The Transatlantic traveller

On 14th June 1919 my fellow black cat “Lucky Jim” and I were the only passengers on the first ever non-stop transatlantic flight. My owner Arthur Whitten Brown and his pilot John Alcock flew from Newfoundland to Ireland in a Vickers Vimy biplane.

The journey took 17 hours and the weather was very bad. Arthur had to climb onto the Vimy’s wings in-flight to scrape off ice. We were glad to reach Ireland but landed in a bog and nearly crashed. We were lucky to finish the journey in one piece!

60 years later, I flew across the Atlantic again, this time with the Royal Air Force in a Phantom jet. The journey only lasted 6 hours and we landed without mishap!

Accession Number: 1990/0732/C