Families in Manchester will be able to celebrate the centenary of the first-ever non-stop Transatlantic flight, this June with a weekend of fun, flight-themed activities at the Science and Industry Museum, on Liverpool Road.
On 15 June 1919, Manchester pilot John Alcock and his Glaswegian flying partner Arthur Brown landed in County Galway after having set off from New Foundland the previous day. Their achievement won them a prize of £10,000 and they were both knighted by King George V.
The Science and Industry Museum has objects belonging to the aviators on display in their Air and Space Hall, including Alcock’s stuffed toy cat mascot Lucky Jim and the camera they used to take photographs during their flight. To celebrate 100 years since the achievement, the museum will be holding flight-themed activities and shows throughout the weekend of 15 and 16 June.
Families will be able to learn how to make the most aerodynamic paper planes and learn about the science that makes us able to take to the skies.
There will be more hands-on activities and experiments as part of the weekend’s Pi: Platform for Investigation – Powered by Siemens, where visitors can learn about the latest research into flight from real-life scientists.
The museum also holds several papers and pieces of correspondence belonging to Alcock, some of which will be digitised and made available online for the first time to mark the centenary.
Alcock and Brown’s crossing was not straightforward. Having taken off early in order to beat a rival team, they lost radio contact and intercom, their electric heating suits failed making them very cold, and they suffered horrendous weather conditions, including fog, rain and snow.
Despite these difficulties, they made the crossing in under sixteen hours, crash landing in a bog at 8.40am on 15 June.
Sally MacDonald, Director of the Science and Industry Museum, said: “Lucky Jim is one of our favourite objects on display in our Air and Space Hall, and we are excited to be celebrating the centenary of this incredible achievement that forever changed the way we travel the world.
“Manchester is a city of invention and ingenuity and here at the museum we hope to inspire the engineers, aviators and adventurers of the future.”
Admission to the museum is free. For more information, visit scienceandindustrymuseum.org.
