref name="NYT 19 May19"/> (other sources: from [[Mount Pearl]]).<ref name=darling/> During the night, however, the aircraft's engine started to overheat, possibly because of a blocked filter in the cooling system. After making several attempts to clear the blockage by diving the aircraft and stopping and restarting the engine to attempt to cool it, with the engine still overheating and heavy weather ahead, they turned south to seek out the shipping lanes, and on encountering the Danish steamer SS ''Mary, ''[[Water landing|ditched]] in the Atlantic and were rescued, 1,130 mi (1,820 km) from St John's and 750 mi (1,210 km) from Ireland.<ref name="Robertson p135">Robertson 1970, p.135.</ref><ref name="Flight 19 p694">''Flight'' 29 May 1919, p.694.</ref>

As the ''Mary'' was not fitted with radio, no news of Hawker and Grieves' rescue had reached the rest of the world, and they were feared to have been killed, a telegram of condolence being sent by King [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]] until the ''Mary'' reached Scotland on 25 May.<ref name="Robertson p135"/><ref name="Flight 19 p696">''Flight'' 29 May 1919, p.696.</ref>

The ''Daily Mail'' prize was finally won by [[Alcock and Brown|John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown]] who flew from St. John's to [[Clifden]], Ireland in a [[Vickers Vimy]] on 14–15 June 1919.<ref>[http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm "Alcock and Brown"] ''Aviation-History.com''. Retrieved 14 August 2009.</ref> Harry Hawker however won a prize of £5,000 for the first pilot to fly 1,000 miles over the ocean without ditching.<ref name=darling>Kev Darling: ''Hawker Typhoon, Tempest and Sea Fury''. The Crowood Press, 2003. {{ISBN|1 86126 620 0}}. p.8</ref>

==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |ref=Sopwith-The Man and his Aircraft <ref name="Robertson p236-9">Robertson 1970, pp. 236–237, 240–241.</ref> |prime units?=imp

|avionics= }}

==See also== {{aircontent  |see also= |related=*[[Sopwith B.1]] *[[Sopwith Wallaby]] |similar aircraft=*[[Short Shirl]] *[[Boulton Paul Atlantic]] *[[Vickers Vimy]]  |lists= }}

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== {{commons category|Sopwith Atlantic}} {{refbegin}} *"[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200387.html The New ''Daily Mail'' Prizes]". ''Flight'', 5 April 1913. p. 393. *"[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1918/1918%20-%201315.html The ''Daily Mail'' Atlantic Prize]". ''Flight'', 21 November 1918. p. 1316. *"[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200476.html The Transatlantic Race]". ''[[Flight International|Flight]]'', 10 April 1919. pp. 476–480. *"[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200503.html The Transatlantic Race]". ''Flight'', 17 April 1919, pp. 503–505. *"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/04/13/96292625.pdf Plan Start Today on Win Or Die Atlantic Flight]". ''[[New York Times]]'', 13 April 1919, pp. 1,3. *"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/05/19/118152815.pdf Hawker Waited Six Weeks To Start]". ''New York Times'', 19 May 1919, p. 5. *"[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200694.html The Transatlantic Flight:Hawker and Grieve Retrieved]". ''Flight'', 29 May 1919. *Robertson, Bruce. ''Sopwith-The Man and his Aircraft''. Letchworth, UK:Air Review, 1970. {{ISBN|0-900435-15-1}}. {{refend}}

[[Category:1910s British sport aircraft]] [[Category:Sopwith aircraft|Atlantic]] [[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]] [[Category:Biplanes]] [[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1919]]