Beschreibung:

Alcock (John William, 1892-1919). Autograph letter signed, 'J. Alcock', The Royal Aero Club letterhead, 23 June 1919, to the Right Honourable Mrs D. Vickers, Chapel House, thanking her for the kind letter, the contents of which he will convey to 'Lieut. Sir Arthur W. Brown and I wish to express our regret for not being able to attend at lunch tomorrow. We would both be pleased to visit your hospital at 10.30 a.m. Thursday next if convenient', a little light dust-soiling, one page, 8vo, together with Brown (Arthur Whitten, 1886-1948), typed letter signed, 'A Whitten Brown', Hawthornden, Swansea, 18 June 1929, a brief note to E. Stanley Jones in respect of an autograph request, one page, 4to (Qty: 2) Captain John William Alcock with navigator Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, piloted the first non-stop transatlantic flight from St John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland, landing after 16 hours and 12 minutes on 15 June 1919. Tragically, on 18 December 1919, Alcock was piloting a new Vickers amphibious aircraft, the Vickers Viking, to the first post-war aeronatical exhibition in Paris when he fatally crashed in fog near Rouen in Normandy. The recipient of Alcock's letter was the Rt. Hon. Katharine Vickers, who lived with her husband Douglas Vickers at Chapel House, Charles Street, Berkeley Square, London. Letters from Alcock are very uncommon. This letter was written on the same day as Alcock and Brown's second celebration dinner at the Savoy Hotel.