Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east. Such flights have been accomplished by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, balloons and other devices.
The Atlantic Ocean stood as a significant obstacle to the aviation pioneers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first aircraft engines did not have sufficient reliability necessary for the crossing, nor sufficient power to lift the required fuel. Additionally, there are difficulties navigating over featureless expanses of water for thousands of miles, and the weather, especially in the North Atlantic Ocean is often unpredictable and violent. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, transatlantic flight has been routine and common, for commercial, military, diplomatic, and other purposes. Experimental flights (in balloons, small aircraft, etc.) still present technological challenges for transatlantic fliers.
Read more about Transatlantic Flight: First Transatlantic Flight, Transatlantic Routes, Early Notable Transatlantic Flights and Attempts, Other Early Transatlantic Flights, Notable Transatlantic Flights of The 21st Century
Famous quotes containing the word flight:
“In all her products, Nature only develops her simplest germs. One would say that it was no great stretch of invention to create birds. The hawk which now takes his flight over the top of the wood was at first, perchance, only a leaf which fluttered in its aisles. From rustling leaves she came in the course of ages to the loftier flight and clear carol of the bird.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)