author
Sir Arthur Whitten Brown
1886–1948
Best known as the navigator on the first successful nonstop transatlantic flight, he helped turn a daring 1919 crossing into aviation history. Trained as an engineer and tested by war, he brought nerve, precision, and quiet determination to one of flight’s landmark achievements.
1 Audiobook
Flying the Atlantic in Sixteen Hours With a Discussion of Aircraft in Commerce and Transportation
by Sir Arthur Whitten Brown
About the author
Born in Glasgow on July 23, 1886, and raised in the Manchester area, Arthur Whitten Brown began his working life in engineering before the First World War. During the war he served in aviation, was shot down, and spent time as a prisoner of war before eventually returning to Britain.
Brown is remembered above all for the June 1919 Atlantic crossing he made with pilot John Alcock in a Vickers Vimy. As navigator, he handled the difficult job of finding their way across the ocean in harsh conditions, helping complete the first successful nonstop flight from Newfoundland to Ireland.
The achievement brought international fame, and he was knighted for it alongside Alcock. He later lived a quieter life and died in Swansea on October 4, 1948, but his part in that pioneering flight remains one of the defining stories of early aviation.