First jet across the Atlantic?

[Tim Zukas]

What was the first jet to fly across the Atlantic?

Not the first scheduled flight--
Not the first airliner--
Not the first transport--
Not the first nonstop--

Just, what jet built on one side of the Atlantic was first to fly to the other side?

A couple (?) of Comet 1As flew west in 1953, but something must have preceded that.

[evansb]

On 14 July 1948, six Vampire F.3s of No. 54 Squadron RAF became the first jet aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean when they arrived in Goose Bay, Labrador. They went via Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, Keflavik in Iceland and Bluie West 1, Greenland. From Goose Bay airfield they went on to Montreal (c. 3,000 mi/4,830 km) to start the RAF's annual goodwill tour of Canada and the US, where they gave formation aerobatic displays. At the same time USAF Colonel David C. Schilling led a group of F-80 Shooting Stars flying to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base in Germany to relieve a unit based there. There were conflicting reports later regarding competition between the RAF and USAF to be the first to fly the Atlantic. One report said the USAF squadron delayed completion of its movement to allow the Vampires to be "the first jets across the Atlantic". Another said that the Vampire pilots celebrated “winning the race against the rival F-80s.”


First non-stop? It was on September 22, 1950, by USAF Republic XF-84E Thunderjets, assisted by in-flight refuelling.


The First Transatlantic Jet Fighter ? HistoricWings.com :: A Magazine for Aviators, Pilots and Adventurers (http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/09/the-first-transatlantic-jet-fighter/)

[ian16th]

First non-stop? It was on September 22, 1950, by USAF Republic XF-84E Thunderjets, assisted by in-flight refuelling.

That is in-flight refuelling, as supplied by Flight Refuelling Ltd, now Cobham Plc.

[El Bunto]

And the first turboprop to cross the Atlantic was Viscount 700 G-AMAV in February 1953, beating the Comets to also become the first passenger-carrying turbine aircraft to do so. Though it wasn't a commercial flight, it was heading to Canada for icing trials which were modestly described as 'satisfactory', though I suppose that's still a passing-grade.

[Warmtoast]

El Bunto
And the first turboprop to cross the Atlantic was Viscount 700 G-AMAV in February 1953
..and to think I photographed the same aircraft a couple of months later at Heathrow at the start of the London - Christchurch (New Zealand) air race in October 1953.
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Bovingdon/NZ%20Air%20Race%20Viscount%202_zps3czyc5ct.jpg

[DaveReidUK]

How the Vampires Crossed - The Story of the First Transatlantic Flight by Jet Aircraft (https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%201135.html)

Includes a great description of the iffy weather encountered by the Vampires on their crossing.

[El Bunto]

Nice one Warmtoast! Thinking about the question today, a spin on it is 'what was the first jet to cross the Atlantic by any means'. I'd guess it was Bell YP-59 42-108773 which was shipped ( literally ) to the UK in September 1943. First production Meteor F.Mk.1 EE210 went westwards in exchange early the next year, presumably also in the hold of a ship.