{"id":28738603,"date":"2026-10-19T15:45:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/r34-airship-1919-first-east-west-atlantic-crossing-mineola\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T15:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:46:25","slug":"r34-airship-1919-first-east-west-atlantic-crossing-mineola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/r34-airship-1919-first-east-west-atlantic-crossing-mineola\/","title":{"rendered":"R34 Airship: The First Return Flight Across the Atlantic, 1919"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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Ground crews hauled a 643-foot hydrogen airship out of its shed into a cold, misty north-easterly wind. On board were around 30 men, a kitten called Whoopsie, and one person who was not supposed to be there at all.<\/p>\r\n<p>Four and a half days later, His Majesty's Airship R34 drifted down over Long Island with almost empty tanks. It had become the first aircraft to fly the Atlantic from east to west. A week after that, it flew home again, making the first two-way crossing of the ocean by air.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> HM Airship R34, a British rigid airship<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Builder:<\/strong> William Beardmore and Company, Inchinnan, Scotland<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 14 March 1919<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Length:<\/strong> 643 ft (196 m)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engines:<\/strong> Five Sunbeam Maori, 275 hp each<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Westbound:<\/strong> East Fortune to Mineola, 2 to 6 July 1919, 108 hours 12 minutes<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Eastbound:<\/strong> Mineola to Pulham, Norfolk, 10 to 13 July 1919, about 75 hours<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Commander:<\/strong> Major George Herbert Scott<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Weeks After Alcock and Brown<\/h2>\r\n<p>The Atlantic had only just been conquered. In June 1919, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown had flown a Vickers Vimy non-stop from Newfoundland to Ireland. That was west to east, with the prevailing winds behind them. Nobody had yet flown the other way, against the weather, and nobody had flown the ocean and come back.<\/p>\r\n<p>The R34 was built by Beardmore at Inchinnan near Glasgow and first flew on 14 March 1919. It held 1,950,000 cubic feet of hydrogen and was driven by five Sunbeam Maori engines in gondolas slung beneath the hull. Its commander, Major George Herbert Scott, was one of Britain's most experienced airship captains.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lvp8XqNmHps\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">British Path\u00e9 newsreel of the R34 airship in 1919.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Stowaway Between the Gasbags<\/h2>\r\n<p>Early in the flight the crew found an extra man hidden between the girders and the gas bags. William Ballantyne, a crew member, had been dropped from the crew to save weight and had sneaked aboard anyway, together with the ship's mascot kitten. Scott could hardly turn back. Ballantyne was put to work as a cook and helped pump fuel, and was later sent home by ship.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Stowaway on board\u2026 cannot help sympathizing with his motive.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Brigadier-General Edward Maitland<\/strong> &mdash; in The Log of HMA R.34, quoted by HistoryNet, recording Scott's view of the stowaway<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>The westbound crossing was hard. The airship met fog, gales and heavy rain, and a thunderstorm over the Bay of Fundy on 5 July threw it around violently. Headwinds ate into the fuel. A cracked engine water jacket was patched, The Engineer reported, with copper sheeting and chewing gum.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/r34-airship-rear-engine-gondola-1919.jpg\" alt=\"Ground crew holding the rear engine gondola of airship R34\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Ground crew hold the R34's rear engine gondola, one of the cars carrying its five Sunbeam Maori engines. Photo: The Topeka State Journal, 1919 (public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Parachute Over Long Island<\/h2>\r\n<p>Scott had planned to stop for fuel at Montauk on the tip of Long Island, but a tailwind at the end let him press on to Roosevelt Field at Mineola. There was a problem waiting there: nobody on the ground knew how to handle a large rigid airship. So Major E. M. Pritchard strapped on a parachute and jumped. He became the first person to arrive on American soil by air from Europe, and organised the landing party himself.<\/p>\r\n<p>The R34 touched down on 6 July after 108 hours and 12 minutes in the air. It had started with about 4,900 gallons of fuel and landed with enough for perhaps 40 more minutes of flying. Crowds poured onto the field.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/r34-airship-nose-touches-ground-new-york-1919.jpg\" alt=\"Full-length view of airship R34 as its nose touched the ground at Mineola in July 1919\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The R34 just as its nose touched the ground at Mineola, as printed in the New-York Tribune on 13 July 1919. Photo: New-York Tribune (public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Way Home<\/h2>\r\n<p>The airship left Mineola just before midnight on 9 July, after circling over New York. The return was faster with the wind behind it, even after one of the five engines failed with a broken connecting rod. Ordered at the last moment to land at Pulham in Norfolk instead of East Fortune, R34 arrived there on 13 July after about 75 hours, having flown the Atlantic both ways.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Triumph for British aeronautics.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>The Engineer<\/strong> &mdash; British engineering weekly, in its 1919 report on the flight<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>The welcome at Pulham was muted compared with New York. R34 went on to train crews until January 1921, when a navigation error in bad weather sent it into a hillside on the North Yorkshire Moors. It limped back to Howden, was further damaged overnight, and was scrapped. Its record stands: the first east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic by air, and the first round trip.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a1UWLcKoDeI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">British Path\u00e9: Airship That Made History, R 34 (1919).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (R34 airship), HistoryNet, The Engineer, Library of Congress, British Path\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was the R34 airship?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">R34 was a British rigid airship built by William Beardmore and Company at Inchinnan, Scotland, which first flew on 14 March 1919. It was 643 feet long, held 1,950,000 cubic feet of hydrogen and was powered by five Sunbeam Maori engines of 275 hp each.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the R34 cross the Atlantic?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The R34 left East Fortune in Scotland on 2 July 1919 and landed at Mineola, Long Island, on 6 July after 108 hours and 12 minutes. It flew back from 10 to 13 July 1919, landing at Pulham in Norfolk after about 75 hours.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was the R34 the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No. Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919, west to east. The R34 made the first east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic by air in July 1919, and the first return crossing, a week later.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who was the stowaway on the R34?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The stowaway on the R34 was William Ballantyne, a crew member who had been dropped to save weight. He hid between the girders and gas bags with the mascot kitten Whoopsie. He was put to work as a cook and fuel pumper, then sent home by ship.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who parachuted from the R34 in New York?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Major E. M. Pritchard parachuted from the R34 over Mineola, Long Island, in July 1919 because no one on the ground knew how to handle a large rigid airship. He became the first person to reach American soil by air from Europe.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened to the R34 airship?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">After its Atlantic flights the R34 was used for crew training. In January 1921 a navigation error in bad weather sent it into a hillside on the North Yorkshire Moors. It returned to Howden, suffered further damage overnight, and was decommissioned and scrapped.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the R34 airship?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"R34 was a British rigid airship built by William Beardmore and Company at Inchinnan, Scotland, which first flew on 14 March 1919. It was 643 feet long, held 1,950,000 cubic feet of hydrogen and was powered by five Sunbeam Maori engines of 275 hp each.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did the R34 cross the Atlantic?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The R34 left East Fortune in Scotland on 2 July 1919 and landed at Mineola, Long Island, on 6 July after 108 hours and 12 minutes. 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It returned to Howden, suffered further damage overnight, and was decommissioned and scrapped.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/alcock-and-brown-first-non-stop-transatlantic-flight-vickers-vimy-1919\/\">Alcock and Brown: The First Non-Stop Flight Across the Atlantic, 1919<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hindenburg-disaster-1937-lakehurst-lz-129-fire-airship-age\/\">Hindenburg Disaster 1937: The 32 Seconds That Ended the Airship Age<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/airship-italia-amundsen-last-flight\/\">Airship Italia and Amundsen's Last Flight: The 1928 Polar Disaster<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story In the small hours of 2 July 1919, at East Fortune in Scotland, the order came to walk her out. Ground crews hauled a 643-foot hydrogen airship out of its shed into a cold, misty north-easterly wind. On board were around 30 men, a kitten called Whoopsie, and one person who was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":28738558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28738603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>R34 Airship: First Return Flight Across the Atlantic | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The R34 airship flew from Scotland to New York in July 1919, the first east-west Atlantic crossing by air, then flew home. 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