Shipping the First Direct Transatlantic Air Mail 98 Hot Coffee Was Taken Aboard 104 Slow Rising Nearly Caused Disaster at the Start of the Great Flight 104 Lucky Jim and Twinkletoe, the Mascots 120 The Transatlantic Flight Ended With a Crash in an Irish Bog 120 Chart of the North Atlantic Showing Course of the Flight 136 The Men Who Worked Without Glory to Make the Flight Possible 136 The Vickers Aeroplane Works at Weybridge, England 154 Comfort Can Be Enjoyed in Air Travel To-day 154 FLYING THE ATLANTIC IN SIXTEEN HOURS CHAPTER I SOME PRELIMINARY EVENTS "After me cometh a builder. Tell him I, too, have known." KIPLING. It is an awful thing to be told that one has made history, or done something historic. Such an accusation implies the duty of living up to other people's expectations; and merely an ordinary person who has been lucky, like myself, cannot fulfil such expectations. Sir John Alcock and I have been informed so often, by the printed and spoken word, that our achievement in making the first non-stop transatlantic flight is an important event in the history of aviation that almost--but not quite--I have come to believe it. And this half-belief makes me very humble, when I consider the splendid company of pioneers who, without due recognition, gave life, money or precious years, often all three, to further the future of aëronautics--Lilienthal, Pilcher, Langley, Eiffel, Lanchester, Maxim, the Wrights, Bleriot, Cody, Roe, Rolls and the many daring men who piloted the weird, experimental craft which were among the first to fly. I believe that ever since Man, but recently conscious of his own existence, saw the birds, he has desired to emulate them. Among the myths and fables of every race are tales of human flight. The paradise of most religions is reached through the air, and through the air gods and prophets have passed from earth to their respective heavens. And all authentic angels are endowed with wings. The present generation is lucky in that, despite this instinctive longing since the beginning of human history for the means of flight, it is the first to see dreams and theories translated into fact by the startling development of practical aviation, within the past fifteen years. The aëronautical wonders of the next fifteen years are likely to be yet more startling.