The Big Hop: The Forgotten Race to Fly the Atlantic Non-Stop

In the summer of 1919, just weeks after the end of the First World War, a handful of airmen who had survived the skies over the Western Front signed up for what many believed was impossible: the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

The challenge came with a £10,000 prize from Lord Northcliffe, owner of the Daily Mail and one of aviation's earliest and most relentless champions. Four teams of pilots, navigators, and aircraft manufacturers raced to Newfoundland to attempt the 2,000-mile crossing -  knowing that failure meant almost certain death in the freezing Atlantic.

Hugh's guest is David Rooney, historian, former curator at the Science Museum in London, and author of The Big Hop: The First Non-Stop Flight Across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Future. David tells the story of the brave pioneers who made the crossing - and the rivals who nearly got there first, including the audacious Harry Hawker, whose dramatic disappearance and miraculous rescue gripped the world.

We hear about the characters forged at Brooklands - the cradle of British aviation - the existential stakes for aircraft manufacturer after the end of the war, the 16-hour ordeal of flying an open-cockpit canvas plane through freezing fog and engine failure, and why two of the most remarkable men in aviation history quietly stepped into the shadows, overshadowed by Charles Lindbergh eight years later.

It's a story of courage, rivalry, friendship, and a miracle we now take for granted every time we fasten our seatbelt.

David Rooney's book, The Big Hop, is out now. You can see the actual Vickers Vimy flown by Alcock and Brown at the Science Museum in London.

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