author
Sir Arthur Whitten Brown
1886–1948
Best known as the navigator on the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight, he helped turn a daring idea into aviation history in June 1919. His life combined engineering skill, wartime service, and a calm steadiness under extreme pressure.
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 23 July 1886 to American parents, Arthur Whitten Brown grew up partly in Manchester and trained as an electrical engineer. During the First World War he served in the British military, was taken prisoner in Germany, and later returned to aviation work after the war.
Brown is remembered above all for the pioneering Atlantic crossing he made with pilot John Alcock on 14–15 June 1919. As navigator on the Vickers Vimy flight from Newfoundland to Ireland, he worked through darkness, bad weather, instrument trouble, and icing to help complete the first successful non-stop airplane crossing of the Atlantic.
The achievement brought international fame, and he was knighted soon afterward. He died on 4 October 1948, but his place in aviation history has lasted: not just as a passenger on a famous flight, but as the engineer-minded navigator whose judgment helped make it possible.